Winter 2012

In this issue...

Company chooses Vandalia for business-friendly environment

Incentives help pump manufacturer choose Clark County over China

Choice One Engineeing launches new venture

Mound innovator brings breakthrough technology to site

MVH Cancer Center under constrction

Need financing for your small business?

Association introduces new officers

About the association 

Business-friendly environment brings company to Vandalia

A Dayton-area plastic injection molding and assembly company is building a new, state-of-the-art facility in Vandalia to consolidate three locations into one. All Service Plastic Molding is investing $5.5 million in the 140,000-square-foot building, which is scheduled for completion in late spring.

The company, which employs 180 fulltime and 80 temporary workers, will consolidate production and warehouse facilities currently located in Dayton and Fairborn.

Company officials said they chose Vandalia after a year-long search that included locations outside Ohio. “Vandalia was by far the business-friendly environment we encountered,” said  Joe Minneman, president.

In business since 1984, ASPM serves primarily the auto, appliance, electronics and consumer- products industries. The company has seen growth in the medical, assembly and decorative molding areas, as well.

The project was the result of a joint effort between the company and the city of Vandalia. An incentive package included grants from the state and Montgomery County as well as city incentives focused on job creation.

This story was submitted by Greg Shackleford, City of Vandalia.

Back to top   

Incentives help pump manufacturer choose Clark County over China

Enon-based seepex Inc. recently received a tax abatement that will allow the company to move forward with plans to more than double current production and add jobs in the process. 

Clark County commissioners unanimously approved a 10-year, 100 percent tax abatement for the pump manufacturer that moved to Enon in 1996. The company plans to add 38 full-time, high-tech jobs to its workforce of 92, although the expansion may eventually result in 150 jobs, according to officials. 

The funds will allow seepex to expand its current 38,000-square-foot facility to 51,000 square feet and purchase machinery to improve manufacturing efficiency. Production will increase from 35,000 to 80,000 units annually. 

“This fits in with our plans to expand the growth of jobs in Clark County,” Commissioner John Detrick said. “If we’re going to compete, we have to offer tax incentives. For us to get them to remain here and expand here is a big win for Clark County.”

Power plants, oil and gas producers and municipal water treatment facilities are users of seepex pumps. The company’s equipment is also used to inject fillings into confections such as Almond Joy candy bars and Oreo cookies. Its customers include Procter and Gamble, Nestle, Keebler, Hershey and Unilever.

Last April the state provided seepex another incentive package that featured $7.8 million in loans. The goal has been to encourage seepex to retain and create jobs in Clark County rather than at an existing site in China. In exchange for the most recent tax incentive package, seepex will make payments to the Greenon Local School District and Mad River Township equal to 40 percent of the amount that would have been paid to those jurisdictions overall. During the next 10 years, the project is expected to generate $250,000 in new property tax revenues for schools and $200,000 in new sales tax for Clark County.

Company president Michael Dillon credited the state and local tax incentives and Enon’s reputation for quality workers as reasons for choosing to remain in the area.

The construction project is being managed by Wenco Inc.

This story was submitted by Mark Tangeman, Wenco. Inc

Back to top  

Choice One Engineering launches new venture

Choice One Engineering is one local firm that it isn’t afraid to buck traditional business thinking. Instead of waiting out the recession in a holding pattern, the firm is building on the success of its Sidney office by opening an additional location in Loveland, Ohio, near Cincinnati.

The concept of a second location was the brainchild of vice president Matt Hoying and design engineer Brian Schmidt, both civil engineers with the Sidney office. Along with other Choice One employees, they had been challenged by management to generate new ideas to grow and improve the business.

“We decided that the opportunity to expand the company’s geographic reach and reward the ambition of our employees was a risk worth taking,” said Choice One Engineering president Tony Schroeder. “Matt and Brian are bright, knowledgeable, hard-working employees, and with the 16 years of business experience at the Sidney location to back them up, we are confident that this venture will be successful.”

The new office is located at 203 W. Loveland Ave.

