| top | ||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||
|
◘Location
Our Passion:
|
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
| top | ||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||
|
◘Location
Our Passion:
|
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
Chamber has 'Faith' in Accurate Converting and Preferred Mail Two outstanding companies received the “Faith in the Future” award by the Chamber of Commerce at the annual luncheon. The award is based on facility improvement or expansion, creation and retention of jobs and or services enhanced. Accurate Converting and Preferred Mail were honored for their continued commitment to the Middletown community. This year Preferred Mail expanded into a 10,000 square foot facility in Green Tree Industrial Park. The company previously occupied a 4000 square foot space on Central Avenue. However, as their business continues to grow, they were unable to efficiently manage the workload from over 120 clients in Southwest Ohio in that space. “Their reputation for quality and service is well deserved. Service companies such as Preferred Mail are vital to the success of Middletown’s business community,” said Larry Wood, director of the Middletown Economic Development Corporation. Accurate Converting is a contract manufacturer serving the non-fibrous consumer products sector, which employee base has grown from 6 to 51 in the past year. The company has positioned itself in this very competitive market as a flexible provider of services ranging from developing prototype manufacturing processes to full production for market distribution. “The owners have assembled a broad range of manufacturing experience and skills and we expect this young company to become a significant addition to Middletown’s long tradition of manufacturing,” according to Larry Wood, Director of the Middletown Economic Development Corporation.
|
||
|
Contact:
|
Interscope Wins P&G Diversity Supplier Award
Interscope Manufacturing, Inc. of 2901 Carmody Boulevard in Middletown was recognized for their contributions to Minority Business Development earlier this month. Proctor and Gamble honored the company as the “Minority Business Enterprise of the Year” at their 10th annual Supplier Diversity Awards. Since 1988 Interscope has been a custom manufacturer of original equipment for consumer goods, packaging, and the auto industries along with a variety of other manufacturers. They moved to Middletown in 1991 and have expanded three times. In 2003 they added a 30,000 square foot building and anticipated on retaining 25 jobs as well as creating 16 new jobs. They exceeded their expectations and today they have over 50 employees and continue to grow. In addition to cost effective designing and building new equipment, Interscope helps companies save millions of dollars each year by refurbishing old equipment instead of buying new. The skilled workers design ways to rebuild and retool machinery to adapt it to a changing market. Much of the success of the company is due to the hard work of owner Mike Brill and the relationships he has built throughout the years. One of the most important relationships he has cultivated is that between the Middletown Economic Development Corporation. “MEDC has been proactive in removing barriers that allowed Interscope to focus it energies on core operations and thus we’ve had great success,” says Brill. The approval of a tax abatement application was key in the success of their expansion in 2003. “The application would not have been successful without the close cooperation and working relationships we have had with Larry Wood, director of the MEDC and city planning director Bill Murphy,” said Brill about the procedures taken in 2003. “Their help was particularly invaluable in preparing the tax abatement documents and in arranging for the property acquisition.”
|
||
|
Contact:
|
|
||
|
Contact: |
NEWS
UPDATE: AK to cut 20 percent of salaried workforce
On the same day it announced a third quarter net loss of
$277.5 million, AK The job cuts are expected to begin by the end of
October. The cuts should result “in annual savings of approximately $35
million beginning in 2004,” the company said. Based in Middletown, AK has more than 3,000 workers at its Middletown Works and about 4,000 employees altogether here. The company has about 10,000 employees in five Ohio cities and four states. The company blamed continued high prices for raw materials and energy, lower shipping volumes to automotive and appliance markets, lower production volumes, a “less favorable” product mix and a rise in legacy costs — retiree health care benefits and pensions. Counted as an “impairment of goodwill” cost was a $101.2 million non-cash charge related to assets acquired by Armco before AK acquired that company in September 1999. Another $87.3 million, also a non-cash charge, was counted in the net loss. That amount was a write-down for a deferred tax asset, AK said. Still, the company looks for “improvements” in the year’s fourth quarter, as a result of lower operating costs and an improved product mix, Wainscott said. An AK spokesman could not be reached for immediate comment Friday morning. 10.24.03 |
||
|
Contact: |
|
||
|
|
||
|
Contact:
|
The area may be only 18 acres, but the impact it could have on the
airport and its role in the economic development of the "growth
corridor" along Interstate 75 between Dayton and Cincinnati could be
huge, said Larry Wood, director of the Middletown Economic Development
Corp.
"We want to see this airport become an economic development
amenity," Wood said. "Is it going to be like Dayton International or
Cincinnati? No. We're going to be a destination and home for the
corporate jet community and other aviation-related businesses."
