FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 19, 2023) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear highlighted a new addition within the state’s health care industry as Lunae LLC, the management service organization of Oria Health, plans to establish its corporate headquarters at the Western Kentucky University Innovation Campus, investing $266,000 and creating 33 quality Kentucky jobs.
“Ensuring that Kentuckians from every corner of the state have access to quality health care services is critical to the commonwealth’s continued success and growth,” said Gov. Beshear. “Innovative companies providing quality services and high-paying jobs, like Lunae, increasingly are choosing Kentucky to locate and grow their business. I want to thank company leadership for believing in the commonwealth and Southcentral Kentucky and I looking forward to their future success.”
Company leaders will locate the new headquarters at the WKU Innovation Campus, establishing Oria Health’s first location in the commonwealth. The project is anticipated to create up to 33 full-time jobs, consisting of a core team of 10 employees and contractors and full-time staff to support ongoing operations as the company builds its portfolio of local partners and clients. Oria will also add Kentucky licensure for its current team of 50 therapists, psychiatrists and psychologists to help increase access to care for Kentuckians immediately.
“From the moment Oria’s founder, Dr. Richard Connell, painted his vision for leveraging telehealth to help reach the people who need it most, I knew he was ready to build something special,” said Oria CEO and Lunae co-founder Amanda Havard. “When discussing expansion, we knew we needed to find somewhere special. When we came to Bowling Green and got to witness firsthand the unbelievable alignment of the WKU Innovation Campus, the Chamber, local government and business resources, we knew that we’d found a place to call home. We’ve chosen Bowling Green because we can see it is uniquely poised to build an uplifting, cohesive, collaborative community for innovators, entrepreneurs and creatives. After a decade and a half of surviving in competitive environments, we’re looking forward to cultivating a collaborative ecosystem here in the commonwealth.”
Oria Health is a leading telehealth-first behavioral health company dedicated to revolutionizing health care delivery and ensuring access where it’s needed most. Focusing on improving patient outcomes and access to quality care, Oria Health develops innovative tools and technologies that empower therapists and health care providers. By leveraging telehealth services, Oria Health aims to transform health care delivery, making it more accessible, efficient and patient-centered. Oria Health is the core client of Lunae, which uses human-centered design principles and multiple developmental and learning theories to take the creativity and the brilliance of innovation to create something tangible.
The WKU Innovation Campus is an applied research and intellectual hub that spurs innovative collaboration, promotes problem-solving and nurtures talent to elevate the economy and region. Through real-world applications and entrepreneurial support, the Innovation Campus engages and connects researchers, students and start-ups with corporations, industry leaders and local businesses to tackle challenges and foster a talent-first strategy to meet the needs of the region’s growing industries.
Buddy Steen, WKU Innovation Campus CEO, looks forward to adding a collaborative, creative company like Lunae to their growing entrepreneurial community: “Amanda Havard and her teams at Oria Health and Lunae are collaborative thought leaders. That makes them perfect additions to our entrepreneurial ecosystem and to the community of co-creators we have across the WKU Innovation Campus.”
Warren County Judge/Executive Doug Gorman is eager to bring innovative health care services to the community: “We are excited to support Lunae and their client Oria Health’s mission to enhance telehealth capabilities and improve patient outcomes. This partnership aligns perfectly with our commitment to innovation and advancing health care education.”
Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott looks forward to the opportunities this investment will bring to the city and surrounding region: “We are thrilled to welcome both Lunae and Oria Health to Bowling Green. This partnership will revolutionize health care, improve access and drive economic growth. We look forward to working together to enhance telehealth capabilities and create new job opportunities. Together, we can build our city’s healthier and more prosperous future.”
Ron Bunch, CEO of the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, highlighted the improvements to health care as well as the economic boost the project will bring to Bowling Green: “We believe that Lunae will not only bring economic growth to our region but also significantly improve access to quality health care across the commonwealth. We look forward to working closely with Amanda and her team in achieving our shared vision.”
