K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc., parent company for the Food City retail supermarket chain, will invest $19.35 million to expand its current distribution facility in Washington County. The project — the construction of a 164,000 square foot freezer distribution facility — will create 110 new jobs. Virginia successfully competed against Tennessee for the project.
“Last fall, I met with President and CEO of K-VA-T Food Stores Steve Smith to discuss the potential for bringing this major expansion to Virginia,” said Virginia Gov. Mark Warner. “Through the resources of the Virginia Tobacco Commission and the Governor’s Opportunity Fund, we were able to partner with Washington County to solve the company’s needs. This great corporate citizen has once again chosen to partner with Southwest Virginia, and I congratulate the company on its success.”
K-VA-T, a privately held company, is an acronym for its trade area, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee and is now the largest employer in the Tri-cities region of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee and is the fifth largest employer in Virginia.
Headquartered in Abingdon, K-VA-T operates 90 Food City supermarkets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee and serves a trade area population of over 2.5 million people and 980,000 households.
“Virginia plays a huge role in our company history, both past and present,” said Steve Smith, CEO, K-VA-T Food Stores. “Jack C. Smith, our founder and chairman of the Board opened his first (then Piggly Wiggly) supermarket in Grundy, Va., in 1955. Although our company has shown tremendous growth through expansions, acquisitions and newly constructed sites, Abingdon has continued to serve as the location for our distribution center for more than 30 years.”
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Washington County to negotiate an incentive package to secure the project for Virginia. Governor Warner approved a $250,000 grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to assist Washington County with the project. The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission approved $250,000 in Tobacco Region Opportunity Funds for the project. The Virginia Department of Business Assistance will provide training through its Workforce Services Program.
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