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Portage Development Board
As of February 1, 2011 the Portage County Department of Economic Development
became the Portage Development Board. We are now a private / non-profit 501(C)(3)
Economic Development organization for Portage County.
Membership opportunities are available by contacting:
Brad Ehrhart, President
Portage Development Board
behrhart@portagedevbd.org
(330) 297-3470
Stephen Colecchi, President/CEO
Robinson Memorial Hospital &
Vice-Chairman of the Portage Development Board
scolecchi@rmh2.orgmh2.org
Membership Dues Structure List
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Portage County Industrial Round Table Committee Announces our Second Round Table meeting
September 12, 2012 @ 7:30 AM at Maplewood Career Center in Ravenna
Topic of Discussion will be Workers Compensation
Guest / Main speaker will be Portage County Commissioner Tommie Jo Marsilio
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Portage County Industrial Round Table Announces Kick-off Meeting April 24, 2012:
Maximizing Workforce Incentives in Portage County
Ravenna, OH – The Portage Development Board and the chambers of commerce of Portage County are sponsoring a quarterly Industrial Round Table.
The first event will be held on April 24, 2012 at the Maplewood Career Center in Ravenna starting at 7:30 am. The topic of the event is “Maximizing Workforce Incentives in Portage County.”
These quarterly events will focus on business climate issues that companies have identified as having a major impact on their ability to conduct business. The goal of these roundtables is to find ways to improve and maintain a business climate that will enable companies to stay, to grow, to start-up, and to locate in Portage County, Ohio.
The event will feature a panel that will present on workforce assets in Portage County:
· Tim Beckner/Brian Boykin, Portage Workforce Connection will talk about helping to screen and recruit employees and
on-the-job training incentives;
· Randy L. Griffith, Maplewood Career Center will talk about adult education, training facilities, and cooperative education;
· Michael Hinton, Fortis College will talk about available training programs;
· Greg Farabee, Kent State University The Center for Corporate and Professional Development, will talk about training resources for
professional development and certificate programs for competency development;
· Matthew Falter, Northeast Regional Workforce Director for Jobs Ohio will talk about state training incentives.
“Last year we spoke to 89 manufacturing and industrial employers in Portage County and 46% said that they had a problem recruiting employees,” said Brad Ehrhart, President of the Portage Development Board. “The chambers and the PDB believe that workforce development is a major business climate issue for our employers and we need to find ways to address this issue.”
The event will start with a continental breakfast/networking at 7:30 am at Maplewood Career Center, 7075 State Route 88 in Ravenna. The program will start at 8 am with panel presentations followed by questions and answers. The program will conclude at 9 am.
To register, please contact the Portage Development Board at 330-297-3470 or your local chamber of commerce. Persons who pre-register will pay $10 (cash or check). Persons who do not pre-register will pay $12.
The registration deadline is April 17, 2012.
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Portage Development Board Names President
RAVENNA, Ohio, September 7, 2011 – The Board of Directors of the Portage Development Board announces the appointment of Bradford R. Ehrhart as President of the newly formed Portage County based economic development organization.
Ehrhart has over 25 years of experience in economic development and has served since 2005 as Executive Director of the Clarion County Economic Development Corporation in Clarion, Pennsylvania. From 1991-2005 he served as Assistant Director of the Penn-Northwest Development Corporation in Mercer, Pennsylvania.
Stephen Colecchi, President, Robinson Memorial Hospital, and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Portage Development Board stated “Brad was selected after an extensive search process that included candidates from across the country. The Search Committee was very impressed with his experience and success in economic development, his outgoing personality and his commitment to work in a collaborative manner with both the public and private sector. He has worked for organizations very similar to the Portage Development Board. We believe that he is an excellent choice to serve as our first President. We are very excited to have Brad on board.”
Ehrhart received his Bachelor of Arts in History and Economics from Duquesne University in 1982 and a Master’s of Science in Public Management and Policy from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1984.
Ehrhart noted “Portage County, with its great mix of business and higher education, has great potential for economic growth. I look forward to developing the relationships with businesses, resource partners, and contributors that will help the county realize its potential.”
Ehrhart will begin his duties on September 26, 2011.
The Portage Development Board became operational on February 1, 2011 as a result of an agreement with the Board of Portage County Commissioners. Pursuant to this agreement the Portage Development Board has agreed to perform all economic development activities on behalf of Portage County as authorized by Ohio Revised Code Section 307.07.
The Portage Development Board has been established as an Ohio not-for-profit corporation and has been granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service.
The Portage Development Board has already been very active in business expansion and attraction initiatives including initiatives in Streetsboro, Aurora, Kent and Ravenna. Colecchi noted “at the end of the day the key measure of our success will be job creation working with both existing businesses and new businesses willing to start and locate in Portage County. Brad will play a key role in leading our efforts. All of us who live, work or do business in Portage County have a vested interest in the success of the Portage Development Board. We look forward to working with all businesses in Portage County to help create needed jobs for our community.”
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The Portage Development Board is now a member of all the local Chambers of Commerce in Portage County as agreed to by the Board of Directors on June 16, 2011. We look forward to attending the chamber functions and networking with the businesses of Portage County.
