Bookstore Operator Growing in Grant County
A Grant County-based bookstore operator has announced plans to expand its headquarters. Tree of Life Bookstores says it will invest more than $300,000 to make technology upgrades at its Marion facility and create up to 34 jobs by 2022.
Tree of Life offers textbook fulfillment for campus bookstores. The company says the expansion will include improvements to its Preserve software, which it developed to help streamline operations of campus stores.
"We have amazingly talented people working at Tree of Life and are thrilled to announce our growth plans at our corporate campus here in Grant County," said Darren Campbell, founder and chief executive officer of Tree of Life. "I was fortunate to attend college in Indiana, and I’m ecstatic that we have been able to grow and expand our business here. We’re grateful for state leadership that has made this state so business friendly for companies like ours."
Tree of Life operates 20 campus bookstores throughout the United States and employs 76 full-time workers in Indiana. The company says it has already hired eight new employees ahead of its goal of 34 and is currently looking to fill multiple positions, including merchandising, title research, system development and logistics.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. is offering Tree of Life up to $235,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $50,000 in training grants. The company will not be eligible to claim the incentives until Hoosiers are hired.