ZANESVILLE, OHIO, July 29, 2019 – USA Tealights, LLC, a 20-year old candle manufacturer located in Avenel, New Jersey, has recently formed a new company, United Candle Company LLC, and will begin doing business in Ohio. Major customers include well-known brand name retailers, independent retailers and wholesalers, as well as a private label division that makes candles for other companies.
Lumi Lite Candle Company in Muskingum County closed at the end of January and planned to auction all of its assets, but United Candle is buying Lumi Lite’s equipment, leasing their building and moving manufacturing from New Jersey to Ohio to operate as United Candle Company.
Relocating to Ohio is appealing to USA Tealights for two major reasons: first, they can more quickly expand production since the former Lumi Lite plant is well designed, equipped and ready to restart after some maintenance and repairs. Second, the cost of operations are significantly less in Ohio compared to where they are now located in northern New Jersey, close to Manhattan.
United Candle will create 100 new jobs and invest $1,815,000 in fixed assets such as new packaging equipment and building upgrades. JobsOhio and the State of Ohio are supporting the project with a $125,000 JobsOhio Grant and a 6-year Jobs Creation Tax Credit.
“It’s great to see United Candle bringing candle manufacturing back to Muskingum County,”said Tom Poorman, APEG Project Manager. “United Candle is choosing Ohio for their expansion because of the workforce and the cost of doing business. They could have located anywhere but the right plant, right people and right place made the difference. APEG and JobsOhio were glad to partner with the ZMC Port Authority to play a role in attracting United Candle to our region.”
USA Tealights’ strong existing relationships with major customers and real potential for sales growth is driving the need for additional production capacity. Those major buyers prefer to deal with a full-line candle supplier to reduce their number of vendors, and as a result, USA Tealights has been making plans to expand from primarily tealight manufacturing into other candle types, such as pillar, votive, taper and filled candles. The idled Lumi Lite machinery and equipment is designed to produce those different types. With this acquisition and relocation, USA Tealights can expand their product line, meet the needs of their existing customers, and grow their sales.
“The American consumer is recognizing the advantages of buying products ‘Made In USA’ by American workers using American raw materials, and Ohio provides the perfect venue to provide a high quality product to this ever growing market,”said Avery Engel, President of the new United Candle Company.
Official Press Release: APEG/JobsOhio
