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ALLEN COUNTY |
Say I-75 and think auto. Think auto and center on Lima and Allen County in the heart of the I-75 auto alley.
Lima is the home of a large 2,400-employee engine plant for Ford and a bevy of suppliers to the auto industry, particularly in plastics.
| One of the major suppliers to Ford is Toledo Molding & Die (TMD), which recently won Ford's Q1 quality award just six months after opening a second plant in Delphos in mid-1995.
The Delphos facility is a tier one supplier to Ford and one of the top 100 suppliers to Ford in Europe and North America in sales volume. Its business with Ford has enabled the company to grow into one of the nation's top 125 OEM suppliers. TMD specializes in assembling integrated cooling systems with 27 components, sending front end radiators for Taurus and Sable to Ford plants in Chicago and Atlanta. The radiators used to come into the Ford plants in multiple pieces -- now TMD ships an assembled module to Ford. The clean, bright, highly flexible plant employs 90. One advantage of the Lima area is a central location to serve both Chicago and Atlanta. Chicago is within four hours of Lima and Atlanta is well within one-day travel time. Another advantage of Allen County is the large base of skills in the area. "There is a lot of automotive talent in this area," says Donald Harbaugh,TMD president and CEO. "You can't find that everywhere. In addition, the moral fiber and work ethic is outstanding. Everyone considers this to be a total team effort." |
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The company has six facilities -- two in Toledo, and others in Carey, Sycamore and two in Delphos. The new $5.6 million Delphos plant is on 48 acres with plenty of land for expansion.
For TMD to put a second plant in the same area is a testament to the business climate of Allen County.
"One reason we selected this area for another plant was the quality of the people and their willingness to work," says Harbaugh. "In addition, Delphos had been through some rough times and was proactive in wanting to get its economy going. They were very cooperative."
The Harbaugh family has grown the company rapidly since they bought it in 1989. "We've got 750 people in northwest Ohio, so we're not a small company anymore," says Harbaugh.
| The Lima area has seen a good amount of new growth in recent months. Among projects are an $8 million distribution center for the U.S. Postal Service, a $3.5 million project for Freightliner, a $3.8 million distribution project for Benjamin Steel and a $150 million expansion of the Ford engine plant that created 250 jobs. Universal Engineering, a second tier automotive supplier, will bring a metal fabrication and stamping operation to Allen County.
These plants and many others are welcome news to the area, which has suffered under defense spending cutbacks. Downsizing at the General Dynamics tank plant and at defense contractors Sunstrand and Textron has left a large pool of workers skilled in aerospace and other technologically advanced fields. This also means that the area is eligible for the 13.5 percent state tax credit on machinery and equipment. A good-sized micropolitan community (pop. 45,300), Lima does not lack for services or quality of life. It is the retail and medical services hub of a 10-county area. It supports its own symphony orchestra and has two television stations and two hospitals. |
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Allen County advantages include a good stock of industrial park sites, as well as competitively priced greenfield sites. A 50,000-sq. ft. shell building, expandable to 100,000 sq. ft., is ready for occupancy.
Water supply is abundant. Costs of doing business are relatively low, particularly in construction, property taxes, transportation and utilities. The city ranks in the top five nationally in affordable housing.
| Adams County | OHiO ENGINEERED MATERIALS |
Ashtabula County |
