Company leadership cites strong workforce, business-friendly environment in decision to locate in the commonwealth
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Feb. 27, 2025) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear highlighted continued job growth in Kentucky as Earth Breeze, a producer of environmentally friendly laundry detergent sheets, announced plans to locate a roughly $5.9 million facility in Harrodsburg, creating 226 Kentucky jobs.
“We’re excited to welcome Earth Breeze to our New Kentucky Home,” said Gov. Beshear. “This project will create quality jobs and opportunities for the Harrodsburg community, and I we can’t wait to see this innovative company succeed.”
The new 81,250-square-foot facility will handle multiple aspects of the Earth Breeze production process, including the blending of its proprietary eco-friendly formulation, drying and processing, cutting and packaging, order fulfillment operations, quality control laboratory testing and research and development. The 226 new positions will span various skill levels and departments, from facility director and production operators to quality control specialists and planning/administrative associates and managers.
“We are incredibly grateful to the state of Kentucky for their outstanding support and partnership throughout this journey,” said Ben Smith, COO of Earth Breeze. “From the very beginning, the state has demonstrated a clear commitment to fostering growth and innovation, helping us navigate every step with care and efficiency. Kentucky’s strong workforce, business-friendly environment and collaborative spirit have made it the perfect home for Earth Breeze. This investment is not just about expanding our operations – it’s about building a sustainable future together with the Harrodsburg community. We are excited to bring new opportunities, create quality jobs and be part of Kentucky’s continued economic success.”
Earth Breeze, founded in 2019, offers clean laundry without harsh chemicals like optical brighteners, artificial dyes, parabens, phthalates or preservatives. Made with 100% concentrated cleaning ingredients in a sheet that quickly dissolves, Earth Breeze is available at many leading retailer locations and at earthbreeze.com.
For every order, Earth Breeze donates laundry detergent to shelters and disaster relief organizations. The company has partnered with more than 800 shelters, community organizations and disaster relief groups to provide more than 300 million loads of detergent to those in need. Across the U.S. and around the world, Earth Breeze has also sponsored the cleanup of over 999,000 pounds of plastic.
Mercer County Judge/Executive Sarah Steele showed support for the project: “We are thrilled to welcome a new company to our community and excited for the new job opportunities this brings to Mercer County. We are looking forward to this partnership.”
Harrodsburg Mayor Bob Williams thanked the parties who made the project possible: “We are pleased and delighted to have Earth Breeze locating their manufacturing facility in Harrodsburg. The product, the leadership and the potential employment are all extraordinary factors in welcoming them to our community. Freddie Hilpp has been a tremendous asset in this endeavor as well, and we thank him for his efforts.”
Greyson Evans, on behalf of the Harrodsburg-Mercer County Industrial Development Authority, mentioned the effort the community has put into economic development: “HMCIDA, on behalf of our entire community, is thrilled by Earth Breeze’s decision to locate and do business in our community. For several years now, Harrodsburg and Mercer County have made a concerted push for job growth and to tell the world we’re open for business. Partnership from an environmentally friendly American manufacturer that complements our existing business landscape so well is a blessing – we’re very excited to engage with Earth Breeze and support them in their effort to prosper in Kentucky!”
Earth Breeze’s investment and job creation build on the best five-year period for economic growth in state history.
Since the beginning of his administration, Gov. Beshear has announced more than 1,100 private-sector new-location and expansion projects totaling over $35 billion in announced investments, creating more than 60,000 jobs. This is the highest investment figure secured during the tenure of any governor in the commonwealth’s history and $14 billion more than the next highest total.
The robust job creation has been accompanied by rising wages across the commonwealth. Since 2022, the average incentivized hourly wage has topped $26 in three consecutive years for the first time.
Gov. Beshear has announced some of the largest economic development projects in state history, which have solidified Kentucky as the electric vehicle battery production capital of the United States: Ford Motor Co. and SK On’s transformative $5.8 billion, 5,000-job BlueOval SK Battery Park in Hardin County; AESC’s $2 billion, 2,000-job gigafactory project in Warren County; Toyota’s $1.3 billion investment in Scott County; and Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing’s $712 million investment, creating 1,572 jobs in Shelby County.
The Governor’s administration also secured the largest General Fund budget surplus and Rainy Day Fund. In 2023, Kentucky recorded over 2 million jobs filled for the first time ever and has stayed above that number ever since.
Kentucky also secured rating increases from major credit rating agencies Fitch Ratings, S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service.
Last March, Site Selection magazine ranked Kentucky third nationally and first in the South Central region for economic development projects per capita in its 2023 Governor’s Cup rankings. In April, Site Selection placed Kentucky second in the South Central region and in the top 10 nationally in its 2024 Prosperity Cup ranking, which recognizes state-level economic development agencies for their success in landing capital investment projects.
Gov. Beshear announced a Supply Kentucky initiative with the goal of boosting job growth, reducing costs and providing more security in the supply chains of our Kentucky companies. The Governor also announced a new initiative, called New Kentucky Home, to increase economic investment, attain and attract talent, and increase tourism across the state.
To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) today preliminarily approved a 10-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $2.4 million in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $5.89 million and annual targets of:
- Creation and maintenance of 226 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years; and
- Paying an average hourly wage of $30.96, 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, Earth Breeze 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 Earth Breeze, visit EarthBreeze.com.
A detailed community profile for Mercer 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.
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