Aqua Ohio to Move Division HQs to Castlo Park

STRUTHERS, Ohio – The Struthers service area of Aqua Ohio will build its division headquarters in Castlo Industrial Park here, the company announced Monday, and invest $4 million to consolidate and update operations.

The building, projected to cost $1 million, will have 3,500 feet of office space and 10,800 for storage of equipment and supplies.

Aqua Ohio said it hopes to sell its division office on State Street but that its state headquarters will remain on South Avenue in Boardman.

In a statement, Jennifer Johnson, Aqua Ohio area manager, said consolidating the division’s operations into one building will “improve operational functionality. This new building will allow our service delivery to be more efficient. Obviously, having the operations and maintenance teams under one roof will make life better for our teams. Just as important is being able to store our heavy equipment under cover in an attached garage. It helps assure we can respond more quickly to main breaks, especially during cold weather.”

The new building is one aspect of the $4 million Aqua Ohio said it will spend on capital improvements such as replacing water mains throughout its service area of Struthers, the villages of Lowellville, Poland and New Middletown, and portions of Beaver, Boardman, Coitsville, Canfield, Poland and Springfield townships.

Aqua Ohio said it is committed to spending $1.6 million on replacing water mains and $900,000 on improvements to its water treatment plant and other systems upgrades over the next five years. Since 2011, the company said it has invested nearly $10.5 million in the Struthers division, and ”expects to further accelerate their water main replacement program and plant improvements over the next five years.”

Randy Partika, chairman of the Castlo board of directors, said Aqua’s investment “represents the first of several we expect to attract to the Castlo development. We recently obtained our State Certified Jobs Ready Site status for 66 acres of the park and expect Aqua’s investment to raise the profile of the entire development for other industrial manufacturing operations.”

Aqua Ohio is the state’s largest investor-owned drinking water and wastewater utility and serves about 500,000 Ohioans in 17 counties.

Pictured: Ed Wildes, safety director for the city of Struthers; Mike Hoza, executive director of Castlo; Terry Stocker, Struthers mayor; Jennifer Johnson, Aqua Ohio area manager; Steve Procick, Aqua Ohio field supervisor and Ed Kolodziej, president of Aqua Ohio.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.