That’s made here? Slim Jims and 5 other things you never knew were produced in southwest Ohio

While the company produces a number of plastic products and custom pieces, Granger Plastics, located on Made Industrial Drive, says it’s a leader in making tornado shelters. The company’s shelter is constructed to be buried underground with only the door and ventilation visible. It meets federal guidelines and has been tested to withstand the most destructive F5 tornado.

Credit: Greg Lynch

Credit: Greg Lynch

The Granger ISS is a tornado shelter made by rotational molding of polyethylene, according to the company. The shelter’s double-wall design is filled with foam for extra rigidity and insulation. It has a reverse taper design which does not require the unit to have an anchoring system when buried.

The company was founded in 1994 as a custom contractor to make plastic parts for air cargo and trucking containers.

» RELATED: Middletown company’s unique storm shelter featured on TV show 

The popular meat snack Slim Jim is made in Troy, where Nebraska-based ConAgra also produces Max frozen pizzas. The Slim Jim brand represents about 6 percent of the company's total profits and generates $200 million in sales annually, according to the company.

Credit: Skip Peterson

Credit: Skip Peterson

Slim Jim production was transferred to the Troy facility after a June 2009 explosion destroyed almost half of a ConAgra plant in Garner, N.C.

Instead of shifting production back to North Carolina, ConAgra expanded the plant in Troy. The company listed more than 700 employees in reports filed with the city at the end of 2014.

» RELATED: Local Slim Jim plant recognized for environmental practices

» RELATED: Maker of Slim Jims starts $13M expansion in Troy

The privately held company in Piqua is celebrating its centennial of propelling airplanes. In 1917, Orville Wright suggested Robert Hartzell begin crafting propellers out of a specific hardwood, launching the Hartzell Walnut Propeller Company.

While the hand-carved propellers of a century ago remain recognizable, the company’s lines evolved over the years to aluminum and multi-blade composite propellers.

Hartzell Propeller, owned by Tailwind Technologies, controls about 80 percent of the market for prop-driven planes with engines that produce between 80 and 2,200 horsepower. The company makes about 40 aluminum alloy and composite propellers per day, the company said in 2016.

» RELATED: Headwinds no match for prop manufacturer 

The Fram facility on Jackson Street in Greenville has the capability of producing 400 different models of oil filters. A $5.4 million, 20,000 square-foot expansion announced in 2015 was set to add a fourth line to boost production to more than 400,000 filters a day in total with a crew of 380 employees.

Fram has had operations in Greenville since 1951.

In 2011, the plant employed 180 workers and produced about 40 million filters a year when Rank Group Ltd. acquired Fram from Honeywell International.

The late Fred J. Miller’s love of marching bands, twirling and the color guard set the course that would become the company bearing his name today.

Credit: Ron Alvey

Credit: Ron Alvey

He was a drum major in high school, a music education student at the University of Dayton and the band director at Fairborn High School from 1957 to 1968.

The family-based company designs uniforms and accessories for marching bands, color guards, drum corps and pageantry units all over the world.

Bob and Sara Rothschild moved from California to the Mad River Valley in the 1970s. An overabundance of red raspberries inspired their original recipes made from ingredients coming from their 170-acre farm outside Urbana.

Credit: Jim Witmer

Credit: Jim Witmer

Credit: Barbara Perenic

Credit: Barbara Perenic

The products are manufactured in small batches in the company's 51,000-square-foot facility, according to the Rothschild's website.

Glencoe Capital Management acquired Robert Rothschild Farm’s lines of gourmet sauces, dips and other food products last month for an undisclosed amount. The Champaign County Auditor’s Office shows Rothschild’s property at 3143 E. U.S. 36 was acquired by the Cincinnati Preserving Co. for close to $4 million.