Lakeshore Learning to build new facility in Garland, bring 540 jobs

Brice Wallace 

An educational materials company will learn a lot about Utah as it builds a distribution center in Garland in Box Elder County and adds 540 jobs over the next decade.

Lakeshore Learning Materials LLC, based in Carson, California, will build a facility of about 1.6 million square feet in the Golden Spike Inland Port, an area recently approved by the Utah Inland Port Authority board and encompassing parts of Garland, Tremonton, Brigham City and Box Elder County.

Utah government documents estimate the project investment at{mprestriction ids="1,3"} $219 million.

“We’re very excited about Garland,” Jen Centazzo, the company’s chief operating officer, told the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (Go Utah) board at a recent board meeting. “We feel like we’ve found a community where we can really have a great mutual relationship. We are looking forward to being part of the fabric of that community.”

The Go Utah board discussed the project before approving a tax credit incentive for the company, which later also received a property tax incentive from the Utah Inland Port Authority board.

Founded in 1954 by single mother Ethelyn Kaplan, Lakeshore Learning develops and retails learning materials and furniture for early childhood education programs, elementary schools and homes, and is now expanding into middle schools. It also offers services to support the educational community, including professional development training for teachers; classroom design, delivery and installation; and customized product design to support entire school districts and specialized education programs.

“We’re really trying to be there for educational partnerships as much as possible,” Centazzo said.

Lakeshore has more than 3,000 employees and more than 60 retail stores, including one in Salt Lake City. Unprecedented growth since the COVID pandemic has pushed the company to open a third distribution location. Its headquarters and a distribution center are in Carson and it has another distribution center in Kentucky for a total of more than 2 million square feet of distribution space.

The company website indicates Lakeshore also has expanded its export market and opened offices in Asia.

“We are excited by Utah’s strong sense of community and the state’s deep-rooted tradition of supporting families, education and businesses similar to ours,” Artin Ghazarian, the company’s chief distribution and logistics officer, said in a prepared statement. “It feels like we have found a home here, and we’re eager to become an active part of the local community.”

“We are very excited with Lakeshore,” Garland Mayor Linda Bourne told the Go Utah board. “It’s been a pleasure working with them. We look forward to them being in our community. I think their values as far as family and things like that really coincide with what our city is.”

“We are excited to have Lakeshore,” added city planner Valerie Claussen. “They’ve been a great partner already, and we look forward to a long-term relationship with them as they come to Garland.”

The Go Utah board approved a tax credit incentive of about $7.17 million over 10 years, tied to the creation of 540 jobs paying an average of $54,282. The new wages are expected to total about $303.5 million over 10 years, and the project is expected to generate new state taxes of $18.9 million during that time.

The board also approved an Industrial Assistance Account nonmatching grant up to $1 million for infrastructure development and talent development.

The Inland Port board approved a property tax differential rebate equivalent to 60 percent of the assessed property tax, for no more than 25 years.

“We are thrilled to welcome a renowned company such as Lakeshore Learning to Utah,” Ryan Starks, Go Utah’s executive director, said in a prepared statement. “The company is a great match for Utah with our shared priorities and focus on education, our value of teachers and schools, and our emphasis on families and their diverse needs. We look forward to seeing the positive impact Lakeshore Learning will continue to make on the education landscape for Utah and beyond.”

“Lakeshore Learning is an excellent example of the type of company we want to partner with to create lasting prosperity in Utah,” said Scott Cuthbertson, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. “Not only is it stimulating the economy through significant capital investment in rural Utah, but it’ll also be manufacturing educational products to be distributed nationwide and giving back to the local community in meaningful ways.”

“We’re excited to welcome such a wonderful family-owned company to family-friendly Box Elder County,” said Stan Summers, Box Elder County commissioner. “We are grateful Lakeshore Learning chose Box Elder County and the state of Utah for its newest location.”

Go Utah does not provide upfront cash incentives. Each year that an incentivized company meets the obligations in its contract with the state, it will qualify to receive a portion of the new, additional state taxes the company paid to the state.{/mprestriction}