FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2008

Columbus, OH -- Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher today announced that more than $1.6 million in economic development and roadwork development grants have been awarded to aid in the growth of businesses and the creation and retention of jobs in Ohio. The grants, administered by the Ohio Department of Development, were approved today by the State Controlling Board and could create 324 positions and retain 1,514 jobs for Ohioans.

"Through strategic investments, we are helping to provide Ohio's communities with the tools they need to compete for economic development, and businesses with the tools they need to invest and succeed in Ohio," said Lt. Governor Fisher, who also serves as Director of the Ohio Department of Development. "Our robust partnerships with these businesses and communities are fostering the development that will grow Ohio's economy."

The Guernsey County Port Authority will receive a $397,000 Roadwork Development Grant to complete public roadwork upgrades to Gander Road in Jackson Township. The Port will construct upgrades to an approximately one-half mile of Gander Road to provide access to an additional 178 acres of land as part of the D.O. Hall Development Complex. The Port is developing the complex in cooperation with a coalition of government and economic development entities, consisting of the Community Industrial Association, the Cambridge-Guernsey County Community Improvement Corporation, the City of Cambridge, and the Guernsey County Commissioners. Improvements to Gander Road will include straightening of the highway right-of-way, elimination of existing extreme variation in grade, widening the road to state highway standards, and paving the entire one-half mile road surface. There will be additional excavation of access points to development sites along the project length, extension of water and sewer infrastructure along the roadway, and installation of fire hydrants along the right-of-way.

Hamilton County will receive a $237,750 Roadwork Development Grant to complete public roadway upgrades as part of the Anthony Wayne Industrial Park in the Village of Lincoln Heights. The development of the Anthony Wayne Industrial Park is a joint venture between the NuZone Community Improvement Corporation and RAB Realty LLC. The project involves the improvement of 27.41 acres on Shepherd Drive near Interstate 75. A portion of the property was previously used as industrial property for auto salvage and storage, and an asphalt plant. The project will remediate the contaminated property and potentially open an additional 15 acres for business. The site has rail and industrial water access and is within one-quarter mile of Interstate 75, making it attractive for manufacturing and distribution. The Park is expected to increase employment, attract new companies, and increase the local tax base. Improvements include water, sewer, gas, and electric infrastructure, site preparation, and environmental assessment, and remediation.

The Village of Metamora (Fulton County) will receive a $51,000 Roadwork Development Grant to complete public roadwork to allow future industrial site development. The Village of Metamora will construct a new public road running south of Main Street (State Route 64) to allow access to 180 undeveloped acres. The road will be located west of the intersection of Main Street and County Road 2, which will end in a cul-de-sac. Parker Hannifin Corporation (Parker Hannifin) owns 18 acres adjacent to its current Research and Development facility that will become accessible with the new road. With the completion of the roadwork, Parker Hannifin will construct a 7,750 square-foot addition to its existing 76,400 square-foot facility. The company will make an investment of $6.8 million, including the new addition and the construction of new loading docks and driveways. The road will provide new street access for the company and improve its traffic flow on-site. The roadwork will also open up the additional 180 acres for future development and will help the Village of Metamora attract new industrial facilities to the area. The roadwork to be completed includes: excavation, grading, base, pavement, all utilities within the road's right-of-way, and related construction.

The Village of Hartville (Stark County) will receive a $200,000 Roadwork Development Grant to complete public roadwork improvements in support of Scott Process Systems, Inc.’s expansion. Scott Process was founded in 1983 to fabricate and install piping in industrial and chemical plants. In 1989, the company shifted its work focus to fabrication, while gradually changing its specialty to steam piping for utility plants. Since 2002, 90 percent of the company's business is in support of electrical utilities and its customers are located throughout the world. The company proposes to construct a new 100,000 square-foot manufacturing facility that will fabricate piping systems for the power generation industry and allow the company to increase product production. The Village of Hartville will construct a third lane for dedicated left turns along South Prospect Avenue (State Route 43) at its existing intersection with Woodside Street. Woodside Street is the west leg of the intersection and the entrance to Scott Process' new facility will be the east leg of the intersection. The southbound South Prospect Avenue left turn lane will be 400 lineal feet including tapers and will accommodate semi-truck and employee traffic driving south on South Prospect and turning left/east into the new facility. The roadwork to be completed includes: excavation, grading, base, pavement, all utilities within the road's right-of-way, and related construction. Ohio is in competition with Georgia and Texas for this $12.7 million project, which is expected to create 50 positions and retain 150 jobs within the first three years of the project's initial operations.

Liebert North America, Inc. (Liebert), located in Ironton (Lawrence County), will receive a $75,000 Rapid Outreach Grant for costs associated with the acquisition of machinery and equipment to support the company’s new facility. Headquartered in Columbus, Liebert is a wholly owned subsidiary of Emerson Electric Company of Missouri. The company designs, manufactures, and markets precision air conditioning and electrical power conditioning equipment for a wide variety of computer room, telecommunication, and industrial applications. The company proposes to construct a 10,600 square-foot addition to its existing 194,000 square-foot facility in Ironton. The facility will continue to be utilized for manufacturing, including the manufacturing of new racking products for the Information Technology industry. The machinery and equipment to be purchased includes: a gasket machine, spot welders, Numerically Controlled punches and folders, aluminum cutting and machining equipment, frame fixtures, assembly lines, powder paint booths, and related equipment. Ohio is in competition with California and Mexico for this $925,000 project, which is expected to create 50 positions and retain 325 jobs within the first three years of the project's initial operations.