Sara Dunnigan, president of the I-70/75 Development Association,
said a well-developed airport such as Hook Field in Middletown could
tip the scales for a relocating company.
"The EDC has really stepped to the front to identify the
competitive advantage of being located between Dayton and Cincinnati,"
she said. "A lot of population growth is occurring there; we know
that. The goal is to translate that to industry growth. A good airport
is something that sets a community of Middletown's size apart."
Middletown Environmental Services Director Dave Duritsch said if all
goes well the land could be ready to develop by early 2006.
The airport has a 6,100-foot runway that is primarily used for
recreational flyers, though some companies, such as Middletown-Based
AK Steel Corp., use it for corporate jet service. Middletown City
Manager Ron Olsen said it's capable of accommodating larger planes and
other facilities.
The project got under way several years ago when Aeronca was
considering a move. Olson said the city worked with the company to
keep it in Middletown and gave clearance for the
remediation/redevelopment plan with the added hope of bolstering
airport development.
"This is very important acreage and a key location," he said. "It's
key to the airport. To keep that kind of industry near the airport and
have that opportunity for growth there is really important." Wood said
the city plans to lease the land facing the runway to companies in the
region that need hangar space for their corporate jets or companies
that work in areas of aviation, such as avionics.
Officials also will market the remaining 10 acres on Germantown
Road for aviation-related industrial use or other commercial use
hoping to create a cluster of aviation-related businesses around
Aeronca, Wood said. Still, he said, the city is open to various types
of industrial development there.
"Our town is pretty well-developed," he said. "We don't have that
much room to grow. To a mature city like Middletown it becomes
critical to recycle our land. It becomes more of a focus in order for
the city to remain vibrant."
Annexation, the traditional way to grow a city, is becoming more
and more difficult, he said, as available land becomes scarce. The
development of choice nowadays is revitalizing existing dilapidated,
low-value areas.
"If you let these gray fields and brown fields just sit around,
they will eventually pull down your entire community," Wood said. "You
have to have the product. It's all about having a product that is
shovel-ready."
Duritsch said the bulk of the grant -- about $2.5 million -- will
be used for asbestos abatement in the buildings to be demolished, as
well as to cleanup some soil and ground-water contamination.
In 2001, the city also built a new road to service the land that
will be accessible after the purchase and remediation. Aeronca also
began its remediation efforts and signed a development deal with the
city a year or two earlier.
|
||
|
Contact: |
Works’ ‘hot end’ to stay openBy Thomas Gnau, Journal Business Writer, E-mail: tgnau@coxohio.com Leaders of AK Steel Corp. intend to keep the steelmaking end of Middletown Works open, James Wainscott, AK’s president and chief executive, announced Friday. AK’s board of directors has approved management’s recommendation to invest $65 million in the plant’s iron- and steelmaking sections to meet new federal air pollution emission standards, Wainscott said. “This means that we intend to preserve the front end of Middletown Works and the jobs associated with those positions,” he said in a conference telephone call with steel industry analysts. Added Wainscott: “One week from tomorrow (Feb. 7) marks the 103rd anniversary of tapping the first heat of steel in Middletown. It is my sincere hope that our successors will, a century from now, celebrate the 203rd anniversary of that first heat of steel produced in Middletown.” With that announcement, Wainscott — who has been AK’s full-fledged CEO since Oct. 16 — lifted the cloud hanging over the company’s flagship plant since company leaders nearly three years ago first raised the specter of ending steel production in Middletown. Under then-chairman and CEO Richard Wardrop, AK executives in March 2001 said pollution-control costs could reach $80 million — an estimate that has since been revised downward — not counting the cost of a full re-lining of the plant’s blast furnace and possible fines and penalties proceeding from a federal and state lawsuit against the company alleging environmental violations. At the time, officials feared up to 2,000 jobs could be killed if the plant’s “hot end” was shut down. Later, that number was lowered to about 1,000. But the number of jobs that might be affected was always thought to be substantial. “That’s something that has been hanging out there for a while,” said Ed Shelley, president of Armco Employees Independent Federation, which represents some 3,000 workers at the Middletown plant. Wardrop abruptly resigned Sept. 18 with the agreement of AK’s board of directors. With about 3,900 local employees, AK is the largest employer in Middletown and Butler County. The company has about 9,400 employees companywide. “Anytime we see investment into our facility, it is a positive sign,” Shelley said. RON OLSON, Middletown city manager, said the announcement goes a long way to dispelling uncertainty about the plant’s future. “I can’t say that I was totally surprised, but I was very pleased to hear it,” Olson said. Richard Slagle, president of The Chamber of Commerce, which represents businesses in Middletown, Monroe and Trenton, called the news “an early Valentine