News Room

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 5, 2007

Columbus, OH -- Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher today announced that more than $1.2 million in Business Development and Roadwork Development Grants have been awarded to aid in the growth and development of businesses and the creation and retention of jobs in Ohio. The grants, administered by the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD), were approved today by the State Controlling Board and are expected to retain 318 positions and create 520 jobs.

"I am pleased that the State of Ohio is supportive of these important business development projects that will be beneficial in strengthening our communities and creating good jobs for Ohio's outstanding workforce," said Lt. Governor Fisher, who also serves as state development director.

e-Play, LLC (e-Play), located in Columbus (Franklin County), will receive a $200,000 Business Development Grant (412) for costs associated with the acquisition of machinery and equipment. Founded in 2005, e-Play manufactures and distributes DVD kiosks that utilize patent-protected technology to deliver freshly burned and manufactured DVD disks of recently released major movies to customers in less than 30 seconds. The kiosks serve as compact entertainment stores, allowing a business to offer its customers the choice of more than 1,000 DVD titles. The e-Play kiosks will be located in drug stores, gas stations, restaurants, big box retailers and similar locations. e-Play proposes to relocate its headquarters from Marion County to an existing building in Columbus where it plans to initially lease 13,000 square-feet of space, with room available for expansion. The company's new facility will house its headquarters, manufacturing, distribution and technical support operations. e-Play plans to relocate its current full-time staff positions to Columbus. Ohio is in competition with Arizona, China, and South Korea for this $11.6 million project, which is expected to create 119 new jobs and retain 17 positions within the first three years of the project's initial operation.

Village of Leipsic, located in Putnam County, will receive a $50,000 Business Development Grant (412) for costs associated with off-site infrastructure improvements and a $500,000 Roadwork Development Grant (629) in support of Summit Ethanol LLC's (Summit Ethanol) new ethanol production facility. Summit Ethanol is a fully owned subsidiary of Broin Companies, the second largest producer of ethanol in the U.S., which designs, constructs and manages its own production facilities. The company has been in business in five states for 20 years and currently manages 750 million gallons of ethanol production annually. The company proposes to construct and operate a new ethanol production facility in the Iron Highway Industrial Park. The 50,000 square-foot building will produce 60 million gallons per year and utilize 21 million bushels of corn annually. The Village will upgrade its sanitary sewer system, complete rail improvements and roadwork to support Summit Ethanol and open up an additional 2,000 acres of industrial development property. Ohio is in competition with Indiana and Michigan for this $74.6 million project, which is expected to create 41 new jobs within the first three years of the project's initial operation.

Hydrodec North American, Inc. (Hydrodec), located in Canton (Stark County), will receive a $100,000 Business Development Grant (412) for costs associated with the acquisition of machinery and equipment. Hydrodec specializes in high performance oil re-refining and environmentally sensitive chemical processing, all within a closed loop, zero-emission process. Hydrodec's principal activity is commercializing a patented oil refining process that removes dangerous contaminants from oil and similar fluids. The company proposes to acquire $6.3 million in new machinery and equipment and an eight-acre site where it plans to construct a new transformer oil facility. A 5,600 square-foot production operation and various supporting facilities located within the Stein Industrial Park will be used for manufacturing, research and development, distribution, sales and marketing functions. Ohio is in competition with Mississippi and Oregon for this project, which is expected to create 65 jobs within the first three years of the project's initial operations.

The Language Access Network (TLAN), located in Columbus (Franklin County), will receive a $20,000 Business Development Grant (412) for costs associated with the acquisition of machinery and equipment. TLAN is a pioneer in video language interpretation services with primary operations presently in Columbus. TLAN provides health care outlets and medical facilities with professionally trained interpreters 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week through its centralized video language center, which interprets more than 150 languages through real-time, interactive video technology. TLAN is the only company that offers this type of video language interpretation service on a national basis, allowing health care providers and medical facilities to provide more efficient overall health care. The company proposes to expand into a larger 10,000 square-foot facility to be used as the central video language center and would allow space for future growth. TLAN will also acquire $1.5 million in new machinery and equipment, including computers, computer servers and video equipment. Ohio is in competition with Nevada and Oregon for this project, which is expected to create 200 jobs and retain 21 positions within the first three years of the project's initial operations.

Ottawa County will receive a $200,000 Roadwork Development Grant (629) to complete public roadwork improvements in support of Fenner Dunlop Inc.'s expansion of operations in Port Clinton. Fenner Dunlop manufactures a range of conveyor belts for several industries and applications, such as aggregates, baggage handling, forest products, grain, mining, power generation and the tunneling industries. The company manufactures in excess of five million meters of conveyor belting each year in 12 ISO-certified factories across five continents. Products include rubber, PVC and steel cord conveyor belts suitable for above and below ground applications. The company also manufactures customized products to meet specific needs of its customers. Fenner Dunlop proposes to expand its Fabric Belt Division and to increase the company's capability to manufacture both textile and steel reinforced conveyor belts in very wide widths. The roadwork to be completed includes excavation, grading, base, asphalt, storm sewers and catch basins within the road's right-of-way and related construction. The roadwork improvements are necessary to ensure safe, easy truck access to the company's expanded facility. Ohio is in competition with Fenner PLC facilities in Oklahoma City and Ontario, Canada, for this project, which is expected to create 75 jobs and retain 136 positions within the first three years of the project's initial operation.

City of Hamilton, located in Butler County, will receive an $185,000 Roadwork Development Grant (629) to complete public roadwork improvements in support of Vinylmax LLC. Vinylmax manufactures vinyl replacement windows that are delivered to independent distributors. Vinylmax is a wholly owned subsidiary of the holding company Window Solutions, LLC, which also fully owns Vinylmax's sister company W. S. Equipment LLC (W. S. Equipment). W. S. Equipment owns machinery and equipment that it rents to Vinylmax. The company proposes to construct a new, 102,000 square-foot building with an additional 50,000 square-feet for future expansion. The new facility will be utilized as Vinylmax's headquarters and will also house Thermolock Mfg., LLC (Thermolock). Thermolock is financially related to Vinylmax and it purchases windows, maintenance and logistics services from Vinylmax. The site is 10 minutes away from the company's former facility and all current jobs will be relocated and retained at the new location. The City of Hamilton plans to construct a 1,700 lineal-foot extension to McBride Court from Hamilton Enterprise Park Drive. The new public roadway will provide access to 12.3 acres of land for Vinylmax's new facility, as well as opening up an additional 20 acres of land for industrial development in the newly developed Hamilton Enterprise Park. The roadwork to be completed includes: excavation, paving and storm sewer construction within the road's right-of-way. Ohio is in competition with Indiana and Northern Kentucky for this $6.95 million project, which is expected to retain 144 positions and create 20 jobs within the first three years of the project's initial operation.

The Business Development Account (412) is a grant program to assist companies and communities that are creating or retaining jobs in Ohio. The Roadwork Development Account (629) provides grant assistance to communities for highway and road projects related to job creation and retention. The 629 Program is funded with gas tax dollars and is restricted to public road projects only.