A    S I T E    S E L E C T I O N    S P E C I A L    F E A T U R E    F R O M    M A Y    2 0 0 0

---

Automotive Activity Roars
Along Ohio's I-75 Corridor

As I-75 crosses the Ohio River, it lands in the heart of Cincinnati, where manufacturing is the hot sector of business activity. In fact, the I-75 corridor, says Jerry Keller, director of economic development with Cinergy/CG&E's economic development department, is the center of Cincinnati's manufacturing roots. Commonly known as the Mill Creek Valley, the I-75 corridor is home to the old Cincinnati industries like foundries and meatpacking, and Proctor & Gamble, which is headquartered in Cincinnati, has all of its Cincinnati operations along the north-south corridor as well. This history in manufacturing ensures newer companies locating in the area that they are getting a skilled manufacturing work force.

Last year, several companies latched onto the labor force and located along Cincinnati's I-75 corridor. AM General, based in Terre Haute, Ind., for example, invested $12 million in Cincinnati for a new manufacturing plant, and Bear Locher USA also invested $10.4 million in a new manufacturing facility.

Much of Cincinnati's activities, however, are in the automotive arena. For example, Isuzu Automotive, a Japanese automaker, invested $14 million in a 600,000-sq.-ft. (55,742-sq.-m.) parts distribution center in Cincinnati last year. And Ford Motor Co. continues to grow in the Greater Cincinnati area. "Ford Motor Co. almost every two years has made major investments in a truck transmission plant that has been in our area for years," says Keller. "The most recent one is a $155 million investment that will create 220 jobs."

The automotive industry continues to do well along the I-75 corridor as it heads out of Cincinnati into the Greater Dayton area. In fact, the Dayton region is the second-largest automotive manufacturing region in the country. "And about 99 percent of that rests in the city of Moraine," says Rod Smith, director of economic development for the city of Moraine. "Automotive manufacturing has pretty much been our bread and butter. In the city of Moraine, we have one GM facility, three Delphi facilities, a Demax facility and an Innovan facility. So we're saturated with the automotive industry."

Among Moraine's latest big deals was a Demax facility that was announced in 1998. Demax is a joint venture between General Motors and Isuzu that manufactures diesel engines. The auto-related manufacturer is investing approximately $300 million for the new facility. GM is phasing out an existing engine plant in Moraine, and its 600 workers will relocate to the Demax facility.

Moraine also landed the world headquarters for Innovan, a spin-off company of Carpenter Truck and Bus. Innovan produces step vans for users such as UPS and FedEx. The company is currently renovating an 82,000-sq.-ft. (7,618-sq.-m.) facility, and "they're projecting 600 employees in the next five years," says Smith.

Greater Dayton's location on I-75 and I-70 made the area very attractive for Emery Worldwide's latest expansion as well. Emery, a global freight transportation, customs brokerage and logistics management company, is investing $89 million to expand its North American sortation operations at the Dayton Airport.

Greater Dayton's location at the "Crossroads of America" (the I-70/75 intersection) has also made the area a hotbed of distribution activity as well. "The region offers one of the top surface transport markets in the United States, reaching 51.8 million households within a 36-hour truck delivery," says William P. Murphy, vice president of marketing and communications with the Dayton Regional Alliance. "Largely because of this access, distribution facilities such as Meijer, Super-Value, Honda, Greenville Technology and United Retail have located distribution centers here."

Further north on I-75, Lima, Ohio, in Allen County, looks forward to landing major deals along its part of the north-south corridor. In the past two years, Allen County has developed four industrial parks that front the I-75 corridor, and it has opened up an additional 135 acres (55 hectare) of industrial land where it established a foreign trade zone.

These efforts are starting to garner strong results. "We've been able to attract a number of very high-profile businesses to these sites," says Marcel Wagner, president and CEO of the Allen Economic Development Group, and many of them have been in the automotive industries. "In 1997, Siemens Automotive occupied a 50,000-sq.-ft. (4,645-sq.-m.) spec building, which initially created about 90 jobs. This past year, the building was more than doubled in size; it's about 110,000-sq.-ft. (10,219-sq.-m.), and they added about 60 jobs."

The foreign trade zone has also won its first tenant -- yet another auto-related company. PPG Industries, a Fortune 100 company, is building a 260,000-sq.-ft. (24,155-sq.-m.) distribution center for automotive finishes there. The $10 million project will create 80 new jobs.

Heading up I-75, the automotive industry continues to prosper as it enters northwest Ohio. Toledo's I-75 location and its proximity to Detroit make it an ideal site for auto-related facilities. DaimlerChrysler, in fact, has invested in the Toledo market twice in the past couple of years. Last year, the automaker built a new $600 million, 1.1 million-sq.-ft. (92,903-sq.-m.) Jeep manufacturing plant in Toledo, and this year it will invest another $21 million for a new logistics center to be located adjacent to the new Jeep plant. The logistics center, will employ approximately 300 workers.

Auto parts supplier Johnson Controls found the market's automotive access too hard to resist as well. "They're building a brand new facility here in Northwood, Ohio, which is in the Toledo area," says Don Jakeway, president and CEO of the Regional Growth Partnership in Toledo. "That's about a 150,000-sq.-ft. (13,935-sq.-m.) facility, and it will create about 140 new jobs."

Off the Beaten Path in Springfield, Ohio Although Springfield is off Intestate 75's beaten path through Ohio, it's not so far off that it doesn't gain from its nearby location. Located northeast of Dayton along I-70 between I-75 and I-71, Springfield has seen a lot of activity of late in many of the same industries locating along the I-75 corridor. Automotive manufacturing, in fact, seems to find the "road less traveled" just fine for doing business. Navistar international, for example, is currently wrapping up its US$137 million, 273,000-sq.-ft. (22,018-sq.-m.) foot stamping and cab assembly plant, which is set to begin production in 2001. The plant will add 211 new jobs to the Springfield area. "Navistar International will build its 'next generation vehicle' in Springfield," says Tom Franzen, deputy economic development administrator with the city of Springfield, "which helped solidify its position in the auto- and truck-related industries. This development has given suppliers the confidence and security they need to locate in Springfield. And [the city's] central location is ideal for servicing the auto industry; it puts companies within a 45 minute drive of the Honda's assembly plants in north central Ohio; General Motors' truck and bus plant in Moraine; Delco Products in Dayton, Vandalia and Columbus; Acustar and Delphi in Dayton, as well as the Navistar plants in Columbus and Springfield."