Midway Products makes new industrial park possible

Toledo Business Journal, Mar 01, 2005

The Village of Columbus Grove, located about 12 miles north of Lima, has begun to install infrastructure for a new industrial park called Northside Industrial Development. This will be the village's second park, the first being Columbus Grove Industrial Park on the south side of town.

After Midway Products Group, Inc. considered sites in Ohio and Indiana for a new manufacturing facility, it selected Columbus Grove for the 200,000 square foot building, which is now under construction. Midway is a manufacturer of structural components and subassemblies for the automotive industry based in Monroe, Michigan.

The new facility will house a 3,000-ton and a 2,000-ton transfer press and will operate numerous robotic welders and automated transfer Units. It will be a tier one Supplier to the automotive industry. The main product will lie an assembled internal body side for a Ford passenger vehicle and the floor pans for the Ford Expedition.

The project will involve an investment of about $23.3 million and is expected to create 150 new full-time jobs at the project site within the first three years of operation.

As Toledo Business Journal reported in October, a number of incentives were assembled to lure the Midway project. The Ohio Department of Development awarded a 60 percent tax credit for a 10year term. Other state assistance includes a $599,430 Direct Loan and a $90,000 Ohio Investment in Training Program grant.

The Village of Columbus Grove donated the 44 acres of land, valued at $352,000, on which Midway will locate.

The Village of Columbus Grove will also be offering a 100 percent, 10-year Enterprise Zone tax incentive for new personal property investment associated with this project.

The Village of Columbus Grove bought the 44-acre Midway parcel about two years ago, when it thought it might be necessary for additional, wastewater treatment facilities, but it turned out that the current facility could be redesigned.

An additional 17 acres to the south of the Midway property are also owned by the village, as well as 40 acres to the west. "We can sell it as one piece or we can sell it as ten pieces," explained Jeff Vance, Village administrator. "We have no problem splitting it to whatever size, or we can try to acquire more land if someone needs more acreage than what we have."

An access road is being installed off of State Route 65 to access the industrial park; it will be complete in May. The road can be added onto later if the 40-acre area is split into smaller pieces and an additional access road becomes necessary.

As we go to press, the village may acquire an additional 60 acres to the north of the park, which is currently owned by Jerwers Farms, Inc.

The water and sewer lines will be complete in mid-April. Dominion will supply natural gas to Northside Industrial Development. American Electric Power will supply electricity. Telephone, Internet, and cable services will be made available through Columbus Grove Telephone Company. No rail is available at the site. The park is located in an Enterprise Zone, which will be extended to include the Jerwers property if it is acquired by the village.

The industrial park, aside from being located on SR 65, is within a 1/4 mile of SR 12. SR 30 is about 8 miles away and I-75 is 11 miles away. Northside is closer to the electrical substation than the park in southern Columbus Grove, which caused Midway to favor the north site, according to Vance, even though the infrastructure is already in place in the southern park.

Columbus Grove Industrial Park is a 24-acre development which is currently home to two companies: Five Angle Construction, Inc. and Full Throttle Power Equipment. About 17 acres are still available.