Ashtabula Growth Partnership Reports ‘Robust’ Activity

ASHTABULA, Ohio —Ashtabula County is seeing “robust” economic development activity with no signs of slowing down, according to Growth Partnership’s executive director Greg Myers.

Last year, four existing businesses completed or started expansion projects that totaled $25 million in investment and created 175 new jobs with $6 million of new payroll with 270 more on the way.

Those direct benefits have a multiplier effect, generating additional jobs and taxes from construction, indirect supplier purchases and induced employee spending, Myers says. The Growth Partnership estimates $321,000 in new annual direct local taxes, which does not include local indirect and induced taxes that will be generated, he notes.

Myers says the expansion projects, along with the seven active projects that cannot be disclosed yet, are great signs for the local economy.

“We’re seeing a lot of robust activity, particularly in in the manufacturing sector, which is a great sign for our local economy and what’s happening here,” Myers says.

Third Dimension Inc., acquired by Green Bay Packaging Inc. in 2020, will see a 112,000-foot building expansion at its corrugated packaging plant on Pleasant Avenue in Geneva. Myers says the expansion is a $16 million capital investment that created 25 permanent jobs. Construction started last July.

A $6.5 million expansion project at Iten Defense in Ashtabula will create 100 permanent jobs, according to Myers. Iten Defense manufactures advanced composite armor products used for personal protection, military vehicles, watercraft and aircraft.

The last of the “core projects” is a relocation expansion project that has “morphed into a couple of different iterations,” says Myers.

Lake City Plating is moving from its Lake Avenue location in Ashtabula to a new, 175,280-square-foot building in Jefferson. The expansion allows the metal plating company to hire another 60 full-time employees. Myers estimates the investment at between $18 and $20 million.

Myers says he can’t disclose much information on the seven new projects. He says they’re “opportunities for us to attract new companies into the area as well as help existing companies expand.”

The projects would bring estimated $773 million investment with $20 million incentives committed and $13 million in new payroll.

Pictured at top: Conneaut Harbor. Image: Growth Partnership of Ashtabula County.

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