|
Marion County |
 |
|||
|
Marion County |
|
|||
|
The four-laned U.S. 23 delivers commuters and freight the 40 miles to Columbus or to one of three interstate highways. The main tracks of three rail lines -- Conrail, CSX and Norfolk Southern -- convene in the city of Marion, and the 100 trains a day that run the tracks are almost a permanent part of Marion's landscape. Marion Municipal Airport's all-weather runways accept executive aircraft and commercial freighters.
Marion is a best bet for rail-using companies. In times past, Marion was the largest rail hub between New York and Chicago, and for many years was known as "Little Chicago." Ask diaper-producer Drypers how much it saves over truck shipments. The company uses 400-500 rail cars a year to ship in pulp for its disposable diapers. It would take 3.5 times that many trucks to handle the raw material. The company makes a half billion diapers and 72 million training pants a year -- about 60 percent of the amount the company produces domestically. The plant can accommodate two rail cars at a time, and the company intends to expand that to three in the coming year. The fast-growing company is adding new lines to handle expanded business. "Ultra Care (the predecessor of Drypers) selected Marion originally because of its crossroads location," says Jeff Smith, logistics manager. The pro-business attitude of local government assisted in the company's rapid growth. The city took a chance on the young company when it had only 30 employees and one diaper line and granted property tax breaks. The investment paid off for the city -- Drypers now employs 350. Central Soya is one of the county's largest rail users, accepting some 5,000 carloads of soybeans a year at its Marion processing plant. For companies like Vigortone Ag Products, which makes livestock feed supplements, Marion's rail service was the initial attraction. Rail service will not diminish with the impending merger of Conrail and CSX. In fact, it will be even better. "Marion will continue to be located on the strategic key north-south line," says Steve Davis, CSX manager of industrial development. "But after the Conrail acquisition, Marion will become even more important to CSX because it will also be on one of our two strategic east-west lines -- the St. Louis to East Coast route. The Conrail acquisition should provide our customers with better service, better utilization of equipment and better transit times." Transportation assets are really nothing new to Marion. During WWII the federal government built a huge depot to supply the troops. The depot was later decommissioned, purchased and refurbished by entrepreneur Ted Graham. It is now the Marion Industrial Depot, 1.3 million sq. ft. of warehouse and manfacturing space stretching for a mile-and-a-half along State Route 309. Companies can lease space in buildings offering 16-24 ft. ceilings, dockhigh loading, heavy duty concrete flooring and adjacent Conrail trackage. Also playing on the rail theme is Marion's new Dual Rail Industrial Park, a 431-acre site served by the mainline tracks of Norfolk Southern on one side and CSX on the other. It is just two miles from U.S. 23. It has 138 KV power, a 30-inch sewer line, medium-pressure gas and water lines. |
|
"This is a real strategic advantage for industries looking at Marion as a possible plant site," says Dave Claborn, president of CAN DO!, the Marion economic development agency. "Industries locating here can be served by either Norfolk Southern or CSX. This is one of the few such sites available anywhere."
|
One of the advantages of dual rail is avoidance of switching from one line to another, which means lost time. Dual rail also opens up supply networks. And, of course, a company can play one railroad against another to obtain the best shipping price.
Marion's Airport Industrial Park is a great logistics center for light industry distributing high value products. There are several hundred acres of additional sites that are ready to go for new industry. Marion is a favored location of companies like Whirlpool, which operates the world's largest dryer manufacturing plant, with 2,400 employees. Parker Hannifin likes Marion's midwestern values, which are so apparent in the workplace, community and social fabric of the county. |
| Marion, like many cities in the late 1970s and early '80s, took a hit from the "rolling recession" that swept across the Midwest and Northeast. Closings and downsizings of several industries left a residual pool of machining and welding talent in Marion -- talent that is being utilized by a number of newer industries. Marion Steel is one of those. The company took over a former Armco Steel plant and is making a profit turning scrap into products like rebar and highway sign posts. |
|
|
Marion is generous with incentives for new economic development. It offers both rural and urban Enterprise Zones, where property tax abatements of up to 100 percent apply. The city's revolving funds can help with financing. Marion's labor surplus means companies can claim Ohio's 13.5 percent machinery and equipment tax credit. |
| Marion has the most sophisticated digital telecom network available, the endowment of GTE which maintains its three-state headquarters in the county. |
|
