MEIGS COUNTY

In every adversity one can usually find an advantage. In Southeastern Ohio's Meigs County, the adversity is a downsizing coal mining industry, which is a casualty of Clean Air Act mandates. The advantage is availability of a large pool of workers with skills much in demand by industry. The retrenching mining sector has released hundreds of workers adept at electronics, hydraulics and machinery maintenance, among many other skills.

These are the kind of skills that win praise from Meigs' industry.

Jim Tompkins, V.P. and General Manager of Southern Ohio Coal Co., says the abilities and reliability of the company's Meigs County work force is the best he's experienced.

Jack Klimp, general manager of Midwest Steel agrees: "Our people are our greatest asset, with their specialized skills in engineering, maintenance, machining and a broad range of other functions."

The company, a division of L.B. Foster, has been making specialty tracks in Pomeroy for markets throughout the Americas since 1961. Primarily producing rail for underground mines, the company has also been tapped by Hollywood to fabricate tracks used in such movies as "City Slickers II" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

Profile
of
Meigs
County
Location: Southeast Ohio
Population: 23,436
Transportation:
Road: U.S. 33 and 32 (Appalachian Highway)
Rail: Conrail
Air: Commercial service at Wood County (W. Va.)
Water: On the Ohio River
Major Employers: Southern Ohio Coal Co., Midwest Steel, Imperial Electric, Facemyer Lumber.

Aside from available and affordable labor, Meigs County has many strengths to put on the table for plastics firms. Among them:

Available sites, ranging in size from three to more than 1,200 acres. A major Meigs asset is a huge site on the Ohio River. The 1,266 acres, made available by Columbus Southern Power, is on the peninsula formed by the "Great Bend." Originally acquired as a site for a coal-fired generating station, the site would be ideal for makers of chemicals, resins or pellets, which often choose river sites to tap the cheap bulk commodity transportation possible on the river. I-77 is just 2.5 miles from the site via the Ravenswood Bridge across the Ohio River. A federal port authority, eight miles from the site, facilitates international shipping.

Another site -- a level 60 acres at Tupper Plains -- offers Rural Enterprise Zone tax incentives. The site, at the intersection of State Routes 7 and 681, is served by American Electric Power with 3-phase voltage, a fiberoptic telecom network, water and sanitary sewer.

A wealth of training and retraining programs, including Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio University in Athens, the University of Rio Grande and Tri-County Adult Education in Nelsonville are all within a one-half hour drive of Meigs County.

A low tax rate and no special corporate taxes. The cost of living, including utilities, taxes and land costs, is very low.

A pro-business orientation at the local government level. Meigs County Commissioners are in full support of economic development.

Says Southern Ohio Coal Co.'s Jim Tompkins: "Any time we need government services, it's just a matter of a hand shake and it's done. This is the best relationship with a local government I've ever come across."

Plastics makers and other companies also benefit from Meig's Rural Enterprise Zone incentives, a vast underground water supply, low-cost power from two sources and improved access with the widening of U.S. 33.

Economically, Meigs County is an interesting mix of small industry, agriculture and services.

Southern Ohio Coal Co., though it has undergone substantial downsizing, remains the county's largest employer, with a workforce of over 800. The mines deliver coal via a 15-mile conveyor belt to the Gavin Plant on the Ohio River, the largest generating station in Ohio.

Picture
Midwest Steel in Pomeroy makes rail track for the mining industry. And when Hollywood directors yell, "Action!", Meigs-made rails guide the camera dollies.
Meigs is one of Ohio's major horticultural areas, generating several million dollars a year in greenhouse and specialty crops. A third of the county is in farming, with vegetables like the popular Ohio River tomato giving the county a name for quality produce. Forest products have a considerable economic impact, and opportunities for such value-added activities as cabinets, furniture and flooring are apparent.

Furniture-grade lumber is locally available from Facemyer Lumber, a 1994 winner of the Governor's E-Award for export achievements.

Surveys of the workforce in Meigs County produced an interesting observation: No one wants to leave the area. The reason? The quality of life inherent in rural Southeastern Ohio is outstanding.

Recreation in Meigs County revolves around the area's considerable natural assets, including the large Forked Run State Park, a state forest and the Buffington Island historic and recreation area.

Marion County
OHiO
ENGINEERED
MATERIALS
Mid-Ohio