Portage County Saw Strong Economic Growth in 2020
Ravenna, OH – “In 2020, Portage County witnessed an investment of over $124.3 million in industrial and office development,” reported by President Brad Ehrhart to the Portage Development Board’s first quarterly board meeting held on January 28, 2021. “Last year saw the strongest growth in new investment since 2012, when the area was emerging from the 2008 recession.” The investment from 13 projects will help to retain over 1000 existing jobs and create over 400 jobs over the next three years. The combined annual payroll of the jobs retained and created is over $111.6 million, which is the best year since PDB started keeping track of such statistics in 2012.
The top three projects are the Menards regional distribution and manufacturing center in Ravenna, The Davey Tree Expert Company headquarter expansion in Kent, and the new Geis Spec Building which is being built on Ohio Route 43 in the City of Streetsboro. The Menards project will involve an investment of $54.7 million which will create 90 new jobs in the City of Ravenna. Other projects on the list include: SpringSeal’s expansion in Ravenna; Bulten’s new location in Streetsboro; Rovisys’s expansion in Aurora; Dermamed’s expansion in Tallmadge; ACE Products and Consulting’s expansion in Ravenna; Four Season’s location of a new operation in Garrettsville; Robeck’s expansion in Aurora; Simplay3’s expansion in Streetsboro; Premalux’s expansion in Aurora; and Alacriant’s expansion in Streetsboro.
“We thank the companies for their investment in Portage County, and our partners at the cities of Aurora, Kent, Ravenna, Streetsboro, and Tallmadge, JobsOhio, the Ohio Development Services Agency, Team NEO, Neighborhood Development Services, Portage County Job and Family Services, Cascade Capital Corporation, and the Portage County Board of Commissioners”, said Brad Ehrhart.
During 2020, PDB and its partners at the cities of Aurora, Kent, Streetsboro, Ravenna, and Tallmadge, along with Team NEO/JobsOhio, managed to talk to 171 companies in Portage County to see how they were doing. While there was an increase in the number of companies reporting weaker results (19 companies in 2020 vs 9 in 2019), the majority of the companies reported growing or stable results in revenues/profits (60 stable and 92 strong in 2020, versus 51 stable and 109 strong in 2019). The number one issue reported in 2020 was the same in 2019; companies are having a hard time finding workers.
PDB and its local, regional, state, and federal partners are working to get the latest information out business and individuals regarding assistance related to COVID-19. For the latest information on available assistance, please visit our web site at https://www.portagedevbd.org/why-portage-county/covid-19/. If you have questions about assistance, please contact PDB at 330-297-3470.
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The Portage Development Board (PDB) is a 501 (C)(3) private non-profit organization that serves as the economic development agency for Portage County. Its goal is to help companies locate, stay, and grow in Portage County. Since its inception in 2011, PDB has worked on 81 projects that represent over $593 million in investment in Portage County. More information can be found on their website at www.PortageDevBd.org.