Fulton, Ky., industry has a new MVP.
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear joined local and company officials Monday afternoon to announce that MVP Group International Inc. plans to establish a manufacturing operation in Fulton — creating 150 new, full-time jobs and investing more than $5.2 million in the Commonwealth.
“We welcome MVP Group International to Fulton and look forward to many years of growth and success here,” Beshear said. “The numbers are impressive, with 150 jobs and $5.2 million in investment, but we’re not here just for the numbers; we are here because of the lives that will benefit from this partnership and the impact it will have on the future of this community.”
MVP Group International is the largest manufacturer of private label candles and home fragrance goods worldwide, with sales to national and international retailers. The company will occupy an existing 60,000-square-foot facility on Kentucky Avenue in Fulton’s industrial park and hopes to have operations there running by May 1.
MVP is named for company CEO Mary VanDeVenter Propes and is a family operation which involves her sons — Troy Propes, who is president, and Travis Propes, who is chief manufacturing officer.
Propes said the company started “totally on a fluke.” She had purchased a building filled with baby food jars and didn’t know what to do with them. She turned them into candles “and it grew from there,” she said.
The company — which now has almost 3,000 employees worldwide — is headquartered in Charleston, S.C. Propes said she formerly lived in Mayfield, Ky., for about 25 years and relocated to a port city to be around raw good materials.
“MVP is excited to continue strengthening our roots in western Kentucky and now in Fulton,” said Travis Propes. “Our growth will continue to be dependent on our employees and our customers’ satisfaction. We wish to thank the Commonwealth of Kentucky, local officials, TVA and Eddie Crittendon, executive director of the Fulton County and Hickman County Economic Development Partnership, for all of their efforts with this project.”
To encourage the investment and job creation in Fulton, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives up to $2 million through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the term of the agreement through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.
“On behalf of myself and the board of commissioners, I would like personally to thank MVP for choosing the City of Fulton for this new expansion,” Fulton Mayor Elaine Forrester said. “We are proud to have them locating here and we are excited to be a part of their future growth. The City of Fulton is a very industry-friendly community and we are proud to have them as the newest member of our industrial family. On behalf of the city of Fulton I would like to thank Gov. Beshear, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Cabinet for Economic Development for working alongside our two-county economic development director, Eddie Crittendon, to help bring these much-needed jobs to Fulton.”

Published in The WCP 3.5.13