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Business activity picks up in northeast Ohio
Kent's $80 million downtown revitalization project will include a hotel and conference center, two corporate headquarters, restaurants, retail, and the Kent Central Gateway Multimodal Transit Facility that will have over 300 parking spaces. (Rendering courtesy of the City of Kent)
Best Buy is moving from Glenwillow to Streetsboro, where it is building a 368,060-square-foot-warehouse facility at Interstate Commerce Park that will serve about a 200-mile radius and create more than 40 jobs. (Photo courtesy of City of Streetsboro).
In Mahoning County, V & M STAR is building a 1.1-million-square-foot manufacturing facility to produce pipe for the Marcellus and Utica Shale Natural Gas Extraction. The company already employs about 500 people at its tube-making plant on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Youngstown. The new state-of-the-art pipe mill project is being constructed near that facility and is expected to create another 350 jobs, and provide another 1,700 or more indirect positions. (Photo courtesy of V & M STAR)
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: June 23, 2011
Recent news reports indicate that the nation is still fighting to recover from the downturn, with national unemployment rates climbing slightly. In Ohio, however, the news has been a bit brighter, with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services releasing numbers that show an average unemployment rate of 8.4 percent in April compared to 9 percent nationally.
Although the Ohio figures did not take into account seasonal factors, there was still a decrease in unemployment in all but one of the state’s 88 counties. The rates proved to be even better news in Portage County, where unemployment was down to 8.2 percent in April from 9.2 percent in March 2011, and 10.1 percent in April 2010.
Secretary of State Jon Husted also released findings showing that new business filings had increased slightly as well, with 7,737 new entities filing in April 2011, compared to 7,258 in April 2010.
Since January, the Secretary of State’s office has assisted with 30,172 new business filings, up from 27,950 during the same period of 2010.
“Business creation is a positive indicator of current and future job creation,” said Husted. “The growth in these business startup numbers is a positive trend for Ohio.”
“This is the first time we have released these filings,” said Matt McClellan, press secretary for Husted. “These numbers include for-profit, nonprofit and professional corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships and also business name registration. We are hoping to start releasing these numbers on a monthly basis.”
McClellan stressed, however, that just because the papers have been filed, there is no guarantee that the companies will actually open up, be profitable or create jobs.
Diane Fierle, executive assistant at the Portage Development Board, said she has not seen a lot of new business filings, adding, however, “my office doesn’t usually see all those.” She said things are picking up, especially in the manufacturing sector.
“I am seeing a lot more leads coming in from the Ohio Department of Development and Team NEO, with companies looking for buildings or land to build on,” said Fierle. “I do enterprise zone reports for Portage County, and several of the businesses have had an increase in employment.
“It’s all over the place from small and large industries expanding to Northeast Ohio Medical University breaking ground on a $42 million research and graduate education facility.”
In addition, she said Portland, Oregon-based Dacon Industries Co., opened a 20,000-square-foot rubber extrusion facility in Ravenna that will operate 24 hours a day, and is expected to create 10 jobs the first year.
“Things are looking hopeful. I’m seeing more activity in the past few months than I have in the last few years.”
Jeff Pritchard, director of planning, zoning and economic development in Streetsboro, said he has seen a lot of activity in his area, some involving companies relocating their facilities from other parts of the state.
For example, Best Buy is moving from Glenwillow to Streetsboro, where it is building a 368,060-square-foot warehouse facility at Interstate Commerce Park that will serve about a 200-mile radius and create more than 40 jobs.
In addition, Pritchard said an economic incentive agreement approved by the city council in April is bringing the global tire testing equipment company, Micro-Poise Measurement Systems LLC, to the area.
The company is moving its corporate headquarters, including manufacturing and research and development, into an existing building at 555 Mondial Pkwy. in the Interstate Commerce Center industrial park. Micro-Poise is transferring 150 existing jobs from its facility in Akron and will create 50 new full-time positions within the next three years.
Automated Packaging Systems has also acquired two commercial buildings, one on Mondial Parkway and another on Philipp Parkway, near the company’s corporate headquarters. The estimated $47 million investment is expected to add about 85 jobs in the next three years and possibly up to 250 over the next 10 years.
Pritchard said The Kaelin Corp. (dba Laser Expedited Transportation) is locating at 1790 Miller Pkwy., and he expects that will create about 45 jobs.
“We’re doing pretty well,” said Pritchard. “We fared the downturn well in comparison to other municipalities since we did not have to lay people off, and we are fortunate to have some new and large-sized buildings as well as old industrial properties that are attracting companies to the area.
