Huck’s Market leverages Kentucky Career Center employer services in Elizabethtown expansion 

For businesses, expanding into a new market often comes with challenges, especially when it comes to finding and hiring the right team to staff a new location. In these situations, community workforce development organizations can be a game-changer. 

For convenience store chain Huck’s Market, this support was key to successfully opening their new Elizabethtown store at 121 Ring Road in December. The business’s newest location offers a wide array of amenities, including freshly prepared food, grocery items, Godfather’s Pizza, Cluck’s Fried Chicken, gourmet coffee, 16 fuel pumps, RV fuel pumps and a remote diesel island for trucks.

The timely opening was made possible, in part, by the Kentucky Career Center - Lincoln Trail (KCC-LT), where I serve as the Business Solutions Team Lead. To meet staffing needs, Huck’s conducted multiple scheduled and open interviews with prospective employees. KCC-LT played a vital role by helping to create promotional flyers, offering the use of the center’s conference room for interviews, and leveraging their marketing resources to share job opportunities with the community.

Elizabeth Wright, Regional Recruiter/Trainer for Huck’s Market, said that the KCC-LT team was instrumental in helping Huck’s achieve its staffing goals for the new Elizabethtown store. She said even when scheduling conflicts arose, the Career Center team was able to provide tools to amend the situation. 

“Overall, it was a pleasant experience getting to work with the business solutions team at the career center,” Wright said. “When we didn’t have the space available, they provided us with a professional atmosphere to conduct the interviews to be able to hire the staff to help serve the Elizabethtown community.” 

For area employers, KCC-LT provides a variety of services, from recruiting and screening, to employee development and retention. 

One of our chief goals at the Career Center is to be a reliable partner for businesses navigating the challenges of the regional labor market, including expanding into new markets. By providing tailored support, we help businesses like Huck’s Market build strong teams that allow them to thrive and contribute to our local economy. Seeing their Elizabethtown store open successfully is a testament to the power of collaboration.

Founded in 1974, Huck’s Market operates locations across Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee. For hiring, Wright explained that the process begins with applications submitted through the Huck’s website, followed by managers scheduling interviews, conducting background checks, and completing hiring and onboarding procedures.

Wright emphasized the value of organizations that provide career services for employers like Huck’s, noting their critical role in supporting businesses as they expand into new markets.

“It helps connect us to other existing partnerships and organizations, including Veterans organizations, and break the barrier between the new company and the community,” she said. 

Now that the new location is open and fully staffed, Wright noted that KCC-LT will remain a valuable resource. She said Huck’s plans to utilize the center’s training room for new hires to complete training videos and will continue collaborating with KCC-LT to connect with prospective employees as needed in the future.

To learn more about employer services offered through KCC-LT, visit ltcareercenter.org/employers. To learn more about Huck’s Market, visit hucks.com. 

Shanika Johnson is the Business Solutions Team Lead at the Kentucky Career Center-Lincoln Trail. She can be reached by email at solutions@workforceinit.com.