Day’s gift for the community.” “I continue to be impressed with Jim Wainscott,” Slagle said. Alan McCoy, AK vice president of public affairs, said the board’s approval is contingent on obtaining financing to install emission controls. The company is working with Ohio government to obtain tax-exempt bond financing, he said. “The state of Ohio has given us the clear indication that it is ready and willing to assist us with arranging tax-exempt bond financing for this significant project that will preserve Ohio manufacturing jobs,” Wainscott said. “With the support of Ohio, the various regulatory agencies and the AEIF independent union in Middletown, we hope we can quickly move forward.” After the announcement, Ohio Gov. Bob Taft released a statement confirming that the state is working with AK to craft an “incentive package” to finance pollution-control equipment. “By moving forward in addressing environmental concerns at the Middletown facility, AK Steel has demonstrated its dedication to its employees and their families,” Taft said in the statement. “The state of Ohio is committed to helping AK Steel succeed, and will continue to work with the company in providing the necessary assistance to keep good steel jobs in Ohio.” A Taft spokesman could not be reached for further comment. The deadline to meet updated federal standards is May 2006. ASKED IF a full re-lining of the blast furnace’s brick will now go forward, McCoy said Friday that the work is a job the company must face “at some point.” But he added, “No date has been set.” A full re-lining would entail a 90-day furnace outage and costs of at least $100 million, McCoy said. The blast furnace is a steel stack where iron ore, coke and limestone are combined and heated to become liquid iron. The decision to keep making steel in Middletown is an acknowledgment of reality, one analyst said. “Let’s look at the alternative,” said steel industry analyst Charles Bradford, of Bradford Research and Soleil Securities. “The alternative is to buy (steel) slabs. You can’t do it. There aren’t any. So there’s no alternative.” At the moment, Bradford is right, McCoy said. But tight slab supplies and high slab prices won’t last forever, he added. Behind the “business decision” to keep Middletown’s hot end open is a fundamental preference to keep making “our own steel,” McCoy said. “They are probably substantially much better off keeping Middletown open,” Bradford said.
Published 01.31.04
|
||
|
Contact: |
Middletown planning for
responsible growth Middletown officials are charting a road map they hope will lead them through tough economic times and into brighter days. Like many other parts of the country, Middletown has been bleeding manufacturing jobs. In the past three to four years, Middletown lost nearly 1,000 jobs when several companies, including paper manufacturers Sorg Paper Co. and Crystal Tissue, closed their doors. And AK Steel has cut more than 200 workers in just the past few months. But the road to recovery is being plotted as Middletown starts a new master plan. The plan would be the city's first since 1974. "The key part is an economic retooling of the community," said Bill Murphy, the city's planning director. "Our past history has been very successful based on manufacturing, primarily paper and steel. Those particular industries are no longer flourishing to say the least. Now we have to rethink how we're going to take this community into the future." Middletown hired McKenna Associates Inc., a Michigan-based company with an office in Lebanon, to piece together the $130,000 plan. Kohler said the plan is expected to be complete by midsummer. The document, which will be turned over to Middletown City Council, is expected to be a user-friendly plan with realistic goals. "It's a step-by-step plan on how to transform the community to be the type of town we want to live in," Kohler said. But it's not just going to be what city officials see as the Middletown of tomorrow. Kohler said a critical part of the plan is what he called "public visioning sessions," where the consultants will gather residents' ideas and opinions to shape the plan. Larry Wood, Middletown Economic Development Corp. director, said it is going to take the cooperative vision of all in the community to decide the direction of change. "You have to look around and look at the market and where you're at today and what's going on around you," he said. "It's no different than a business plan for a business." The community thrived from the 1950s to the 1980s, borne on the back of successful manufacturing. But those days unfortunately are gone, he said. "We need to recognize that manufacturing is not going to be the way it was," Wood said. "We need to figure out where to go to create a viable economic base." More than likely that will mean a healthy dose of renovations of old abandoned factories and warehouses to create new centers of commerce, Kohler said. "During the '90s we had such a strong, sustained economy that even the paper companies and marginal operations could sustain themselves," Wood said. "After the dip in the economy, many of those companies and especially the marginal operations could not survive." Though economic development is the master plan's main focus, Kohler said the consultants will also chart a housing plan to deal with specific areas of the city where the housing stock has deteriorated during the past several years as well as recreation and transportation. "We're not really looking for explosive growth," Kohler said. "We're looking for responsible growth." E-mail jwilfong@bizjournals.com. Call 222-6900, ext. 120.
