For a small city with a low cost of living, Mt. Sterling offers companies a lot of bang for their buck — especially when it comes to shipping products to customers nationwide.

Two interstates provide fast shipping, allowing items produced in Mt. Sterling to reach customers quickly nationwide. And the Mount Sterling-Montgomery County Airport also helps companies move people quickly, bringing executives and customers to town on charter flights.

Road Network is Golden

Interstate access is one reason Nestle Prepared Foods Company is able to distribute its products to 48 states from its Mt. Sterling facility.

Ryder operates a 300,000-square-foot distribution facility, connected to Nestle's manufacturing plant. Frozen foods roll off the manufacturing line and into a subzero refrigerator to await shipment.

Pete Poldo, who manages the distribution center, says Interstate 64 provides a fast east-west corridor, while Interstate 75 — 30 miles west in Lexington — provides a north-south distribution route. Wide roads, he says, make it easy for trucks to serve Mt. Sterling, and the Pilot Travel Center makes the city an attractive destination for drivers. New hotels, he says, including Marriott, Days Inn and Ramada, have sprung up to accommodate travelers.

Interstates were also key in attracting Lion Uniform Group to Montgomery County. Ron Thornton, the company's director of distribution, says the Mt. Sterling-Montgomery County Industrial Authority helped Lion Uniform find a location that suited its needs and future expansion plans.

"They have always been great communicators, informing us about upcoming events, job fairs, labor issues," Thornton says. "Just about anything that we have felt a need for help on, they were there."

Lion ships about 2 million units a year to customers, relying largely on third-party carriers to deliver its products. Access to large trucking firms in Lexington, as well as a dozen smaller local firms, has been a boon for the distributor — as has Louisville's UPS hub.

Airport Offers Quick Connections

Montgomery County's airport, the fifth busiest in the state, is another distribution asset. Thornton said that Lion Uniform has used the Mount Sterling-Montgomery County Airport to bring visitors, prospective customers and management officials into Mt. Sterling.

The airport's charter flights compliment the services of Blue Grass Airport in Lexington.

Kentucky Airmotive operates Mount Sterling-Montgomery County Airport, which handles about 3,500 flights a year, including about 100 charter flights, owner Danny Hill says. The airport offers maintenance and other aeronautic services, as well as flight instruction. Hill says the airport can accommodate medium-size business aircraft on its 5,002-foot runway.