KTH Parts Industries in St. Paris, Ohio is hosting a walk-in hiring event on Sunday, August 16th from 1-4pm. Just bring a resume and photo ID to apply for an opening on 2nd Shift for a Product Associate. Learn more at www.kth.net.

KTH Parts Industries is hiring! The manufacturing company based in St. Paris, Ohio will host a walk-in hiring event on Sunday, July 19th from 1-4pm. Bring a resume and photo ID. To learn more about KTH, visit www.kth.net.

The CEP hosted a breakfast and awards ceremony last week to review recent successes and recognize manufacturing firms for their efforts in Champaign County. So far this year, local firms have invested more than $80 million and added more than 100 new jobs, mostly through expansions, said Marcia Bailey, economic development director for the CEP.

Much of that success is the result of local companies working together to resolve common challenges, like training and worker retention, she said.

“For the manufacturing partnership we’ve created, we’re seeing the results of that,” Bailey said.

Several Champaign County companies announced expansions earlier this year. Most recently, Weidmann Electrical Technology Inc. said last month it will add about 2,600 square feet to its facility at 700 W. Court St. in Urbana. The company, which produces specialty insulation for transformers, will also add 20 new jobs and spend at least $500,000 in new equipment as part of an expansion valued at around $2.7 million.

Navistar also broke ground on a roughly $12 million project to build a new distribution center and add 40 new jobs in Champaign County. Auto parts manufacturers like KTH Parts Industries in St. Paris and Parker Trutec also announced significant investments and expansions in the past 12 months.

Area companies and the CEP have developed several programs to boost the county’s workforce, Bailey said, and there is some evidence that’s paying off. But she said it’s also clear there’s still more work to do.

Attendance at a camp hosted by the Champaign Family YMCA has tripled its attendance since it started three years ago, Bailey said. The Inventor’s Camp enlists local manufacturing firms to teach students about skilled trades.

Manufacturers also host a booth at the Champaign County Fair to make residents more aware of the products made in Champaign County. And the CEP worked with local companies to develop a website allowing local businesses to post jobs available within the county. Manufacturers have also increasingly sought to provide internships to area high school students to make them more aware of careers in the industry.

Information provided by the CEP shows that the efforts appear to be attracting more young workers. In 2015, only about 5 percent of workers in the industry in Champaign County were between 19 and 24 years old, Bailey said. That number was about 9 percent this year.

Still, attracting skilled workers remains a challenge, she said.

“There’s not a competitions for products,” she said of local companies. “But we need the workforce to get those products out.”
By the numbers:
3,832 — Manufacturing employees in Champaign County in 2015
3,725 — Manufacturing employees in Champaign County in 2016
4,029 — Manufacturing employees in Champaign County in 2017
$64,021 — Average earnings for manufacturing in 2017

By the numbers:
3,832 — Manufacturing employees in Champaign County in 2015
3,725 — Manufacturing employees in Champaign County in 2016
4,029 — Manufacturing employees in Champaign County in 2017
$64,021 — Average earnings for manufacturing in 2017

First Posted on UrbanaCitizen.com: March 13th, 2016
By Joshua Keeran - jkeeran@civitasmedia.com
​Under the leadership of the Champaign Economic Partnership (CEP), the combined city of Urbana and Champaign County Tax Incentive Review Council (TIRC) on Thursday voted in favor of recommending the city and county continue all current enterprise zone, Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) and Tax Incentive Fund (TIF) agreements.

In enterprise zones or economically depressed areas where business growth is encouraged through tax relief, the TIRC unanimously voted in favor of continuing agreements with KTH Parts Industries, the American Pan Company and the Ultra-met Company.

Marica Bailey, CEP economic development director, said the deal with KTH, 1111 state Route 235 N. in St. Paris, is a 100 percent tax abatement for 10 years (through Dec. 31, 2016) in which the company agreed to commit over $3 million in real property and retain 92 positions.

“They have a total investment of $23 million at this point,” she said. “Everything so far is above what they have anticipated.”

Champaign County Auditor Karen Bailey reported the amount of taxes forgone to date as a result of the agreement is $1,265,606.

The American Pan Company, 417 E. Water St. in Urbana, is receiving a 75 percent tax abatement for 10 years (through Dec. 1, 2022) in return for the creation of 33 jobs and the retention of 154 jobs.

“American Pan has met their agreement regarding their employees,” Marcia Bailey said.

To date through the agreement, the company has invested $2.2 million, while $103,547 in taxes have been forgone.

Under the enterprise zone agreement with Ultra-met, 120 Fyffe St. in Urbana, the company agreed to invest $510,000 in real property, $1.5 million in personal property, create 22 jobs, and retain 30 jobs in return for a 75 percent abatement for 10 years (through Dec. 31, 2020).

“At this point, they have reported 11 new jobs created, and the investment is on track,” Marcia Bailey said.
To date, the deal has resulted in a tax abatement of $23,140.

TIRC members were also informed that an enterprise zone agreement with Parker Trutec, 4795 Upper Valley Pike, expired at the end of 2015.

Marcia Bailey said during the length of the 10-year agreement, the company received a 45 percent reduction in real property taxes in exchange for creating two positions and retaining 88 employees.

