SPONSORED CONTENT
NORTH JACKSON, Ohio – More than two years after breaking ground, the North Jackson Commerce Park is beginning to take shape, reflecting both a long-term development vision and the entrepreneurial path of its developer, Greg Toporcer.
The site off Mahoning Avenue recently welcomed its first tenant, Shapes Unlimited, into a newly constructed manufacturing and distribution facility, marking the first phase of a broader plan to develop a multibuilding industrial park designed to attract new companies and support job growth in the Mahoning Valley.
“Phase one of the North Jackson Commerce Park building is an 80,000-square-foot building,” says Toporcer, owner of Top Property Holdings. “This building was set up to be divisible by 20,000 increments. We had a great tenant that came along. Shapes Unlimited has been a great partner. They ended up leasing the entire building.”
Toporcer says that demand is shaping the next phase of the project, which calls for additional buildings that can accommodate a range of users.
“Our vision for the park is five buildings,” he says. “The next four subsequent buildings would be 100,000-square-foot buildings set up to lease out in increments.”
Those future phases are intended to provide ready-to-occupy space for companies looking to expand or relocate, addressing a challenge that has limited economic development efforts in the Mahoning Valley.
“When a company wants to come to this area, they don’t want to wait. They’re looking for available space,” says Sam Huston, market president of Huntington Bank.
For Toporcer, the commerce park is the result of years of business growth and a gradual shift into development. He and his wife, Lori, launched Discover Global in 2007, operating out of a small facility in Austintown. Over time, they expanded into additional ventures, including Duratrain and its automotive brands Fishbone Offroad and Rust Buster.
As those businesses grew, so did the need for space. What began as a search for a larger facility evolved into a broader idea.
“We were just looking for a space for ourselves,” Toporcer says. “And then it became, ‘let’s build this park.’ ”
Bringing that idea to life required coordination among multiple public and private partners, including JobsOhio, the Ohio Department of Development and the Western Reserve Port Authority. Toporcer says a long-standing relationship with Huntington Bank was critical in navigating that process.
“The project really wouldn’t have come together without the help of Huntington Bank,” he says.
That relationship dates back to 2015, when Toporcer worked with the bank to finance a business acquisition through a Small Business Administration loan.
“Huntington was one of the largest providers of SBA loans at the time so it felt like a great fit,” he says. “The transaction went seamless, and ever since then, we’ve continued to use Huntington.”
As his companies expanded, so did that partnership. Toporcer says the consistency has helped him pursue new ideas, including the development of the commerce park.
“No matter what I’m working on I just know Huntington will support the idea as long as it makes financial sense,” he says.
Huston says the relationship reflects the bank’s approach to working with growing businesses over time.
Greg and Lori’s story is a great example of a company where we kind of started with them in the very early stages,” Huston says. “They were looking to grow and expand, and that’s something that we do very well. A lot of our bigger relationships we have today started off very similar.”
He says the commerce park also demonstrates how collaboration can help move complex projects forward.
“All the things that went into making that project happen, through good partnerships, we were able to turn it into a great story,” Huston says.
Toporcer says the project is also part of a broader effort to strengthen the region by attracting new residents and keeping young professionals in the area.
“We need to keep our population up in the Youngstown, Warren region,” he says. “How do we keep students from YSU here? All of this kind of snowballs into how we create jobs and keep people in the area.”
With its first phase complete and additional buildings planned, the North Jackson Commerce Park reflects both an individual entrepreneur’s growth and a coordinated effort to strengthen the local economy.
“Somebody like Greg bringing a project like this to the community is very impactful,” Huston says. “We appreciate the partnership with Greg and Lori, and for the many years that we’ve been doing business, and we’re just excited to be a part of their growth story.”
Pictured at top: Sam Huston, Regional President, Huntington National Bank and Greg Toporcer, developer at Top Property Holdings.
