ASHLAND – Leaders from Central Ohio Medical Textiles, OhioHealth and the Ashland community came together Thursday to bless the ground where a new medical laundry facility is being constructed.

Though the Columbus-based commercial healthcare laundry company did celebrate by turning shovels of dirt, it chose to call the ceremony a “ground blessing” rather than a ground breaking. The event was hosted by Ashland Area Economic Development. 

The ceremony included prayer, scripture and a litany of blessing in what COMTEX board chairperson Heather Brandon said was an ackowledgement of the faith-based heritage of Mount Carmel and Ohio Health. Those two healthcare companies came together to form COMTEX in 2004.

The new 70,000 square foot facility is scheduled to open in late 2019 just north of the U.S. 250 bypass in Ashland. The approximately $20 million project is expected to bring 100 jobs to the Ashland community.  

“We intend to fill a majority of jobs in this plant with local employees,” Brandon said. “There will be very few transfers from the first plant.”

The company intends to process about 25 million pounds of laundry per year at the Ashland facility, bringing in medical laundry from OhioHealth’s Mansfield and Shelby Hospitals as well as from new clients up to 75 miles away, particularly those in northeast Ohio. 

Brandon said COMTEX will post a “now hiring” sign on a trailer at the construction site and hold job fairs in Ashland once the hiring process begins. 

Economic development director Kathy Goon said this is the biggest project her office has worked on in her six years in the job. 

Goon described a trip the economic development team took to Columbus late last year in which she realized COMTEX was “exactly what Ashland needed.”

Ashland Mayor Matt Miller said the city is thrilled to have COMTEX in Ashland. He noted previous mayor Duane Fishpaw, the Ashland city council and the Ashland County commissioners, along with himself and AAED, all played a part in bringing COMTEX to the city. 

The Ohio Department of Transportation also helped secure direct access to the U.S. 250 bypass, which Miller said is likely the envy of many companies in town. 

Miller said Ashland is in an era of development in which it is able to use discretion in recruiting companies. 

“We don’t have to settle for just anyone, and we won’t settle for just anyone,” Miller said. “Not everyone is going to be courted and reached out to like you were.

“The reason you were is because you’re clean, you employ state-of-the-art technology and you’ve got a company culture that will fit right into ‘The world headquarters of nice people.'”

Miller said it was the way COMTEX CEO Myles Noel talked about the company’s employees with genuine care and concern that convinced Miller COMTEX would be a good fit for Ashland. 

“I was thinking, quite frankly, as I heard him talk, that we need this company here in Ashland,” Miller said. “We’ve got good people here with a good work ethic, and that’s the type of environment we want to provide them to go and make a living for their families.”