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COSHOCTON COUNTY |
A little bit of Coshocton County may live in your computer. This East Ohio Appalachian county is home of the General Electric Electromaterials plant, which serves the printed circuit board industry.
| The plant is a starting point for the boards. Using fiberglass cloth as the substrate, epoxy resins and copper foil are pressed into a laminate material. GE sells the laminate to its customers, who add the circuitry and sell it to Ford, Motorola and others. The company also produces kraft paper laminates for such less-demanding uses as toys and smoke detectors.
GE, which employs 365 in Coshocton, came to the county in the late 1940s as a maker of products from electronics to bowling alley flooring. But the only way for the plant to compete in the future is through productivity and technology, says George Bojalad, human resources manager. So in the last two years the company has taken major steps to improve both. |
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"This is a very competitive industry," says Bojalad. "The price of electronics continues to decrease, and the producers are putting the squeeze on the materials suppliers. The people who can be the low-cost producers are going to be the ones who continue to grow and thrive."
One of the R&D efforts under way is in GETEK® materials for high-performance computers. Some of the materials engineering is done at this plant.
GETEK® materials, a patented combination of an epoxy resin and a PPO GE resin, were developed here about seven years ago. These are high-performance laminates used in cellular phones and burn-in boards and other high-tech applications. The advantage is improved properties at competitive prices.
Productivity improvements at the plant are the result of GE's investment in new technology, large presses and manufacturing processes in the last couple of years. The result? "We believe we're as competitive as anybody in the United States from the standpoint of processing," says Bojalad. "We're seeing the effect in the field that we're able to compete against some competitors and custom shops that we weren't able to before."
The workforce has proven to be flexible, with employees cross-trained and moving around the plant to various tasks.
It is no accident that GE has several plants in Ohio, including the headquarters of the Lighting Division in Cleveland and aircraft engines in Cincinnati. Throughout rural Ohio there are plants for production of fluorescent lamps, jet engine testing and production. Bojalad reports that GE plants in other states sometimes do not experience the same "warm environment" that the company receives in Ohio.
| A plus point goes to Coshocton County for lifestyle. Part of this is because of the tourism industry, with Roscoe Village, a restored 1830s canal town, attracting a quarter of a million tourists a year. The former wool and wheat shipping port on the Ohio & Erie Canal is one of the top 20 historic restorations in the nation. |
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The county's positive attitude not only aids in industry recruitment -- it also assures industry retention. One example is the team of business leaders that are networking to improve the county's educational system.
"We're finding through our efforts to improve education in the community that we have a lot of common interests," says Bojalad. "If I need help or an idea I can call up Armco or Edmont or anyone else in the community and they'll be happy to help me out."
Improved infrastructure is under way in the county. U.S. 36, the main route, is being-four-laned for its 17 miles to I-77. The county has sites along the Ohio Central, an aggressive Coshocton-headquartered short-line that is connected to three Class I rail lines.
The county has two industrial parks -- Coshocton Industrial Park's 55 acres off State Route 83 and Richard Downing Industrial Park's 80 acres adjacent to the county airport, with runway access. The county's 52,000-sq. ft. shell building has rail access. The building has a lot of "extras" like steel-reinforced concrete floor, heating and sprinkler system and 22-ft. eaves.
| Auglaize & Mercer Counties | OHiO ENGINEERED MATERIALS |
East Ohio |
