ASHLAND — The manufacturer of Purell hand sanitizer intends to bring 60 to 90 jobs to Ashland.
Earlier this year, GOJO of Akron signed a seven-year lease for a more than 600,000 square-foot facility located at 1250 George Rd. in Ashland.
The GOJO Ashland Distribution Center expands the business’s warehousing and distribution network, which includes four other manufacturing and distribution centers in Northeast Ohio.
GOJO has been an essential business throughout the pandemic, producing and shipping 300 percent more PURELL Hand Sanitizer into every market and geography than in 2019, according to a press release.
In response to the immense demand, GOJO had activated two million square feet of manufacturing space, doubled the number of plants in North America, added facilities in Maple Heights and Navarre, Ohio, and added more than 500 new jobs.
The GOJO Ashland Distribution Center is expected to have three shifts once fully operational with approximately 60 to 90 team members. The distribution center will be fully operational in late spring 2021.
“Demand for safe and effective PURELL skin and surface sanitizing products remains extraordinarily high,” Carey Jaros, GOJO President and CEO said in a release. “The pandemic has created a fundamental shift in awareness and behavior around hand hygiene and surface disinfecting which we expect to endure long after the crisis is over.
“We will keep doing what it takes to ensure PURELL products are available to all who need them to stay healthy and well – today and in the future. We are thrilled that our continued growth supports jobs and our local communities in Northeast Ohio.”
On March 2, Newmark Knight Frank (“Newmark”) announced the leasing of the 602,378-square-foot building. Newmark Vice Chairman Terry Coyne represented the property’s owner, the Mid-America Management Corporation, in the long-term lease transaction to a confidential tenant.
“The property’s central location puts it at a great advantage in terms of distribution in the Midwest region,” Terry said. “Less than two miles from I-71 and accessible to many major Midwest cities, the facility is four hours from Buffalo and Indianapolis; three hours from Cincinnati, Detroit and Pittsburgh; and two hours from Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo and Akron/Canton.”
Coyne added that the building itself, which was built in 2001, has many characteristics that companies desire in a distribution center, including 36-foot clear height ceilings, an ESFR fire protection system, ample parking for cars and trucks and multiple docks and drive-in doors.
The space has formerly been occupied by McGraw Hill, according to Mayor Matt Miller.
“The City of Ashland is excited to welcome a new business partner to one of our area’s largest industrial distribution facilities and we especially want to thank Terry Coyne and his Newmark team for the work they did in making this partnership happen,” Mayor Miller said. “We look forward to the job growth and economic activity that will take place in this facility once it is fully-operational.”
