Of course, northeast Ohio's location near Detroit makes it a natural for such auto-related operations, and the area hopes to continue growth in this industry. "We know where our bread and butter is," says Don Jakeway, president and CEO of the Regional Growth Partnership in Toledo. "We've identified 10 major industry clusters that are driving our economy, and automotive manufacturing and automotive supply are certainly major pieces of that."

Another industry that is growing in northeast Ohio is distribution/logistics, as the new Jeep center illustrates. Part of the growth in this industry can be attributed to the region's immense infrastructure network. Toledo, for example, offers the Toledo Express Airport "that has become a real destination point for investment for international air cargo capabilities," says Jakeway. "We have BAX, which is our major facilitator there. We have good port facilities, and we're the second leading rail freight center in the country. We're also uniquely positioned with the roadway network, which includes the Ohio Turnpike system and I-75."

Many northwest Ohio towns are investing in their infrastructure to bring in more distribution business. Fostoria has been working with the state to expand its current infrastructure in order to alleviate any congestion for both highway and rail. (For more details, read the Small Towns story on pg. 306.)

It was Fostoria's strong rail capacities -- despite any congestion -- that brought two major distribution facilities to the city. First, Ford Motor Co. and Norfolk Southern have built a $38 million, 220-acre (89-hectare) distribution complex to serve the northeastern quadrant of the United States and the eastern half of Canada. Ford expects to distribute 1 million to 1.2 million vehicles a year from this facility.

Charter Steel has also established a 35,000-sq.-ft. (3,252-sq.-m.) steel handling, steel distribution and warehousing operation in Fostoria. The Saukville, Wis.-based firm leased an existing facility that has rail service running through the middle of the building.

"These underscore the fact that we're an excellent location in terms of our proximity to marketplace," says Dennis Hellmann, executive director with the Fostoria Economic Development Corp. "Both operations are here because of our location and fairly quick access to the East Coast, to Cleveland, Pittsburgh as well as Detroit."

Building on its natural amenities, northwest Ohio has also become a hot bed of agribusiness activity, including everything from straight farming through to value-added food processing. Heinz, for example, is expanding its food processing operations in Fremont. The company is investing $43 million to add more than 400,000 sq. ft. (37,161 sq. m.) of space to its ketchup plant, adding 175 new jobs to its existing 435 person work force.

In Fostoria, several food processing operations are already in place. Included among those is an Archers Daniel Midland soybean processing plant, Mennel Milling's wheat milling plant, and CountryMark has a grain storage facility there. "The land is very fertile and very flat, so there's a great deal of agriculture here," says Hellmann. "And because of the rail service, there's excellent storage capacity."

Manufacturing also continues to do well in northwest Ohio. Whirlpool has announced an expansion at its Clyde facility, where it will produce a new line of dryers. The $100 million expansion will create 150 new jobs. Johnson Controls also plans to develop a new $10 million, 150,000-sq.-ft. (13,935-sq.-m.) manufacturing plant in Northwood, where it will employ 140 workers.

But like its Ohio counterparts, northwest Ohio, too, is evolving into a more high-tech-oriented economy, while maintaining growth in its more traditional industries. Some of the high-tech industries that the region targets are polymers, which already have a large presence in the market, particularly as they relate to the automotive industry, telecommunications and advanced manufacturing.