Choice One Engineering provides consulting civil engineering and surveying services to public and private clients. From the current Sidney, Ohio, location, the firm can service locations in 20 west-central Ohio and eastern Indiana counties. With the addition of the Loveland location, the firm will be able to serve 15 more counties in southwest Ohio.

Choice One’s professional services include roadway expansion and reconstruction design; storm water, sanitary sewer, and water distribution design; bridge design; streetscape, park, and bike path design; land development and site development services; traffic engineering; construction administration and observation; grant and funding assistance; topographic, boundary, and ALTA surveys; construction layout staking; and municipal services.

This story was submitted by Kaye Borchers, Choice One Engineering.

Back to top  

Mound innovator’s breakthrough technology ready for production

Dr. David Firsich, founder and president of Mound-based Inorganic Specialists, began five years ago to research and develop a game-changing energy technology that can enhance the performance of energy-storage devices such as fuel cells and lithium ion batteries. Known as carbon nanofiber paper and silicon-coated carbon nanofiber paper, Firsich's discoveries are now on their way to the next step toward commercialization: pilot production.

In recent years, Firsich has partnered with four other companies, including Mound Advanced Technology Center-based Mound Technical Solutions and EMTEC, to take the technology from the lab to the production floor. The objective is for the new pilot-scale papermaking units to increase the size of the carbon nanofiber paper from the small squares created in the lab to continuous rolls of sheet material.

Last January the partners received $1 million in Ohio Third Frontier funding to demonstrate the potential for commercial manufacturing of Firsich's products. Through its Enterprise Assistance services that support tenants committed to the Mound site, the Mound Development Corporation has helped to provide the grant match required for Third Frontier funding, including in-kind project management and preparation of the facility that will house the new equipment.

All along Firsich has been determined to locate the pilot manufacturing process at Mound. Of the options the company considered, the best turned out to be an unused utility building that provides a 3,000-square-foot area adjacent to 965 Capstone Dr. The space is being repurposed and turned into a high-bay working area that can accommodate up to three production lines as the operation expands. “We’ve been fortunate to find a suitable manufacturing space that’s close to our lab and offices,” Firsich said. “This wouldn’t have happened without a lot of cooperation on MDC’s part. They have gone out of their way to help us.”

Firsich hopes to begin regular production in early 2012.

“We’re proud to play a role in helping to commercialize this breakthrough technology,” said MDC president Michael Grauwelman. "Not only is this important for our country, but it also raises Mound’s profile as a center for alternative-energy innovation.”

This story was submitted by Mike Grauwelman, Mound Development Corp.

 Back to top 

MVH Cancer Care Center to become hub for cancer treatment, services

Miami Valley Hospital is building a $27 million comprehensive cancer center at its Miami Valley Hospital South campus in Centerville, just west of the existing medical office building. The five-story, 90,000+ square-foot center will be managed and owned by MVH and will operate as a collaboration among MVH, Dayton Physicians Network and Radiation Oncology Services.

The facility will be ready for occupancy by early 2013.

Dayton Physicians Network is the Dayton area’s largest multispecialty practice that provides the full spectrum of cancer care for adult patients. Radiation Oncology is a joint venture involving Dayton Physicians and Premier Health Partners. Both Dayton Physicians and Radiation Oncology currently serve cancer patients who come to MVH for care but are treated at several different locations. The new cancer center will expand MVH's current services and provide them one convenient location.

“Our goal is to attract the very best physicians to this facility so that we can provide the very best in cancer care. Nearly 35 physicians offering medical and radiation oncology will practice out of the new center. Those physicians will be able to coordinate patient care with increased ease and work closely together to facilitate and design more personalized treatment for those battling the disease,” said Gregory Rasp, M.D,. president and medical director for Radiation Oncology Services.

The center will also become a hub for other aspects of cancer care such as education on cancer prevention and counseling for cancer survivors who need medical and nutritional guidance.

