The state has added $29.9 million in Job Ready Site grants to $4.6 million in other public infrastructure awards for 14 commercial and industrial sites receiving assistance from the Ohio Department of Development.
Gov. Ted Strickland announced the grants at the University of Dayton Research Institute and Innovation Center in Montgomery County, which will receive $3.5 million from the Job Ready Site program to renovate 60,000 square feet of the former NCR World Headquarters.
Administration officials also announced taxpayer-funded grants to commercial projects in 10 other Ohio counties.
“The Job Ready Site program is about taking locations that have been left behind and transforming them into work sites that are ready for business, new jobs and new opportunities for Ohioans,” Strickland said. “These investments reinforce our message to companies across the nation considering expansion or relocation projects that there is no better place to build your business than Ohio and no better workforce to make your product than Ohioans.”
Authorized by voters in 2005, the Ohio Job Ready Site program has awarded approximately $135 million in public money to private interests, leveraging nearly $198 million in additional investments.
Other economic development projects receiving grants include the following:
Beck Industrial Commerce Park, located in Louisville (Stark County), has been awarded $3.5 million from the Job Ready Site program to develop a 230-acre industrial site. Work at the project site includes construction of an access road and bridge as well as extensions of utilities and rail siding.
CASTLO Manufacturing Site, located in Struthers (Mahoning County), has been awarded $3,491,000 from the Job Ready Site program to demolish a 312,000 square foot building to redevelop 66 acres within the CASTLO Industrial Park. Work at the site includes demolition of a building, environmental remediation, and extension of roadway and utilities into the site.
MidTown Tech Park, located on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland (Cuyahoga County), has been awarded $3.5 million from the Job Ready Site program to construct a technical research center. Work at the site includes land acquisition, site remediation, and constructing a 112,000 square foot building to attract biomedical-related industries.
Iron Highway Industrial Park, located in the village of Leipsic (Putnam County), has been awarded $3.5 million from the Job Ready Site program to create a 244-acre industrial site served by three rail providers. Work at the site includes land acquisition, extension of water and gas lines, and installation of a rail switch.
Miami Heritage Technology Park, located in Oxford (Butler County), has been awarded $3.5 million from the Job Ready Site program to construct a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certified technical research center. Work at the site includes land acquisition, construction of a data center facility, road construction, and utility extensions.
Pickaway Progress Park, located along U.S. 23 in Circleville (Pickaway County), has been awarded $3.5 million from the Job Ready Site program to redevelop a 226-acre site to accommodate 2.5 million square feet of industrial and manufacturing facilities and 400,000 square feet of mixed-use facilities. Work at the former Thomson Consumer Electronics site includes constructing an access road and extending utilities through the park.
MATC Technical and Research Complex, located in Miamisburg (Montgomery County), has been awarded $1,217,000 from the Job Ready Site program and $2,283,000 from the Roadwork Development (629) program to construct a roadway for enhanced access to the 64-acre technical research park. Work at the Superfund site includes road and utility extensions, site remediation, improvements to the PerkinElmer building, and demolition of buildings for parking lot construction.
Prospect Industrial Park, located in the village of Navarre and Perry Township (Stark County), has been awarded $1.1 million from the Job Ready Site program and $2.4 million from the Roadwork Development (629) program to develop a 340-acre industrial site. The project site sits adjacent to the 26-acre intermodalWheeling and Lake Erie rail yard. Work at the site includes road and utility extensions, construction of a bridge, site grading, and construction of a water tower.
Canton Corrugated Paper Center, located in Canton (Stark County), has been awarded $750,000 from the Job Ready Site program to assist in creating a pilot corrugating plant. The project involves building demolition to accommodate a 20,000 square foot building to support manufacturing, testing, and demonstration of the corrugated paper industry. This project will result in the creation of 50 jobs over a five-year period.
D.O. Hall Business Center, located in Cambridge (Guernsey County), has been awarded $750,000 from the Job Ready Site program to construct an access road that will open 121 acres of land for development, and extend water and sewer lines to the industrial site.
Eastern Ohio Regional Industrial Park, located in the village of Barnesville (Belmont County), has been awarded $750,000 from the Job Ready Site program to extend water lines to the 200-acre industrial park.
Ingenuity Center, located in Marietta Township (Washington County), has been awarded $750,000 from the Job Ready Site program to construct a building to assist in attracting companies in the temperature-controlled cabinet industry specific to research and medical fields. Work at the site includes acquiring five acres of land within the Seven North Commerce Park and constructing a pre-engineered 35,000 square foot building.
PrimeOhio II Corporate Park, located along Interstate 70 in Springfield (Clark County), has been awarded $150,000 from the Job Ready Site program to extend road access and improve gas line capacity to the project site.