Mar. 4—More new job opportunities are coming to Wilson County.

The Webstaurant Store announced on Tuesday that the company will be opening a new distribution operations facility in Lebanon's Speedway Industrial Park.

Hiring for 225 new positions will begin this year and carry into 2024.

The Lebanon facility — which will be the 19th warehouse location (with the closest being in Madisonville, Kentucky) — will utilize automated packing technology to provide restaurant, industrial and other office supplies and equipment.

"We're looking at an average wage of about $50,000 with those jobs," Wilson County Joint Economic & Community Development Board Executive Director Corey Johns said. "It's going to be a sophisticated operation. A lot of robotics and a lot of automation will be in (the plant). Folks with some tech skills that understand how to operate those machines and maintain those and keep those items running efficiently (will benefit)."

As Johns pointed out, the higher-paying jobs offered by the Webstaurant location could also allow for more shopping and dining in Wilson County as more people gain access to discretionary income.

"As the city and the community continue to progress and evolve, there's interest in additional quality of life types of amenities for citizens," Johns said. "A lot of those things come with more higher-wage jobs and more jobs that offer more discretionary income for workers. That really is a piece of the engine that continues to drive everything from more options on retail, dining and city services as well."

The company plans to work with the community to continue growth in the area.

"We are excited to continue the expansion of our distribution network with our newest facility in the state of Tennessee," Webstaurant Store Vice President of Network Optimization Caleb Clugston conveyed in a press release. "Our facility, located in Lebanon, will be our largest investment in automation and infrastructure in the company's history. The labor pool and skilled logistics workforce of the greater Lebanon, Tennessee, area made our decision easy when selecting our next site for distribution. We look forward to continued growth and positively impacting the community, as well as the State of Tennessee, for many years to come."

Lebanon Mayor Rick Bell feels that the 225 new jobs coming to the city will benefit the entire county.

"It provides other options for people, not just in Lebanon, but throughout Wilson County as far as job choice," Bell said. "One of the things that I look for as we recruit (businesses) as a city is more higher tech jobs, more higher-paying jobs, and from what I understand about this (business) is that it's a company that supports its employees in many ways. This is something that's going to be good, because it does provide good jobs, and that's something that helps everyone."

While there were no local incentives involved in Webstaurant coming to the city, the new location will be on the city's sewer and will operate off the city's infrastructure.

"It's a great investment into our community," Bell said. "It's going to provide a lot of great jobs. This is a company that supplies restaurants all over the place, and my hope is that there will be more restaurants in Lebanon for them to service here as well."