|
||
|
Contact:
|
AK Steel Corp., struggling to restore profitability, has decided to go ahead with a $65 million investment for new environmental controls at its Middletown mill, a move that would maintain 1,000 steelmaking jobs at the 100-year-old plant. CEO James L. Wainscott, in reporting a smaller fourth-quarter loss Friday, said AK Steel's board of directors has OK'd the investment, subject to tax-exempt bond financing from the state of Ohio. "We're reinvesting in iron- and steelmaking at the Middletown Works," Wainscott told analysts. Gov. Bob Taft said the Ohio Department of Development is working with AK on an incentives package, including the tax-exempt bond financing. "AK Steel is vital to Ohio's economy and provides thousands of good jobs for Ohioans," Taft said in a statement. Said Ed Shelley, president of the Armco Employees Independent Federation, which represents hourly employees in Middletown: "This is a positive development for the workers and the community." The pollution-control investment, allowing AK Steel to meet tougher new federal environmental rules taking effect in May 2006, is the latest sign of a turnaround for the company. AK has lost more than $1 billion in the last three years. AK reported a narrower fourth-quarter loss Friday, including required non-cash pension charges, on slightly higher shipments. For the three months ended Dec. 31, the carbon, stainless and electrical steel maker reported a loss of $163.9 million, or $1.51 a share, compared with a loss of $489.7 million, or $4.54 a share, a year ago. Fourth-quarter sales increased slightly to $1.05 billion on shipment of 1.5 million tons. Excluding items and results from discontinued operations in both quarters, the loss came to $34.1 million, or 31 cents a share, compared with a loss of $6.8 million, or 6 cents a share, a year earlier. Results in the latest quarter included charges of $145.3 million to recognize losses from pension and post-retirement benefit plans, and income of $15.5 million from discontinued operations. Last year's results included charges of $483.8 million related to pension and other postretirement benefit charges and $7.4 million in income from discontinued operations, among other items. For the year, AK reported a wider net loss of $560 million, or $5.17 a share, versus a loss of $502.4 million, or $4.67 a share, in the previous year. Sales for the year were $4.04 billion on shipments of 5.83 million tons versus sales in the previous year of $4.16 billion on shipments of 5.8 million tons. Richard Wardrop, Wainscott's predecessor who left in a September management shake-up, had indicated earlier this year that the company might abandon steelmaking in Middletown because of the environmental costs. But Wainscott, who took over promising a fresh perspective, had said the company was re-examining the issue. Eliminating steelmaking would reduce Middletown operations to coating and finishing steel slabs obtained elsewhere. The sprawling Middletown Works employs 3,600, including about 1,000 in basic steelmaking operations such as its coke plant, blast furnace and steelmaking shop. In October, Wainscott outlined a plan to cut costs and boost revenues aimed at generating $200 million in operating profits this year. As part of that plan, AK said it was eliminating 475 white-collar jobs company-wide, including about 200 in Middletown, to save about $35 million annually. Through yearend, Wainscott said the company has cut 400 jobs and expects to complete the remaining 75 by the end of March. Earlier this month, AK Steel notified the union that it was suspending a contract guarantee for a minimum number of workers at the Middletown mill. The move, which Shelley said the union is still studying, will cause mill employment to drop through attrition and retirements. Wainscott said the company still has a $30-a-ton cost disadvantage vs. its competitors because of higher pension and retiree health-care costs. It hopes for some pension-cost relief from a pension bill approved this week by the U.S. Senate. While Wainscott said he's been encouraged by private talks with unions about dealing with the issue, he said "we must accelerate the discussions." On Monday, AK announced what it called an "historic" agreement with the United Steelworkers of America, resolving remaining differences from a bitter 39-month company lockout of the union at its Mansfield plant. AK
Steel's shares closed Friday unchanged at $4.90.
