Humtown Products to Expand Again in Boardman

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Humtown Products plans to refurbish a building that was once home to an office products business at 7825 South Ave. and expand its operations in Boardman, a company executive said Thursday.

“We wanted a permanent building,” said Mark Lamoncha, Humtown’s president and CEO. The idea is to convert the space into a packaging and distribution operation for its sand core traditional and 3D printed molding business, while also adding an educational component to the operation, he said.

Plus, a showroom at the rear of the building will provide a permanent location for Futuristx, a local company that distributes the Proto Hologram, a series of holographic devices manufactured by California-based Proto Inc., Lamoncha said.

An affiliated entity of Humtown, Lamoncha Real Estate Holdings LLC, acquired the 30,000-square-foot building for $1.8 million, according to Mahoning County Auditor records. The sale was recorded Oct. 29, data show.

Last year, Humtown purchased the former Gorant’s chocolate manufacturing building on Market Street in Boardman. The building is now used for Humtown’s additive manufacturing division, where the company 3D prints sand cores used in the metals casting process. The company also operates a more traditional sand core manufacturing plant in Columbiana.

“The main operation will be the packaging,” Lamoncha said of the new building. He explained that the location will be used to store packaging materials that it ships to both locations. The new site will also sort recycled packaging material and send it to the Columbiana and Market Street plants.

Humtown currently leases a building in Leetonia and wanted a more central location for the packaging storage division, Lamoncha said.

Lamoncha said the front of the South Avenue location will be used for what he calls Career Yo“U” – a program designed to introduce young people to careers in manufacturing and new concepts. “We want to help ourselves and other companies see the value of bringing these young adults in and really connecting them and to find that career,” he said. “Our community is doing more of that than anywhere in the state. What we’re really doing is giving them a lot more awareness and exposure.”

A third use of the building will be a Proto Hall of Fame, Lamoncha said.

Earlier this year, Lamoncha and business partner Jeff Hedrich launched Futuristx, a distributor for Proto Inc.’s holographic devices. Proto manufactures booths and desktop-size units that can transmit live images of an individual or display an item in a 3D format. The technology is also enhanced with artificial intelligence.

Futuristx will occupy the rear of the building where it will showcase Proto’s holographic technology. Currently, Futuristx’s showroom occupies the front space of Humtown’s Market Street location.

“We’re very excited about the Futuristx Proto Hall of Fame,” he said.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.