Humtown to Relocate 3D Printing Operations to Boardman

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Humtown plans to relocate its additive manufacturing operations to Boardman from its current site in Leetonia, officials said Friday.

According to records filed with the Mahoning County Auditor’s office, a real estate entity related to Humtown – Lamoncha Real Estate Holdings LLC – purchased the former Gorant Candies complex at 8301 Market St. for $3.5 million on Oct. 26. 

“It’s a perfect home for them,” Boardman Township Administrator Jason Loree said. “I hope it brings in a lot more business and acts as a centerpiece for their company.”

Loree said the company expects to relocate about a dozen 3D printing machines to the Boardman site once the building is ready.

“We couldn’t be more excited for what Mark and Brandon are doing for our area with 3D printing,” said Don Thomas, managing partner of Platz Realty Group, referring to Mark and Brandon Lamoncha, principals of Humtown. Platz acted as the listing agent on the property and helped negotiate the sale.

The company manufactures 3D printed and conventional sand cores and molds that are used in the foundry industry. These cores and molds house molten metal to form components and parts for a host of customers. 

Over the past decade, Humtown has perfected the use of additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, to produce these molds, eliminating the need for preproduction patterns that would take additional time to manufacture. This technology makes it possible to create the sand molds directly from a digital schematic, drastically cutting costs and production schedules.

“We should be so excited about this technology,” Thomas said. “It’s a global game changer.”

Humtown, established in 1959, also operates a conventional sand core and mold operation in Columbiana.

Humtown did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Thomas said Humtown has been doing some preliminary site work inside the Market Street building since August, and the plans are to vacate its Leetonia location “at some point.”

The 55,000-square-foot Market Street building was once the home to Gorant Candies, a landmark chocolate and confectionery manufacturer in the Mahoning Valley. The building and 6.7 acres was formerly owned by Camise Development LLC, which purchased the property for $986,811 in 2009. The land and building are appraised at $1.225 million for tax purposes, according to the auditor.

In September, the brand and retail operation – but not the building and accompanying acreage – was sold to Oh Donut owners Bergen Giordani and Dr. Nino Rubino. They are currently operating out of a storefront at the Boardman location but plan to move to another location in Boardman, retaining the Gorant name and recipes.

Last year, a company based in Kentucky had considered purchasing the chocolate manufacturing operations and the real estate, Thomas said. However, the company opted to purchase the equipment instead, and then move the machinery into an existing facility it owned in Kentucky. That plant produces chocolate for private labels.

That left the door open for Humtown to consider the site for its move, Thomas said.

“Everybody moved quickly to get to where it is now,” he said.

Pictured at top: The former Gorant Candies complex at 8301 Market St., Boardman.

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