LEBANON — Pearson Education will close its 1.2 million-square-foot book distribution center in Lebanon next year.
The process will begin in February and be completed by Dec. 31, 2014, the company said in a letter to employees. About 160 workers will lose their jobs at the warehouse at 135 S. Mount Zion Road, the letter said.
Some inventory will be moved to a warehouse in Cranbury, N.J.; other material will be transferred to Pearson’s Indy North site, 5550 W. 74th St., Indianapolis.
“The closing of Lebanon anticipates the current and projected impact of the shift to digital and the resulting reduction of our reliance on paper- based warehouse space,” the letter said. The Lebanon warehouse is the largest of the three locations.
In an Oct. 30 financial statement posted on Pearson’s website, Pearson’s chief executive John Fallon said, “Market conditions remain strong in digital, services and emerging markets, but are more challenging in some of our largest textbook publishing markets.”
The company said the textbook market “remained weak” because of “lower college enrollments, budget uncertainty and the transition to Common Core standards, which is continuing to affect demand for both publishing and state assessments.”
A spokeswoman for Pearson had not responded to a request for comment at press time.
Lebanon Mayor Huck Lewis said Thursday Pearson told him Wednesday morning of the closure plan.
Lewis said that Bryan Brackemyre, executive director of the Boone County Economic Development Corp., was going to speak to Pearson about working with other companies to find jobs for the distribution center’s workers.
“Hopefully, those jobs will be absorbed into different companies that are expanding,” Lewis said.
Some of those firms are also in thebusiness park, Lewis said.
CNH Industrial Parts and Services last week opened a $13 million special processing center in Lebanon Business Park, at 210 S. Enterprise Drive, in a building originally built for American Air Filters. CNH Industrial expects to hire 100 people in the coming months, Jennifer Reibel said in a media release. “Skjodt-Barrett is hiring, and we did a tax abatement for Hachette (Book Group) last night,” Lewis said. Skjodt-Barrett and CNH Industrial’s master parts depot were heavily damaged by a Nov. 17 EF-2 tornado; Skjodt- Barrett said in a Dec. 10 update that more than 60 percent of the plant’s capability has been restored, and it should be fully operational the week of Jan. 16. The economic impact of Pearson’s decision will be minimal to the city, Lewis said. “They’re still paying the taxes,” Lewis said. “We could lose county option income tax dollars, but that’s only paid by people who live here,” he said. Once Pearson is gone, however, the community will have an edge in attracting new companies. “It actually gives us a huge advantage,” Brackemyre said. “There is a very small inventory of buildings in Indiana, and in the Midwest, of that magnitude.” “It will give us a lot of flexibility,” he said, especially in reaching companies that pay higher wages.
© 2025 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.