MVH hired Columbus-based Andrews Architects Inc. to design the building and HealthPlex, also out of Columbus, to manage the project.  Danis Building Construction Co. is the project’s construction manager.

This story was submitted by Nathan Cahall, City of Centerville.

Back to top 

Small business need financing?

CountyCorp Development’s small business loan program, BizCap, offers a variety of solutions for small businesses that want to invest in equipment and real estate. As a private, non-profit development corporation, CountyCorp makes SBA 504 and Regional 166 loans to support small businesses and economic development programs primarily in Montgomery, Greene, Miami, Shelby, Darke, Preble, Warren, Clark, and Champaign counties.

Check out BizCap’s program details here.

SBA 504 Loan Program
Targets: Job creation and retention

Eligible uses:
  - Purchase of land and buildings
  - Purchase of capital equipment
  - Construction of new buildings
  - Refinancing
Loan terms: 10 or 20 years
Max loans: $5,000,000
Rates:  Near Treasury bond rates. Currently, 3.77% for 10 years and 4.61% for 20 years. Rates are fixed for the term of the loan.
Structure:
  - 50% - Bank or private lender
  - 40% - BizCap SBA 504
  - 10% - Equity injection
Temporary Debt Refinancing Program
Early last year, SBA announced a 504 Temporary Debt Refinance Program which allows borrowers to access the equity in their commercial property and use it for "eligible" business purposes, such as working capital, payment of utility expenses, taxes, paying down lines of credit and/or a term loan, and many other uses. Please contact CountyCorp for details.

Regional 166 Loan Program
Targets: Job creation or retention for Ohio-based manufacturing and/or distribution companies
Eligible uses:
  -  Purchase of land and buildings
  -  Purchase of capital equipment
  -  Construction of new buildings
Loan terms: Useful life of the asset, usually 3 to 10 years; real estate up to 15 years
Max loan: $500,000
Rates: 2/3 of Prime. Current rate is 2% fixed for the term of the loan.
Structure:
  -  50% - Bank or private lender
  -  40% - BizCap Regional 166
  -  10% - Equity injection

Also...

BizCap offers revolving loans up to $100,000 through the Community Development Block Grant Program for projects located within Montgomery County but outside the cities of Dayton and Kettering.

Finally, a Child Day Care loan program, lending up to $25,000 for licensed childcare providers in Montgomery County, is also available through CountyCorp.

To discuss your small-business financing needs, please contact CountyCorp’s business loan officers, Gary Fischer at 937-531-7083, or Scott Woods at 937-531-7034.

This story was submitted by Gary Fischer, CountyCorp.

Back to top 

Association introduces new officers for 2012

The I-70/75 Development Association is ringing in 2012 with new officers. Please feel free to contact your new officers with ideas and suggestions.

 . President – Tom Belanich, Blue Diamond Realty
. 1st Vice President – Gwen Eberly, City of Clayton
. 2nd Vice President – Rebecca Karason, Elements IV Interiors
. Treasurer – Scott Woods, County Corp
. Secretary – Keith Brane, City of Fairborn
. Past President – Greg Shackelford, City of Vandalia
. Summit Chair – Mike Davis, City of Moraine
. Professional Development – Tina Ortiz, Mark Fornes Realty, and Cory Earl, Dayton Business Journal
. Membership – Mark Tangeman, Wenco, and Chris Wimsatt, City of Fairborn
. Social Chair – Beth Gibbs, Cassidy Turley
. Website Administrator – Kaye Borchers, Choice One Engineering

Many thanks to all the 2011 officers and chairs for their dedication and leadership.

Back to top 

 About the association

The I-70/75 Development Association brings together more than 100 of southwest Ohio's most progressive businesses, local governments, economic development organizations, special districts and jurisdictions, as well as some 250 individuals, all working toward builiding a stronger Dayton region. With its 17-year history, the association strives to improve the region's development opportunities through professional development, networking and information sharing. The association sponsors monthly programming activities in addition to its annual Economic Development Summit.

For more information, please visit the I-70/75 Development Association website.

Back to top