LEIPSIC

When Pro Tec, a joint venture of US Steel and Kobe Steel, selected the Village of Leipsic in northwest Ohio for a $250 million plant, industry observers must have scurried to their atlases to locate the tiny village (pop. 2,200) that won the four-state site search.

But the fact is Leipsic has some important assets that the steel company was seeking.

"Part of it was transportation," says W. Paul Worstell, Pro Tec's manager. "We're at the juncture of Norfolk Southern and CSX, and Leipsic is centrally located to the auto market where we send 90 percent of our output. Leipsic's just a short haul to Detroit and to the Japanese transplants."

Another asset was the availability of a 1,200-acre greenfield site, plus excellent water and sewer capacity.

But the single biggest plus, says Worstell, was "a very able and educated workforce and excellent work ethic."

"Pro Tec has a self-directed workforce," says Worstell, "so it's important that the employees be self-motivated, be willing to take ownership and have a sense of commitment. In addition, this is a very high-tech business, so it's important that the workforce have good, solid theory in pneumatics, hydraulics and electronics. Most of the people hired initially had a two-year degree or better."

Profile
of
Leipsic
Location: Putnam County, Northwest Ohio
Population:
Village: 2,203
Putnam County: 33,819
Transportation:
Road: U.S. 224
Rail: CSX, Norfolk Southern, Canadian National-GTW
Air: Toledo Express, 45 minutes
Major Employers: Pro Tec, Crabar Business Systems

Most of the young people in the area are from farming backgrounds and have hands-on experience with machinery. There's also a higher education level in the region and a very strong family structure.

Picture
The Pro Tec plant sits on a 1,200-acre greenfield site.
Pro Tec's niche is the upper end of the hot dip galvanized market. The galvanized and galvanealed steel is used in everything from the auto hood to the ash trays -- anything that needs to be corrosion-resistant. The trick is to impart corrosion resistance on the steel substrate but also make a surface that readily accepts paint. The Pro Tec process achieves that goal.

Pro Tec invested heavily in its workforce. The company hired a year in advance of start-up, so employees were part of the team from the ground up. The machine operators had upwards of a thousand hours of training when the plant opened.

The plant is more than meeting expectations -- in fact, Pro Tec's 124 employees broke a world record for galvanized steel production in 1995. The plant has already exceeded the engineered capacity by 10 percent, so the company is raising its expectations. "Last year's record performance becomes a new standard," says Worstell.

The labor force qualities attractive to Pro Tec are often cited by other Leipsic firms. Ed Suter, plant superintendent of Patrick Plastics, reports, "If we ask our people to come in two hours early or work two hours later, we usually have a very good response."

The company, a unit of RXI Holdings, designs and blow-molds plastic bottles, largely for the sanitation and agricultural industries. The company uses its Leipsic warehouse to inventory eight million bottles for customers.

Picture
The "process pulpit" at Pro Tec.

Hocking County
OHiO
ENGINEERED
MATERIALS
Marion County