The return of Athens Mold and Machine to the city was celebrated Thursday at the plant by company officials and the public and private entities that helped bring it about. “Today is truly a rising tide day,” said Mayor Steve Patterson. “It’s not only a rising tide, it’s a rebirth day.” Athens Mold & Machine […]
News & Blog
Two community nonprofits in Nelsonville to get expanded space
Four years ago the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO) opened its new offices at 35 Public Square in Nelsonville. Having grown, FAO is now planning to renovate and expand from the second floor to the first at that location. The project also will provide additional accommodations for the Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth (APEG), which […]
Middleport celebrates $3.2M investment in Imperial Electric
MIDDLEPORT — Questions arose as to the value of investing in an outdated plant in southeastern Ohio after Nidec Corp. of Japan acquired Akron-based Imperial Electric Co. in 2012. The Middleport facility needed state-of-the-art equipment and improvements to play a key role in the expanding elevator industry. After careful consideration of factors such as the […]
OU receives $2 million power grant to support regional economic development in coal-impacted communities
ATHENS— Ohio University has received a $2 million grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Partnerships for Opportunities and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) program to create a 28-county regional innovation network in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. The goal of the program is to create 125 new businesses and 1,110 jobs and raise $25 million […]
Manufacturing plant starts small as it plans Monday reopening
This coming Monday is the day Samuel Thornton has been working toward for almost two years – the resuming of production at Athens Mold and Machine. The tire mold manufacturing company closed in 2011 when business dried up but Thornton, the plant’s general manager, is convinced the time is right for a comeback. The restart […]
Fluor-BWXT Grant Helps New Business in Jackson County Add Jobs
Last fall, Fluor-BWXT provided a new Jackson County manufacturer, Speyside Bourbon Cooperage, a $48,000 business opportunity grant through their Community Commitment Fund. The check came with a promise that Speyside would create 35 new jobs at the former cabinet-making facility on East Main Street. In the spring of 2016 the bourbon barrel maker met that […]
Hillsboro PAS Technologies facility achieves PXP™ Gold certification
PAS Technologies announced Thursday that its Hillsboro facility has achieved gold status, the highest level of achievement in the Performance eXcellence Process™ (PXP™), the Company’s lean operating system. PXP™ Gold certification signifies that the PAS Hillsboro facility, the first PAS operation to have achieved this accreditation, is operating at world-class standards for all aspects of the […]
Art meets industry
When it comes to art, the last thing that comes to mind for some, would be shoelaces. But Kelly Babcock of EBEE design has helped to revitalize an industry that’s been a staple of Portsmouth’s economy for over 100 years. By redesigning the SoleChoice factory catalog, Babcock was able to attract new business to the […]
Former R.E. Burger Plant’s Smokestack Comes Down Without a Hitch in Belmont County
DILLES BOTTOM — A sequence of detonations sent the 854-foot-tall stack at the former FirstEnergy Corp. R.E. Burger plant tumbling to the ground Friday morning in a process that demolition contractor Jim Redyke called “perfect.” The president and CEO of PTT Global Chemical America called the stack removal an important step in his company’s efforts to […]
Ohio Valley Lures Manufacturers With Rock-Bottom Natural Gas Prices
A group of business leaders in a small corner of Ohio and West Virginia are laying down a big claim: They have the cheapest natural gas in the industrialized world. This part of Appalachia has become the country’s driver of gas production as improved drilling techniques have cracked gas-rich shale formations. The Ohio Valley from Pittsburgh to […]
