“We are seeing a lot of improvement and a lot of interest,” said Economic Development Coordinator of Mansfield Tim Bowersock.
A project immediately on the economic radar is Ohio Valley Manufacturing’s expansion and addition of employees. The metal blanking and stamping facility, owned by the Fanello family, is building a 35,000 square foot addition. The structure will house new equipment and over the next three years they will have an opportunity to add about 30 new employees.
ADENA Corporation is set to embark on a new project within the site of the building. The construction company is getting ready to break ground on another building on their complex. Bowersock said the structure will be a 27,000 square foot building and will allow Adena to bring all their equipment on site.
“Right now, their equipment is on another site and it makes it somewhat complicated when their workers come in and then they have to leave to go get the equipment for a job,” explained Bowersock.
Bowersock explained that while it will not add a large number of employees, the expansion will allow ADENA to streamline and increase production within the metal fabrication division of their company.
“They may add four or five, but the fact that will be able to bring everything on site is huge. This worked out good for them and good for us,” said Bowersock.
Bowersock also noted that Jay Industries and Newman Technology are back to pre-recession level of production.
“When things were slow they concentrated a lot of effort on becoming more productive and they have basically gotten back to production levels,” said Bowersock.
Longview Steel is also preparing to expand. Recently, Longview Steel purchased a building located at the Mansfield Lahm Airport. The acquisition will serve as a plant two for Longview Steel.
Bowersock also noted that Hyundai Ideal Electric completed a project in 2013. The project had started in 2012. “They are scheduled to add 75 jobs through 2013-2016 and it was about $15 million investment,” said Bowersock.
Sky Box Packaging also completed a small, internal expansion, adding new equipment and other upgrades. The company has added five new jobs, but are looking to add more this year.
Bowersock also shared that the building that housed Value City was sold to an East Coast developer. “They are looking to put a tenant or multiple tenants in the space. It is a pretty good size facility,” said Bowersock.
Mansfield has attracted some new businesses to the area. A new Panerea Bread now sits on Lexington Avenue and a new Dollar General just opened on the corner of Springmill and Bowman Street. There is also a new Family Dollar that will be located where Ritchie’s Market was previously established.
The new Veteran’s Clinic will be opening this year. Bowersock said that the plans are to hire an additional 30 new employees.
“MedCentral has merged with Ohio Health and they are committed to a considerable bond of capital. They have already started part of the project by relocating their handicap parking lot to make way for some future construction that will be taking place out there. I think we will see more growth by the Veteran’s Clinic,” said Bowersock.
During 2013, Bowersock stated that there were 12 projects that Mansfield was involved with and the projected investment was $41 million.
“Some of those projects will carry over into 2014. Of 12 projects, about 10 have moved forward and we are looking at about 300 jobs being added over the next two to three years,” said Bowersock.
Bowersock said that Star Tek announced to hire an additional 90 employees. “We were very fortunate for them to come to Mansfield in 2007,” he added.
Other spaces in the city are undergoing demolition but also hold the promise of new development. The former Woodville Elementary site is one such example.
“We do have some developers that have talked with us about the site and there is some potential for that site to redevelop over the next couple of years,” said Bowersock.
Bowersock also noted that a grant was awarded in 2013 for the final environmental remediation and demolition of the former Mansfield Foundry. “The demolition should be done in 2015. We do have a company that is interested in going on the site,” said Bowersock.
Bowersock reviewed the local developments saying, “We have a lot of different avenues that we work through and we get a lot of assistance with Richland County Development Group.”