“Our geographic location is helpful, since we are near I-480 and the turnpike so we are accessible to many areas,” said Pritchard.
There is also a lot activity in the city of Kent, including the $80 million downtown revitalization project that will include a hotel and conference center, two corporate headquarters (Davey Tree Resource Group and AMETEK), restaurants, retail and the Kent Central Gateway Multimodal Transit Facility that will have over 300 parking spaces.
The public/private partnership with the city includes lead developer, Fairmount Properties, Kent State University, the Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority and Columbus-based Pizzuti Solutions.
The complex will go up between South Water Street, Erie Street, South Depeyster Street and Haymaker Parkway, connecting with existing downtown streets and businesses. It’s expected to be finished by late 2012.
“When the revitalization is completed it will create 500 to 600 permanent jobs,” said Daniel Smith, economic development director for the city of Kent. “It will also create 300 to 400 construction jobs as it is being built.”
As an outgrowth of this project, a 35-foot-wide pedestrian esplanade will connect the new condominiums, galleries and shops that are being constructed in the central business district to the western edge of Kent State University’s campus.
The downtown project is not the only source of activity. Developer Ron Burbick’s Phoenix Project and Acorn Alley have also done a lot to change the face of Kent and create jobs.
The first two phases of the large-scale development focused on revitalizing East Main Street, while the third part created a small shopping promenade perpendicular to South Main Street, directly across the street from the landmark Kent Stage Theater.
“The Phoenix project offers smaller unique retail, restaurant and boutique shops that will help rejuvenate the business climate. There is a women’s apparel store, a sushi restaurant, toy shop, jewelry shop, dry cleaner, ice cream parlor, and more,” said Smith.
Acorn Alley also includes office space, which is being offered to businesses and organizations that serve the greater Kent region. Several nonprofits including the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Kent, Leadership Portage County, Kent State University Tannery and The Portage Foundation are part of the complex.
“The skyline in Kent will change more over the next 20 months than it has in the last four decades,” said Smith.
“We have been lucky because our genuine college town has been more resistant to the recession than other places. We did not experience the reduction in municipal taxes that some of our neighbors did in the northeast and we appear to be recovering quicker because of the university and the business innovation that has emerged from it, creating investment.”
Portage County is not the only place to witness an uptick in business activity. Walter Good, vice president of economic development, business retention and expansion at the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber said he is seeing significant activity in the manufacturing sector.
"We're seeing the order books of many companies picking up," said Good, "and this is a good sign."
While the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services is reporting a 9.4 percent unemployment rate for the county in April (not seasonally adjusted), the number is down significantly from April 2010 when the figure was 11.4 percent, and it is also an improvement from March 2011, when unemployment was 10.2 percent.
Good attributes some of the change to the Marcellus and Utica Shale Natural Gas Extraction.
"It is a big driver for companies that produce products for exploration. Locally, V & M STAR is building a 1.1 million-square-foot manufacturing facility to produce pipe for what could be the world's largest natural gas deposit and we are sitting right on top of it."
V & M STAR already employs about 500 people at its tube-making plant on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Youngstown. The new state-of-the-art pipe mill project is being constructed near that facility and is expected to create another 350 jobs, and provide another 1,700 or more indirect positions.
“Since they already have an existing facility, they have begun hiring and training while the plant is being constructed,” said Good.
In February 2010, Ultra Premium Oilfield Services - TMK IPSCO, began leasing a factory in Brookfield Township to create a pipe threading operation that will employ 120 people. This 128,000-square-foot-plant also provides products for natural gas exploration.
Good said the General Motors Lordstown Complex has also invested $350 million, and added about 1,200 workers to produce its new, fuel-efficient car, the Chevy Cruze.
"There is a lot of money being generated by these new ventures and I believe people are cautiously optimistic,” said Good. “I do think that rising gas prices may be halting some of the discretionary spending that might otherwise have occurred.”
Good said Forbes magazine in May ranked the Youngstown/Warren metro area as the fifth fastest-growing industrial area in the U.S. in the magazine’s latest “Best Cities for Jobs” survey.
"We're also seeing strength in the transportation-related sectors of our economy, and companies involved in renewable energy products are doing well. The technology sector is also showing resilience.
"There is no question that our area was badly impacted by the downturn. Between mid-2008 and late 2008, manufacturing was hit very hard. Companies that had never laid people off before were doing so. Many are now coming back and ramping up operations that will create jobs. Back then we felt that manufacturing would lead the area out of the recession, and that is what is happening," said Good.