Lunae’s investment and planned job creation furthers recent economic momentum in the commonwealth.
Last month, Gov. Beshear announced there are more than 2 million jobs filled in Kentucky – the most in state history – according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in its federal survey of business establishments. And the Governor highlighted that 57,000 new jobs have been filled since the beginning of his administration.
The Governor recently announced that Kentucky set the record for the longest period with the lowest unemployment rates in state history. On May 18, Gov. Beshear announced that Kentucky set a new historic low unemployment rate of 3.7%, which is the lowest rate ever recorded in the commonwealth.
Since the beginning of his administration, Gov. Beshear has announced more than 860 private-sector new-location and expansion projects totaling over $26 billion in announced investments.
The robust job creation has been accompanied by rising wages across the commonwealth. The average incentivized hourly wage in 2022 was $26.78 before benefits, the second-highest mark since 2010 and an 11.5% increase over the previous year.
The Governor also secured the best two-year period in state history for economic growth and announced the two largest economic development projects in state history. In September 2021, Gov. Beshear and leaders from Ford Motor Co. and SK On celebrated a transformative $5.8 billion investment that will create 5,000 jobs in Hardin County. In April 2022, the Governor was joined by leadership at AESC to announce a $2 billion investment that will create 2,000 jobs in Warren County. These announcements solidify Kentucky as the EV battery production capital of the United States.
That position was strengthened even further in May 2023, when the Governor and leaders at Toyota announced a $591 million investment across multiple projects as the company’s largest manufacturing operation in Georgetown introduces its first battery electric vehicle. Growth within the EV sector continued into June as Gov. Beshear joined INFAC North America to break ground on the company’s $53 million investment to support EV-related production in Campbellsville.
Over a two-month period this year, Kentucky secured two credit rating increases from major agencies. On May 12, Gov. Beshear announced that his administration obtained the first state-level credit rating upgrade in 13 years and the first-ever upgrade from Fitch Ratings. On June 29, Gov. Beshear announced the commonwealth received its first-ever rating increase from S&P Global Ratings.
Site Selection magazine recently placed Kentucky first in the South Central region and top-5 nationally in its 2023 Prosperity Cup ranking, which recognizes state-level economic development agencies for their success in landing capital investment projects. On July 13, Gov. Beshear announced Kentucky earned back-to-back Gold Shovel Awards from the national publication Area Development, which cited the commonwealth’s strong gains in attracting new businesses and growing jobs.
Gov. Beshear’s administration is projected to post the four highest years of budget surpluses in Kentucky history. Recently, the state reported receipts for fiscal year 2023 totaling $15.1 billion, which exceeded budgeted estimates by $1.4 billion, making it the largest revenue surplus in history.
Gov. Beshear recently announced a new “Supply Kentucky” initiative with the goal of boosting job growth, reducing costs and providing more security in the supply chains of our Kentucky companies.
To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in June preliminarily approved a 10-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $200,000 in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $266,000 and annual targets of:
- Creation and maintenance of 33 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years; and
- Paying an average hourly wage of $28 including benefits across those jobs.
By meeting its annual targets over the agreement term, the company can be eligible to keep a portion of the new tax revenue it generates. The company may claim eligible incentives against its income tax liability and/or wage assessments.
In addition, Lunae can receive resources from Kentucky’s workforce service providers. Those include no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job-training incentives.
For more information on Oria Health, visit oria.health. To learn more about Lunae, visit lunae.in.
A detailed community profile for Warren County can be viewed here.
Information on Kentucky’s economic development efforts and programs is available at CED.ky.gov. Fans of the Cabinet for Economic Development can also join the discussion at facebook.com/CEDkygov, on Twitter @CEDkygov, Instagram @CEDkygov and LinkedIn.
Read about other key updates, actions and information from Gov. Beshear and his administration at governor.ky.gov and the Governor’s official social media accounts Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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