North American Bus Industries, Inc. (NABI), located in Delaware (Delaware County), will receive a $50,000 Rapid Outreach Grant for costs associated with the acquisition of machinery and equipment to support the company's expansion. NABI designs, manufactures, assembles, and sells transit buses under the brand names of NABI, Optima, and Blue Bird. Its products include a range of heavy-duty diesel, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and hybrid electric powered, standard-floor and low-floor buses. The company also owns and operates an aftermarket parts division for its own products and for those of other bus manufacturers. The company will open a new 215,000 square-foot facility that will expand the company's aftermarket bus parts distribution operation and serve as an aftermarket parts headquarters operation. The new facility will include administration, sales, contract sales, finance, purchasing, customer service, engineering, and distribution of bus repair parts to the entire United States and portions of Canada. The $2.21 million in machinery and equipment to be purchased includes: four vertical automated storage and retrieval systems and two horizontal automated storage and retrieval systems. Additionally, the City of Delaware will receive a $100,000 Roadwork Development Grant to complete public roadwork improvements in support of North American Bus Industries, Inc's new facility. The City of Delaware will construct a new intersection on U.S. Route 42 at the point where it will be transected by Sawmill Parkway. The signalized intersection will taper Sawmill Parkway from five lanes, including a center turn lane, to the south of Sawmill Parkway to three lanes, including a center turn lane, to the north of Sawmill Parkway. The roadwork to be completed includes: excavation, grading, base, pavement, all utilities within the road right-of-way, signal installation, and related construction. This more-than $2.2 million project is expected to create 35 positions and retain 53 jobs within the first three years of the project’s initial operations.

Rotek Incorporated (Rotek), located in Aurora (Portage County), will receive a $300,000 Rapid Outreach Grant for costs associated with the acquisition of machinery and equipment in support of the company’s expansion. Rotek is a world leader in the engineering, manufacturing, service and support of large diameter anti-friction slewing ring bearings used primarily in wind turbines, medical equipment, construction equipment, and military applications. The company also manufactures seamless rolled rings in aluminum grades, carbon, stainless, and alloy steels. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp AG, one of the world's largest steel companies. Rotek will build a 100,000 square foot addition to its existing 120,000 square foot slewing ring bearing production facility in order to fulfill growing demand for slewing ring bearings and seamless rolled rings for the wind energy market. The company will also construct a 120,000 square-foot addition and add a second ring rolling mill to its existing 64,000 square-foot seamless rolled ring facility. Additionally, it will construct a 10,000 square-foot addition to its existing 10,000 square-foot office building. The $64 million in machinery and equipment to be purchased includes: cooling towers, electrical systems, cranes, furnaces, presses, foundations, manipulators, ring mils, cooling racks, compressors, ovens, and related equipment. Additionally, the City of Aurora will receive a $150,887 Roadwork Development Grant to complete public roadwork improvements in support of Rotek Incorporated’s expansion. The City will widen State Route 43 (Chillicothe Road) and add a turn lane to the north and a deceleration lane to the south of Rotek's facility. The widening will cover a distance of 1,500 lineal feet. The roadwork to be completed includes excavation, grading, base, pavement, all utilities within the road's right-of-way, and related construction. This $82 million project is expected to create 150 positions and retain 215 jobs within the first three years of the project’s initial operations.

Case Farms, LLC (Case Farms), to be located in Massillon (Stark County), will receive a $50,000 Rapid Outreach Grant for costs associated with the repair and renovation of a rail spur to support the company's new facility. Case Farms is an integrated poultry processor that produces, processes, markets, and distributes fresh and frozen poultry products. The company sells fresh bulk packaged, portion controlled, marinated, partially cooked, and individually quick-frozen bulk packaged poultry products in whole, cut-up, and de-boned forms to wholesale distributors and food service customers. The company proposes to build a new feed mill on 16 acres in the Neocom I Industrial Park in Massillon. The mill will have the capacity to produce 5,500 tons of pelleted chicken feed per week and the feed will be utilized by Case Farms' independent chicken farmers. The project involves the renovation of 1,750 lineal feet of rail spur that has not been used in 37 years, as well as the construction of a new 800 lineal foot rail spur for train car storage. The work will allow Case Farms to handle longer trains and provide a place to store empty train cars. The $300,000 in rail spur work includes: removal of existing track, clearing and grubbing, installation of sub-ballast, construction of new track including rails and ties, and related work. Ohio is in competition with North Carolina for this $13.4 million project, which is expected to create 25 positions and retain 450 jobs within the first three years of the project's initial operations.

PPG Industries Ohio, Inc. (PPG), located in Delaware (Delaware County), will receive a $150,000 Rapid Outreach Grant for costs associated with the acquisition of machinery and equipment to support the company's expansion. PPG is the wholly owned subsidiary of PPG Industries, Inc., an $11 billion manufacturer of coatings, glass, and chemicals. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PPG serves customers in construction, consumer products, and industrial and transportation markets, and aftermarkets. The company proposes to renovate its existing warehouse and establish a new processing plant that will allow for the implementation of new technology. The new technology will greatly diminish the company's Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions for its paint manufacturing and resin production. The machinery and equipment to be acquired includes: pumps, filters, valves, mills, agitators, tanks, mixers, casepackers, filling lines, and related equipment. Ohio is in competition with the states of Delaware and Kentucky, and the Cities of Milan, Italy and Stowmarket, United Kingdom, for this more than $11 million project, which is expected to create 14 positions and retain 321 jobs within the first three years of the project's initial operations.

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Media contacts: Eileen Turner at (614) 728-6674 or Kimber Perfect at (614) 644-0247