OHIO RIVER CORRIDOR
Winding Its Way
From Pittsburgh to Wheeling and beyond, steel is making its own comeback via a number of companies. One of them is newly created global poymer and chemical company LANXESS Corp., which announced in early October 2004 that it would establish its U.S. headquarters and labs in Findlay Township, near Pittsburgh International Airport, with an investment that will include the hiring of some 435 people. LANXESS, a Bayer Group spinoff, already operates an iron oxide pigment blending facility in Imperial, Pa., part of the Findlay Township area, and has pledged to invest $10 million in Pennsylvania over the next three years.
Not far to the west, Columbiana County, Ohio, most recently experienced severe flooding as it caught the remnants of the 2004 hurricanes. But the area is seeing strong industrial activity, with expansions by plumbing fixture maker American Standard and machinery manufacturer Butech in Salem, and ceramic and tile investments by Kingwood Ceramics in East Palestine and Summitville Tiles in Summitville. In East Liverpool, Precision Finning & Bending has doubled its space. Meanwhile, the Columbiana County Port Authority is taking an active role in multiple projects. Late in 2003, the organization secured loans for the construction of a rail spur, and it has helped foster expansions at businesses like Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, located in a foreign trade zone in the 130-acre (53-hectare) World Trade Park in Leetonia. Work continues on the Wellsville Intermodal Park, where Norfolk Southern is doing rail work, access roads are being finished and dock construction is under way. The former steel kiln yard has already seen some $17 million invested in various transportation and infrastructure improvements.
"Anytime you can add a logistic amenity like a barge transfer facility, or a deepwater port, that's an important part of the site selection process," says Michael Mullady, senior associate with the Industrial Properties division of CB Richard Ellis, based in Columbus, Ohio. But he says these projects are often difficult to get permitted because of strict guidelines established by the Army Corps of Engineers along the river's path — "you can't just flip a switch and get a permit," Mullady says.
West Virginia can rightly brag about its own industrial project portfolio along the river. Wheeling has seen its share of the steel comeback, with a late 2003 announcement by Wheeling-Pitt of a $115-million investment. Parkersburg is seeing a $44-million investment by Polymer Alliance Services. Jackson County is seeing an $8-million investment from Century Aluminum, at the same time that company pursues a giant project in Iceland (see the Scandianavia Spotlight on p. 812 of this issue.) Akzo Nobel Functional Chemicals in 2003 invested $2 million in a plant in Mason County that makes fire-retardant compounds.
In Marietta, Ohio, in Washington County, industrial investments from Eramet Marietta ($20 million) and Solvay Advanced Polymers ($10 million) are helping to propel the regional economy.
"The unique part about the Ohio River, especially in Ohio, is that for a heavy industrial manufacturer, it offers alternate logistics," says Mullady. He helped power company PSEG site a combined cycle gas-powered facility in Washington County two years ago. As new "clean coal" technology comes on board, he sees an opportunity for energy producers and suppliers to look to the river as a viable solution, exemplified by the recent announcement from American Electric Power of a large coal-fired plant (1,200 megawatts) that will serve the Eastern grid.
Mullady points to "fairly liberal zoning and permitting along the river" in comparison to other markets in the region, backed by available sites and labor that send a message of "bring it, we want it." And he sees the general heavy industrial profile of the river corridor as ready to benefit from a national surge in construction.
"It's true with all of the supplies — steel, drywall, siding, nails. I'd like to see more along the Ohio River from the standpoint of drywall companies, gypsum and ash, lumber companies, the aggregate business."
Not far to the west, Columbiana County, Ohio, most recently experienced severe flooding as it caught the remnants of the 2004 hurricanes. But the area is seeing strong industrial activity, with expansions by plumbing fixture maker American Standard and machinery manufacturer Butech in Salem, and ceramic and tile investments by Kingwood Ceramics in East Palestine and Summitville Tiles in Summitville. In East Liverpool, Precision Finning & Bending has doubled its space. Meanwhile, the Columbiana County Port Authority is taking an active role in multiple projects. Late in 2003, the organization secured loans for the construction of a rail spur, and it has helped foster expansions at businesses like Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, located in a foreign trade zone in the 130-acre (53-hectare) World Trade Park in Leetonia. Work continues on the Wellsville Intermodal Park, where Norfolk Southern is doing rail work, access roads are being finished and dock construction is under way. The former steel kiln yard has already seen some $17 million invested in various transportation and infrastructure improvements.
"Anytime you can add a logistic amenity like a barge transfer facility, or a deepwater port, that's an important part of the site selection process," says Michael Mullady, senior associate with the Industrial Properties division of CB Richard Ellis, based in Columbus, Ohio. But he says these projects are often difficult to get permitted because of strict guidelines established by the Army Corps of Engineers along the river's path — "you can't just flip a switch and get a permit," Mullady says.
West Virginia can rightly brag about its own industrial project portfolio along the river. Wheeling has seen its share of the steel comeback, with a late 2003 announcement by Wheeling-Pitt of a $115-million investment. Parkersburg is seeing a $44-million investment by Polymer Alliance Services. Jackson County is seeing an $8-million investment from Century Aluminum, at the same time that company pursues a giant project in Iceland (see the Scandianavia Spotlight on p. 812 of this issue.) Akzo Nobel Functional Chemicals in 2003 invested $2 million in a plant in Mason County that makes fire-retardant compounds.
In Marietta, Ohio, in Washington County, industrial investments from Eramet Marietta ($20 million) and Solvay Advanced Polymers ($10 million) are helping to propel the regional economy.
"The unique part about the Ohio River, especially in Ohio, is that for a heavy industrial manufacturer, it offers alternate logistics," says Mullady. He helped power company PSEG site a combined cycle gas-powered facility in Washington County two years ago. As new "clean coal" technology comes on board, he sees an opportunity for energy producers and suppliers to look to the river as a viable solution, exemplified by the recent announcement from American Electric Power of a large coal-fired plant (1,200 megawatts) that will serve the Eastern grid.
Mullady points to "fairly liberal zoning and permitting along the river" in comparison to other markets in the region, backed by available sites and labor that send a message of "bring it, we want it." And he sees the general heavy industrial profile of the river corridor as ready to benefit from a national surge in construction.
"It's true with all of the supplies — steel, drywall, siding, nails. I'd like to see more along the Ohio River from the standpoint of drywall companies, gypsum and ash, lumber companies, the aggregate business."