“They are now at the 88 retained and have maintained the two new employees,” she said, noting the company invested $2.1 million during the agreement.

The total amount of taxes abated over the length of the deal was $289,830.

CRA, TIF agreements
TIRC members unanimously agreed that CRA agreements, tax exemption deals benefiting property owners who renovate existing or construct new buildings, should continue with Gerald Shiffer and White’s Service Center.
The deal with Shiffer, which involves a hangar at Grimes Field, is a 50 percent tax abatement for 15 years (through Dec. 31, 2016) in return for a real property investment of $325,000 and the possible retention of two positions.
To date, $75,868 in taxes has been forgone.

“Everything is on track as specified with the agreement,” Marcia Bailey said.

The CRA agreement with White’s Service Center, 1325 N. Main St. in Urbana, is a 50 percent tax abatement for 10 years (through Dec. 31, 2019). During the length of the agreement, the company has pledged to invest $250,000 in real property and $2,500 in personal property, create one new position, and retain one position.

“They did hire a new person and have retained the other,” Marcia Bailey said. “They haven’t requested any taxes be abated as of yet, but the agreement will remain in case they decide to do so at a later date.”

TIRC members also unanimously voted in favor of continuing the 10-year TIF agreement set up by the city of Urbana to help fund the Scioto Street Improvements Project through 2021.

To date, the six businesses involved in the agreement have paid the following amounts into the fund: Aaron Rents ($35,375), Clark Station ($14,549), Midwest Dialysis Center ($32,756), McDonald’s ($38,410), Sonic ($18,516) and Family Dentistry ($28,611).

​Marcia Bailey said the TIRC’s recommendations will be presented to both the Urbana City Council and Champaign County Commission on Thursday for final approval. Council will vote on city agreements only, while the commissioners will vote on county and township agreements.

Joshua Keeran may be reached at 937-652-1331 (ext. 1774) or on Twitter @UDCKeeran.

Local manufacturers took center stage on Tuesday at the county Community Center during a “Manufacturers Thank You Breakfast” hosted by the Champaign Economic Partnership (CEP).

The event, attended by state and local officials and representatives from some of the county’s 18 manufacturing companies, was organized by the CEP to “honor and thank the employers for their dedication to Champaign County.”

“Almost everybody that is represented in this room on the manufacturing side has either had growth this past year – whether it be employees, expansion or new investment in equipment – or is getting ready to,” said CEP Economic Development Director Marcia Bailey.

The list of manufacturing companies in the county includes Bundy Baking Solutions, WEIDMANN, KTH, Ultra-met, The Hall Company, Rosewood Machine and Tool Company (RMT), Advanced Technology Products (ATP), Sarica Manufacturing, ORBIS Corporation, Desmond-Stephan Manufacturing, Hughey & Phillips, Parker Trutec, Rittal, Johnson Welded Products (JWP), Robert Rothschild Farm, Colepak, International Fiber Corporation and Honeywell Aerospace.

Bailey remarked that even with an ever-growing list of manufacturers in the county, no one is in stiff competition with the other and, in some cases, local companies are helping one another.

“The uniqueness is still there in that none of you make the same product and some of you are each other’s customer, so we want to continue that,” she said. “We want to continue the diversity that we have and bring more people here.”

Proclamations
Three local manufacturers were highlighted during the event for reaching anniversary milestones in 2015.
Urbana Mayor Bill Bean and Champaign County Commissioners Steve Hess, Bob Corbett and Dave Faulkner jointly presented Ultra-met (50 years in business), JWP (45 years in business) and KTH (30 years in business) with “Keeping Champaign County Strong” proclamations in recognition of their “long-standing dedication and service to the community.”

“We thought it was unique that three companies are celebrating anniversaries all in the same year,” Bailey said.
Representatives from the three companies were also presented with pumpkins from the CEP painted by local artist Vicki Deere-Bunnell. Each pumpkin was decorated with the company’s logo and fall scenes.

Also in attendance was Sandra Brasington, the western Ohio regional liaison for Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s office, who presented each manufacturer with a proclamation signed by Kasich and Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor.

“On behalf of the governor’s office, we want to thank you for your investment in Ohio as businesses in manufacturing,” Brasington said. “You guys are the ones making it happen, so we really want to thank each of you.”
Brasington also thanked the county’s manufacturers for “changing lives” for the thousands of workers they employ.

“You are making a difference,” she said. “You guys are doing a great job here in Champaign County, and we want to recognize that.”

Bailey presented data showing job creation is on the rise. In 2013, Champaign County manufacturers employed 2,928 people, and by 2014, the number rose to 3,487. As of September of this year, Bailey said, the number of employees working in the county’s manufacturing sector stands at 3,832.

“We’ve had over 900 jobs created in a three-year time period just here in Champaign County in manufacturing,” she said.

(Pictured above: Champaign County Commissioner Steve Hess presents Lilli Ann Johnson, president of Johnson Welded Products (JWP), with a “Keeping Champaign County Strong” proclamation during Tuesday’s “Manufacturers Thank You Breakfast” hosted by the Champaign Economic Partnership (CEP) at the county Community Center in Urbana. From left are Urbana Mayor Bill Bean, Hess, Johnson and Rachel Lewis, CEP administrative assistant. )