|
||
|
Contact: |
NEWS UPDATE: Middletown Regional to join Premier Health Partners
|
||
|
Contact:
|
AK stays on Fortune 500 despite challenging yearBy Thomas Gnau, Journal Business Writer, E-mail: tgnau@coxohio.com Bigger than Levi Strauss and Starbucks — at least in one measure — Middletown’s AK Steel Corp. remains on the Fortune 500 list of America’s largest companies, even through another challenging year. The Curtis Street-based steelmaker is ranked 410th on the list that Fortune magazine publishes in its April 5 edition, based on revenue in 2003 of $4.2 billion. AK is lodged on the list between Cablevision Systems of Bethpage, N.Y., and Hormel Foods of Austin, Minn. Last year, AK was ranked No. 376. Though the company has reported losses in eight of the last nine quarters, Chris Olin, a steel industry analyst with Cleveland’s Longbow Research, isn’t surprised to see AK still perched on the prestigious list. The list is based on revenue numbers for publicly traded companies. Not considered in the rankings is how that revenue stacks up against costs or efforts to control costs. “They (AK) still benefit from pretty strong volumes and very strong market prices,” Olin said. “There’s nothing to suggest that the top-line fundamentals have changed.” AK saw net losses of $502 million and $560 million in 2002 and 2003, respectively. A shakeup saw James Wainscott replace Richard Wardrop as AK’s chief executive last September, and some observers credit Wainscott with leading the company in the right direction. Some AK competitors found higher places on the list this year. Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel Corp. rose from No. 264 in 2003 to 209th this year. (U.S. Steel was No. 3 in 1955.) Nucor, of Charlotte, N.C., rose from 342nd last year to 297th this year. The talk of the steel industry in recent months — acquisition-hungry International Steel Group — is new to the list. The Cleveland-area company, which went public in December, finds itself ranked at 426th based on revenue of $4.07 billion. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which has a store on Towne Boulevard South, held the top spot on the list, with about $259 billion in revenue. Wal-Mart was No. 1 last year, too. Other companies with area ties are ranked. Cincinnati’s Kroger Co. is 19th on revenue of $53.8 billion; Chicago-based Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. is 255th on revenue of $7.9 billion; Fifth Third Bancorp, of Cincinnati, is 287th on $6.5 billion; Dayton’s NCR Corp. is 322th on $5.6 billion; and Cinergy Corp., of Cincinnati, is 393rd on $4.4 billion in revenue. AK’s stock (NYSE: AKS) fell 10 cents in Wednesday, trading to $5.20.
Published 03.25.04
|
||
|
|
Scientist at Miami University Middletown works on bacteria homingCox News Service With bacteria continuing to build resistance to antibiotics, a Miami University Middletown microbiologist is working to stop bacterial infections at an earlier stage in the process — in a way that discourages the development of resistance. Marjorie Kelly Cowan, an associate professor of microbiology as well as associate executive director for academic affairs at Miami’s Middletown campus, and Benjamin Davis of the University of Oxford in England have developed a homing mechanism that guides an enzyme to the exact protein that the bacterium Actinomyces naesulundii uses to bind to host tissue. The enzyme destroys it before the bacteria can use it for attachment, officials said. This targeted approach is valuable, says Cowan, because if it becomes available therapeutically, the mechanism can be used in much lower concentrations — as much as one million times lower — than blocking agents currently being tested as anti-microbial blocking agents. These chemical blockers have been tested to treat stomach ulcers and bladder infections — so far, with mixed results, according to university officials. What is beneficial in this technique is the reduced likelihood that the bacteria will become resistant to this type of mechanism, according to the findings. Published 04.28.04
|
||
|
|
AK Steel Corp. anticipates better-than-expected third quarter results thanks to a booming overseas market and an increased operating profit per ton, the company reported Tuesday. Alan McCoy, AK’s vice president of government and public relations, said China’s booming capitalist economy helped drive demand to levels that haven’t been seen in almost a decade. “They have a tremendous appetite for steel and raw materials,” McCoy said. AK Steel, Middletown’s largest employer, expects third-quarter shipments to reach 1.542 million tons, and operating profit per ton to be about $61, a mark $25 above second-quarter reports. The revised numbers reflect an increase of 17,000 tons and $10 in operating profit per ton over original estimates. In the second quarter, AK shipped 1,565,100 tons and posted operating profits of $65.4 million, ending a string of eight quarterly losses. “Thanks to our continuing focus on the business basics, as well as higher average selling prices, we are pleased that our recovery continues to build momentum, and we look forward to reporting another profitable quarter,” AK president and CEO James L. Wainscott said in a statement Tuesday. The company’s stock closed up $1.10 Monday, to $9.70, and was as high as $10.05, a two-year high. On Tuesday, the stock gained again, closing at $10.06, up 36 cents per share. McCoy cautioned that the company is still lagging behind competitors in net income based in part on AK’s benefit payments to retirees. “That is a fundamental that we still need to address and fix if we’re going to be on equal footing,” McCoy said. AK’s second-quarter operating profits were 10 times smaller than most competitors, he said, and the operating profit per ton differential between the company and the rest of the steel industry remain. In the mid-1990s, AK’s operating profit per ton peaked at $85. McCoy said the current steel market may be stronger than that one. “This is the hottest steel market in anybody’s recollection,” he said. AK officials will discuss third-quarter third
quarter financial results in an 11 a.m. conference call on Oct. 26. |
||
|
Copyright © 2005 Middletown
Economic Development Corporation. All rights reserved.
|
|||
