The ED/GE Advisory Committee will meet May 17 to discuss which projects to fund.
Among the appeals: Scott Koorndyk, executive vice president, development and operations, with the Dayton Development Coalition, told tour-goers that the Entrepreneurial Signature Program (ESP) — which seeks to help solve problems for local early-stage technology companies — would be taken outside the coalition and “out of the (Kettering) Tower” for more visibility in the program’s new iteration. (The coalition is based in Kettering Tower in downtown Dayton.)
“They’ll be out in the community,” he said.
“ESP 2.0” is projected to create more than 100 jobs a year and support 17 companies, putting $1 million a year into Montgomery County, Koorndyk said. The city of Dayton seeks $600,000 for the program, projected to have a total cost of $4 million.
Koorndyk acknowledged that Ohio government has been critical of the ESP under the coalition’s guidance. But last August the state did award the program a two-year grant for $4 million.
“We want to widen our net,” Koorndyk said.
In West Dayton, Tipp City-based Process Equipment Co. wants to consolidate four manufacturing sites, most in Miami County, and 160 jobs to the former SOS Metals site off McCall St.
Mary Miller, an inside consultant for PECo, said the 425,000-square-foot industrial building is structurally sound, although wiring and plumbing have been stripped. The roof needs repair or replacement, and the total project is expected to cost at least $7 million to $10 million. But by consolidating four sites, the company could save about $1 million a year.
“We want to take this building and turn it into a world-class facility right in this area,” Miller said.
“It’s really about the transformation of this part of town,” said Timothy Downs, Dayton deputy economic development director.
The manufacturer, which makes large parts for aerospace and fracking customers among other industrial products, seeks $500,000 in ED/GE funds. It pledges to create 271 new jobs, at an average salary of $50,924.
In Butler Township, Erica Vogel, assistant township administrator, revealed that the ED/GE application code-named “Project A” is Vandalia Rental’s desire for $50,000 to help build a 14 ,000-square-foot maintenance facility on the east side of Engle Road.
The new building would support future retail business sites for the company that rents out construction and material-handling equipment.
In an unsigned letter to the ED/GE committee, the company said that for every new retail site opened — and those sites will not likely be in Montgomery County, the letter noted — three supporting positions will be created at the company’s 950 Engle headquarters.
The $1.25 million project would create five new jobs and retain seven.
In Union, city manager John Applegate and Steve Stanley, executive director of the Montgomery County Transportation Improvement District, made the case for this funding cycle’s largest ED/GE request, $750,000 to help fund infrastructure improvements for the 600-acre Union Global Logistics Airpark.
The project would widen Dog Leg and Jackson roads and extend sewer and water lines.
“A high number” of jobs — more than 300 — are expected to be drawn to the site as it would becomes a distribution hub, according to Union’s ED/GE application.
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