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The Portage Development Board has been awarded a grant from the Geauga Ashtabula Portage Partnership, Inc. (GAPP)
The grant is for a temporary Business Service Representative to visit the Portage County companies to learn about current and furture workforce status and needs (employment levels and training); provide information on Portage Workforce programs and get input on what types of workforce development programs Portage County and its partners could/should offer. The PDB has retained the services of Hermitage Capital Partners, Joe Mayernick and Julie Michael-Smith, to perform this service with support/assistance of the Portage Development Board staff. If you receive a call or e-mail from us, please allow an hour of your time for this very important interview.
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Spectrum Machine breaks ground in the City of Ravenna for Plant No. 2
Spectrum Machine which currently has a facility in the City of Streetsboro, broke ground on Plant No. 2 on June 8, 2011 on Peck Road in Ravenna and is expected to open by the end of the year. Approximately 20 jobs will be created with this $4 million project.
"Small business is so important to our economy and the City of Ravenna continuously strives to fufill our goals of economic development and job creation," said Mayor Joseph Bica.
Spectrum Machine, Inc. which was founded in 1987, is a bronze machine shop and stocking distributor of brass and bronze alloy.
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Portage Precision Polymers in the City of Ravenna is expanding it's Lake Street operations.
Portage Precision Polymers produces numerous polymer compounds — about 25 million pounds worth — for use in various industries. Now, the company is planning to add a second line to its factory, which has been located on West Lake Street for nine years. As a result, about 30 people will be added to the company’s workforce of 52, and the company’s production will be boosted by 60 percent, said Douglas Hartley, president and chief executive officer of the company.
Construction on the new line is expected to start in October and be done by the end of the year, Hartley said. The company’s payroll is expected to increase from about $2 million to about $3 million as a result of the move. Cost of the expansion was estimated at between $1 million and $1.5 million.
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Dacon Industries is now located in Ravenna Township
A new rubber extrusion firm has located in Ravenna Township. Dacon supplies gaskets and other products to transportation and other industries. This is a new 24 hour facility located at 4839 Washington Ave., Ravenna Township and will employ 10 people in the first year. Dacon products can be found in many applications, including gaskets for UPS trucks, railroad crossings, bumpers for jetways, and products for the agricultural and mining industries. The facility will offer a full range of rubber compounds.
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May 16, 2011: Rootstown's NEOMED Breaks Ground on 80,000 Square-Foot Facility!
The Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown celebrated medical research Monday, May 16, 2011, with breaking ground on a research and graduate education building and holding a forum to discuss the importance of research. The 80,000 square foot four-story building will be built on the northwest corner of the NEOMED campus. The building will house areas for study, research, seminars and teaching.
This was made possible in part by the Portage County Port Authority, the Portage County Department of Economic Development (now Portage Development Board) and the Portage County Board of Commissioners. In 2009, the Portage County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution designating the Portage County Port Authority as the issuer of all Recovery Zone Bonds for the projects located within the County of Portage. The Portage County Port Authority Board of Directors accepted the designation as agents of the County for issuing Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds for the Portage County Department of Economic Development and to finance a portion of the costs of constructing a new Biomedical Research Facililty for the Northeast Ohio Medical University.
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MicroPoise Measurement Systems L.L.C. is relocating from Akron to the City of Streetsboro
A long time company in the Akron area is relocating to the City of Streetsboro on Mondial Parkway. The company will begin moving into the building at 555 Mondial Parkway almost immediately and hope to have the move completed this summer. Jeff Pritchard, Director of Planning, Zoning and Economic Development stated that MicroPoise continues to introduce and develop new technologies and equipment used to improve vehicle ride quality and is now the leading supplier to the global tire industry. The company will transfer 150 jobs and create another 50 new full-time positions within 3 years. The company plans to invest $5 million in new equipment and machinery and will renovate the facility it intends to lease.
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Best Buy Warehouse coming to the City of Streetsboro from Glenwillow
With the great working partnership between the City of Streetsboro, Geis Construction and the Portage Development Board, Best buy is building a brand new 368,060 square foot facility in the Interstate Commerce Center in Streetsboro. It's an approximately $17 million project and bringing with it about 43 jobs and the creation of about 3 more. The company currently resides in 3 buildings in Glenwillow and received a Relocation Waiver from the Ohio Department of Development for an Enterprise Zone Agreement in Streetsboro. Groundbreaking took place in April 2011.
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Automated Packaging Inc. is expanding in the City of Streetsboro
In recent months Automated Packaging expanded into 2 existing vacant facilities in the City of Streetsboro. Automated Packaging currently has their corporate headquarters on Aurora-Hudson Road in Streetsboro and recently purchased the former Wine Trends building on Philipp Parkway and also the former Playtex building on Mondial Parkway. This was another example of the exceptional partnership between the City of Streetsboro, the Portage Development Board, Portage County and the State of Ohio to assist a Portage County business with a major expansion. The expansion to the building on Mondial Parkway is a $47 million project with the creation of about 85 jobs in the first 3 years and up to 250 jobs over a 10 year period. The company received Job Creation Tax Credits from the State of Ohio for this project.
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Saginaw Controls & Engineering in Aurora set to expand
Saginaw Controls and Engineering is about to almost double the size of their existing facility on Aurora Industrial Parkway in Aurora. The building is currently about 29,000 square feet and Curtis Layer Design/Build has been contracted to build an additional 27,750 square feet onto the building. The company currently employs about 8 - 10 people and the expansion is expected to create another 5-6. Saginaw Controls is in a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) and will receive a real estate tax exemption of 100% for 15 years on the new addition.
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