In February, Governor Bob Taft claimed Site Selection's prestigious Governor's Cup for 2003.

Heavy Industry Stays Put

So far this year, Ohio has won some projects that should help keep the state competitive in terms of capital investment. In January, USEC announced its selection of the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon as the site for its $1.5 billion uranium enrichment plant, which will create about 500 jobs in the economically distressed Appalachian region of the state. (For more on this project, see North American Reports on page 268.)
        Another project, Haverhill North Coke Company's planned coke manufacturing plant in Scioto County, will benefit the same region. Announced in December 2003, the $61-million project will create more than 60 new jobs. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved a 70-percent job creation tax credit for a 10-year term valued at $828,300, provided the company, a subsidiary of Sun Coal & Coke and Sunoco, maintains operations at the site for at least 20 years. The state also made business development, roadwork development, community development and training program grants available to secure the project. Heavy industry is hardly bolting from Ohio, as these projects clearly illustrate.
        Specialty steel distributor Timken Latrobe Steel Distribution recently opened a 183,000-sq.-ft. (17,000-sq.-m.) facility in AEROPark, a multi-modal business park adjacent to the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. "We had some infrastructure issues at the site we had leased in downtown Youngstown, and many of the existing buildings we looked at were not suitable for our use," says Joe Wakeling, general manager, operations. "We knew we wanted to stay within a 30-to-40-mile (48- to 64-km.) radius of where we were located, because we have a pretty large customer base in the area."
        Site consultants helped narrow location options down to sites in northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania. "We were somewhat more loyal to the state of Ohio, given the company's roots here, and the financing package was more attractive," says Wakeling. "We worked closely with the Western Reserve Port Authority and the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce to help us through the process. We were the first company to build in the park."
        Akron-based Infocision, an outsourcing call center operator, has a major presence in the Mahoning Valley area of northeast Ohio. It operates centers in Austintown and Boardman, which are suburbs of Youngstown, and one in nearby New Castle, Pa., which combined employ more than 1,000 people. Infocision also runs two facilities in Akron as well as two in Green, midway between Akron and Canton. Still other centers are located in Mansfield and Gallipolis, the latter of which is on the Ohio River in the southern part of the state. Two centers in West Virginia round out the portfolio.
        "Our business model is to grow as our clients ask us to and to go to areas where we find a supply of quality employees," says Steve Brubaker, senior vice president, corporate affairs at Infocision. "In the case of Gallipolis, we were skeptical that we could be successful in such a small community in terms of the employment base. But we found the ingredients were there – a good, talented, educated work force, but people were going out of town for their careers. We were able to come in with 250 jobs, which was significant. We became the second-largest employer after the hospital."
        Brubaker is satisfied with Ohio and the company plans to add jobs, primarily in the Youngstown area. But economic developers should not rest on their laurels. "I'd love to see Ohio be a little more business-friendly – I'd like to see our tax structure improved, for example," he says. "We're here, and we have a significant investment here, and we plan on staying here, but that doesn't mean we wouldn't like to see improvement."
        Construction is under way in Franklin, south of Dayton, on Burrows Paper Corp.'s new facility that helped create 55 new jobs and retain more than 200 existing jobs. Burrows manufactures specialty papers and packaging for the food service industry. The new, 275,000-sq.-ft. (25,500-sq.-m.) facility replaces a leased facility that would not accommodate the company's expansion plans. Kentucky and Tennessee competed for the project, but Ohio prevailed with a $9-million Ohio Enterprise Bond, a 55-percent job creation tax credit for an eight-year term, a $1.2-million manufacturing machinery and equipment investment tax credit and a $127,000 Ohio Investment in Training Program grant.
        Back in the automotive sector, Dana Corp.'s Automotive Systems Group technology center is nearing completion in Maumee, near Toledo. The $45-million center is generating 275 new jobs and retaining 175 positions. The facility consolidates the Spicer Drive Shaft and Axle Divisions – which had been located in Lucas County, Ohio, and Ft. Wayne, Ind. – into one center, specializing in engineering and R&D for Dana's global traction technologies and torque management businesses. Dana operates 30 facilities in Ohio, employing nearly 4,500 people.