TekniPlex Consumer Products Bringing $40 Million Facility to Van Wert

New Plant to Utilize Renewable Molded Fiber in Manufacturing, Create 100 New Jobs

TekniPlex Consumer Products specializes in advanced materials science solutions for companies in the food & beverage and consumer packaged goods industries with a focus on protecting products, strengthening brands, and innovating sustainably. TekniPlex Consumer Products serves companies around the world in sectors including beauty and personal care, household items, and food and beverage. This facility brings 100 new manufacturing jobs to Van Wert sometime in Q4 of 2023.

TekniPlex evaluated its supply chain on inbound and outbound costs and options in different U.S. locations to find the best fit for the new investment. The company determined that building a new manufacturing facility would provide synergistic value by consolidating manufacturing leadership operations for North American production. 

The new facility will combine TekniPlex’s longstanding fiber capabilities with technology platforms obtained through our recent strategic acquisitions. Notably, the Ohio plant will be our eighth such facility dedicated almost exclusively to molded fiber solutions development and production.

-Eldon Schaffer, CEO TekniPlex Consumer Products

Why Van Wert, Ohio?  

TekniPlex has 50 locations across the world. One of those facilities is a global innovation center in Holland, Ohio, a suburb of Toledo, which has provided the company with knowledge of the advantages of doing business in Northwest Ohio. 

We chose Van Wert because we looked at a lot of different sites in and around our Decatur, Indiana plant, and Ohio came through with a lot of incentives. We wanted to be close to our plant in Decatur for support from a start-up standpoint. The overall incentives, economics, and the jobs available here in Van Wert drove the decision.

- Jay Arnold, senior vice president/GM Fiber Business.

TekniPlex credited the region’s work culture and its positive experience doing business here as a key driver in the decision to locate in Van Wert. The company also cited the significance of being located within one of the largest egg-farming states in the nation. 

Collaborators: JobsOhio, Ohio Department of Development, Regional Growth Partnership, Van Wert Area Economic Development Corporation, Business Development Corporation, City of Van Wert 

Planned Spec Building in Van Wert Expected to Attract New Investment + Jobs

UPDATE: Spec building is nearly complete with availability in Spring 2023. For further details contact - Van Wert Area Economic Development Corporation at 419-238-2999 or info@vanwerted.com

Northwest Ohio will soon welcome the construction of a new spec building, offering potential businesses another attractive option for immediate operations startup.

Robinson Investments, LTD will soon begin constructing a 100,000-square-foot spec building in Van Wert. Completion of the building is expected by early fall.

The project is being supported through the Ohio Site Inventory Program (OSIP), an innovative initiative created by JobsOhio to boost the state's competitiveness in competing for economic development projects. The $50 million program offers grants and low-interest loans to support speculative site and building development projects.

This marks the third regional spec building for Robinson Investments, which has constructed and filled two other spec buildings in Findlay and Van Wert.

“The OSIP program is 100% absolutely fundamental to our success. The OSIP funding helps bridge some of the gaps and nuances which are critical toward successful completion of the project.”

– Jason Black, Business Development Manager, Robinson Investments

Read the full article from RGP

$10M investment by Trucent Renewable Chemicals

Trucent Renewable Chemicals (TRC) will invest more than $10 million at the company’s new site in Van Wert, creating at least 21 new jobs. TRC, a division of Trucent with headquarters in Dexter, Michigan, processes vegetable oils into renewable oleo-chemicals which are shipped to customers for a wide variety of applications, including machining fluids, paints, adhesives, plastics, and animal feed. The new facility will allow for increased production of existing products, expansion into new markets, and development of new products.

“Northwest Ohio is the intersection of the agricultural and industrial markets, and that is a key reason we located in Van Wert, This region has an industrial base with a workforce trained for these types of operations.”

- James Bleyer, TRC Director

Bleyer added this will be the company’s first facility to commercialize TRC’s proprietary technology to process of raw vegetable oils into chemical intermediaries. He said Van Wert’s workforce is highly respected and can handle the production requirements.

Accelerate Van Wert 2.0 campaign launched

The "Accelerate Van Wert 2.0" campaign is in full swing, and money is being raised to promote growth in Van Wert County.

Accelerate Van Wert is the five-year strategic economic growth initiative (2019-2023) of the Van Wert Business Development Corporation (BDC) with three goals. The first goal is to grow jobs and attract capital investment through the Opportunity Fund.

The budget needed for the new Opportunity Fund is $750,000 over five years. The fund would be used for things such as offering new or expanding companies loans for land purchases or construction with low or 0% interest rates, purchasing land to expand Industrial Park and Vision Park capacity to attract new companies, possibly constructing another speculative building, and utilizing other incentives to attract new businesses.

The next goal is to attract, retain, and align talent. Currently, Van Wert has 15% more than the average number of people near retirement age and 17% fewer than the average number of millennials compared to similar cities. This means there will soon be a shortage of workers if local businesses don't find ways to attract younger people.

Van Wert also has around 9,000 people living in Van Wert County that work outside of the county. Meanwhile, just over 4,600 people are coming to Van Wert from outside the area to work. With around 14,700 workers living in Van Wert County, more than 60% of working-age residents leave Van Wert County to work daily.

"Talent is the new currency in economic development. With a 3 percent unemployment rate, if you want a job and can work, you've got a job."

To attract talent, the Accelerate Van Wert initiative program would aim to brand and market Van Wert as a desirable destination for workforce talent, to implement high school graduation retention programs, to attract talent back to Van Wert through scholarships programs and marketing campaigns, and to provide the appropriate quantity and quality of housing, among other plans. The budget needed for goal two is $375,000 over five years. The primary item to be funded from this goal budget is a full-time workforce development professional that can oversee this goal.

The final goal of the Accelerate Van Wert campaign is to strengthen the quality of the place. Quality of place issues include dilapidated buildings and a need for more amenities, especially downtown. After input from a cross-section of community leaders, the BDC discovered an excellent opportunity to improve Van Wert's quality of place by accelerating downtown revitalization.

Some of the plans for goal three are to initially focus on the Washington Street Corridor, with the BDC prioritizing high-impact projects that stimulate new dining and retail options. The focus will also incentivize the redevelopment of under-utilized buildings, encourage downtown housing developments attractive to young working adults, and obtain options on at-risk structures critical to the downtown facade.

The budget needed for this goal is $375,000 over five years for a total of $1.5 million to fulfill the 5-year Accelerate Van Wert campaign goal.

In short, the campaign's overall goal is to bring in new businesses, new residents, and new housing, dining, and retail options. Some of the economic impacts the BDC expects to see are high-quality jobs with increased payroll, the creation of new disposable personal income, new sales and property tax revenue to the City and County, and an overall improved quality of place and life for Van Wert County residents.

The BDC just wrapped up its 2014-2018 "Opportunity Fund Initiative," where $1.1 million was raised to improve economic development in Van Wert. During those years, the BDC facilitated construction of a 100,000-square-foot speculative building, secured land for future commercial development by purchasing 59 acres and options on another 150 acres, and made various catalytic loans to businesses and other organizations.

Money for the Accelerate Van Wert campaign is being pledged from various investors throughout the Van Wert Community.