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Southeast Ohio |
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Southeast Ohio |
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Though each county has its individual character, the region has several defining features in common. Some instances:
Southeast Ohio has much heavy industry -- chemical and metals companies and power plants which benefit from cheap water transport. But away from the river and hidden among the hills, the automotive, plastics, metal- and wood-working industries have a substantial presence. And in counties like Washington, Noble and Perry, which enjoy immediate interstate access, distribution is fast becoming a major economic generator.
There is a high level of personal safety in this region where most people never lock their cars.
Workers are abundant and looking for jobs. When companies announce job openings, there is typically a rush of applicants. For example, the waiting line at Athens Plastics was 500 job seekers long for that company's 60 openings. Some were unemployed; some work in Columbus and were seeking jobs closer to home. Chevron Chemical Co. in Washington County received 550 applications for 10 jobs at the company's $58 million expansion. Even more impressive was the 2,100 people who showed up to apply for jobs at Ormet's Reduction Plant and Rolling Mill in Hannibal. Some people had camped out overnight in the Monroe County town in order to be at the front of the line. |
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Ed Forshey, manufacturing manager of Glacier Vandervell in Noble County, sums up industry's approval rating of Southeast Ohio labor: "We've been very impressed by the quality of employees we've been able to recruit. They're highly skilled and have an excellent work ethic." The company employs 430 people at its 220,000-sq. ft. plant in Caldwell.
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Adds Keith Mills, plant manager for TS Trim in Athens County: "One of the biggest reasons we were able to go to a total team environment is because of our work force. It stands head and shoulders over others I've worked with in the past." TS Trim is a Japanese-owned company and a supplier to Honda of interior trim and seat covers. |
Says Jack Klimp, general manager of Midwest Steel in Pomeroy (Meigs County): "Our people are our greatest asset, with their specialized skills in engineering, maintenance, machining and a broad range of other functions." The company makes specialty rail tracks used in mines, as well as tracks for such Hollywood movies as Raiders of the Lost Ark.
No county is more than an hour's drive from any vocational education resource.
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These training resources are highly tuned to industry's needs and proactive in offering their services. For ITT Automotive, for example, the Perry County campus of Hocking College trains automotive tubing producers on the actual machines used in the plant. For Hocking County the college is setting up a training program for maintenance personnel at the request of local industries. Washington State Community College in Marietta has had a training program for chemical operators in place for a decade.
Ohio University, whose main campus is in Athens, is a major training and education resource for Southeast Ohio. It has five branch campuses in the region. |
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One example is Ormet Corp., which produces aluminum products for fabrication, extrusion and conversion markets. The largest employer in Monroe County, Ormet's Hannibal Reduction Division is the nation's third largest aluminum smelter. The adjacent Hannibal Rolling Mill makes specialty aluminum sheet products. The two facilities together employ 2,500. One reason the company has been in the region since the 1950s is that it makes good business sense.
"We're very high on Monroe County," says CEO R. Emmett Boyle. "There is plenty of experienced, hard-working labor here. The river provides inexpensive transportation for raw materials, and we have excellent rail and truck lines for finished products." |
Business climate figures substantially in many of the industrial expansions. Mike Julian of Amanda Bent Bolt reported the typical opinion when he said, "Hocking County did double back flips for us at each of our expansions."
Unemployment rates in Southeast Ohio are above the state average, except in Athens and Washington counties. To court prospective industry, the eight counties are investing in site preparation. Monroe County has a 100-acre park adjacent to the county airport. At the new 70-acre Riverview Commerce Park near Belpre (Washington County), Wal-Bon of Ohio recently located a $3 million bakery. Athens County has opened Poston Industrial Park's 80 acres. Perry County is preparing a 150-acre greenfield site three miles from I-70. And Meigs County is developing Tuppers Plains Industrial Park, 60 acres at Routes 7 and 50.
