FRANKFORT, Ky. – Gov. Andy Beshear highlighted a new addition within the state’s health care industry as Lunae LLC, the management service organization of Oria Health, plans to establish its corporate headquarters at the Western Kentucky University Innovation Campus, investing $266,000 and creating 33 quality Kentucky jobs.
“Ensuring that Kentuckians from every corner of the state have access to quality health care services is critical to the commonwealth’s continued success and growth,” said Gov. Beshear. “Innovative companies providing quality services and high-paying jobs, like Lunae, increasingly are choosing Kentucky to locate and grow their business. I want to thank company leadership for believing in the commonwealth and Southcentral Kentucky and I looking forward to their future success.”
Company leaders will locate the new headquarters at the WKU Innovation Campus, establishing Oria Health’s first location in the commonwealth. The project is anticipated to create up to 33 full-time jobs, consisting of a core team of 10 employees and contractors and full-time staff to support ongoing operations as the company builds its portfolio of local partners and clients. Oria will also add Kentucky licensure for its current team of 50 therapists, psychiatrists and psychologists to help increase access to care for Kentuckians immediately.
“From the moment Oria’s founder, Dr. Richard Connell, painted his vision for leveraging telehealth to help reach the people who need it most, I knew he was ready to build something special,” said Oria CEO and Lunae co-founder Amanda Havard. “When discussing expansion, we knew we needed to find somewhere special. When we came to Bowling Green and got to witness firsthand the unbelievable alignment of the WKU Innovation Campus, the Chamber, local government and business resources, we knew that we’d found a place to call home. We’ve chosen Bowling Green because we can see it is uniquely poised to build an uplifting, cohesive, collaborative community for innovators, entrepreneurs and creatives. After a decade and a half of surviving in competitive environments, we’re looking forward to cultivating a collaborative ecosystem here in the commonwealth.”
Oria Health is a leading telehealth-first behavioral health company dedicated to revolutionizing health care delivery and ensuring access where it’s needed most. Focusing on improving patient outcomes and access to quality care, Oria Health develops innovative tools and technologies that empower therapists and health care providers. By leveraging telehealth services, Oria Health aims to transform health care delivery, making it more accessible, efficient and patient-centered. Oria Health is the core client of Lunae, which uses human-centered design principles and multiple developmental and learning theories to take the creativity and the brilliance of innovation to create something tangible.
The WKU Innovation Campus is an applied research and intellectual hub that spurs innovative collaboration, promotes problem-solving and nurtures talent to elevate the economy and region. Through real-world applications and entrepreneurial support, the Innovation Campus engages and connects researchers, students and start-ups with corporations, industry leaders and local businesses to tackle challenges and foster a talent-first strategy to meet the needs of the region’s growing industries.
Buddy Steen, WKU Innovation Campus CEO, looks forward to adding a collaborative, creative company like Lunae to their growing entrepreneurial community: “Amanda Havard and her teams at Oria Health and Lunae are collaborative thought leaders. That makes them perfect additions to our entrepreneurial ecosystem and to the community of co-creators we have across the WKU Innovation Campus.”
To encourage investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in June preliminarily approved a 10-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $200,000 in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $266,000 and annual targets of:
Creation and maintenance of 33 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years; and
Paying an average hourly wage of $28 including benefits across those jobs.
By meeting its annual targets over the agreement term, the company can be eligible to keep a portion of the new tax revenue it generates. The company may claim eligible incentives against its income tax liability and/or wage assessments.
In addition, Lunae can receive resources from Kentucky’s workforce service providers. Those include no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job-training incentives.
