What Do Organic Baby Formula and Latex Paint Have in Common? Made in Licking County

 

Bobbie, an organic infant formula company, recently acquired a Licking County manufacturing plant it called “the most innovative infant formula manufacturing facility in the U.S.”  Nature’s One, Bobbie’s July acquisition target, has been in Licking County for over three years and ramped up production during the baby formula crisis.  They are little known locally.

Licking County hosts manufacturers bringing a diverse array of products to the International stage.  Companies are focused on selling products to the world, and they have found it hard to grab the local spotlight.

The story of diverse manufacturing in Licking County is, often, a hidden story.  For the sake of inspiring a future generation to pursue the broad job opportunities that are here, we all benefit from knowing more about what’s right here in our backyards.

For almost ten years now, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s product development center has been the darling of the tire world.  Yet, few know that development of new tire innovations take place in Hebron.  A few parents and students may remember, Goodyear led a STEM competition at The Works one year to tell their story.

Screen Machine has been making giant, rock crushing machines in Etna from design to road ready for some time.  Their product has done its job on every continent but for, maybe, Antarctica. 

Neurxstem is conducting research to develop a test diagnosing brain tissue reactions.  Who knew? Only after Congressman Balderson visited and the generated front page story in The Advocate caught a Heath mom’s attention, did a local guy find out that his skills were needed in his hometown.                             

Where synthetic food additives are discouraged, as in the European Union, the pine tree extract manufactured at Arboris in Newark is in great demand as a cholesterol-lowering ingredient in many foods.  Soy crisps, an ingredient to give crunch and protein to popular protein bars, come out of the GB Food factory in Heath.  GB is a European-Asian joint venture that first set up their shingle in the U.S. in 2016.  Gathered Foods followed GB in 2017 and makes international headlines for their plant-based seafood products.  Locally known?  Not so much.

It’s also little known, but a fact that the first silicon products to come out of Licking County won’t be from Intel.  Momentive Performance manufactures silicon quartz tubing and crucibles consumed in making semiconductors and photovoltaic solar panels.  They’ve been in Union Township for decades.

Kaiser’s hot rolled aluminum line, Boeing’s missile guidance systems unit, the Air Force’s metrology labs, Owens Corning’s research campus, and Covestro’s product development center are just a few more of the unique-to-the-world capabilities right here in Licking County.

Soon, Behr Paint will begin manufacturing latex paint in their new facility in Heath.  Behr’s television commercials make the brand known around the U.S., but the large, new facility has gone quietly forward over the last two years practically unnoticed.  I’m hopeful Behr’s good news tale won’t get painted over when they open production early next year.

It’s the diversity of manufacturing that is one of the greatest strengths of our local economy, labor market, and tax base in Licking County.  This strength is to be celebrated!

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This column is a regular development column for The Newark Advocate.

 

Licking County Is a Microcosm for U.S. Manufacturing Growth

 

From missile guidance systems to baby formula and from plant-based food to semiconductors, Licking County is proving to be a microcosm of a U.S. manufacturing resurgence. The Licking County manufacturing story has displayed an envious range of manufacturing’s transformation. We truly are showing the rest of the U.S. what the future of manufacturing can look like.

Even before the huge international news of the $20 billion Intel semiconductor plant in Jersey Township, Licking County manufacturers were proving the national pundits wrong about manufacturing.  How?  For one, they’ve been growing job opportunities.

According to a July 2021 report from Ohio’s LMI Division, Licking County saw manufacturing jobs increase 41% between 2010 and 2019.  Much of the job growth at New Albany’s Western Licking County side in the last 15 years has been in manufacturing.  Manufacturers at the Port Authority’s Aerospace Center campus keep growing too, for example, adding a 25% net increase in jobs in the last two years.  Growth continues.

Site consultants say that places around the country that can provide a manufacturing culture, a manufacturing workforce, manufacturing-oriented educational infrastructure, and ready-to-go manufacturing sites in growth-minded communities are winning manufacturers’ investments.

These are also chief among the reasons Licking County is winning manufacturers’ investments.

STEM learning is part of that manufacturing mix.  Licking County has a track record in producing a STEM-skilled workforce. 

The recent STEMfest at The Works, the 13^th year in a row of bringing industry and educators together with parents and kids, proved the point.  What science museum in the country wouldn’t be proud to brag the names of Boeing, Covestro, Goodyear, THK, Ariel, and Screen Machine on the event marquee as it was at The Works? 

Globalization is starting to take shape around the globe in a whole new form.  Reshoring of manufacturing was beginning before COVID but was accelerated by it.  According to the capital managers at BlackRock, the last 30 years of globalization are being proven a mistake.  Fears of overseas turmoil creating domestic economic turmoil makes U.S. production reshoring a national imperative. More and more this mantra will be true:  If you want to sell in the U.S., you must make it in the U.S.

Matching globalization trends is nothing new to Licking County.  National author Joel Kotkin wrote in 2010 about the reasons that the middle of country stood to host the return of manufacturing.  Licking County was a prominent part of his follow up reports that kept the issue front and center.  The author’s recent visit to Licking County was a precursor of more to come.

More than just be proud of being a microcosm, we need to seize upon the opportunity it presents.

The truth is that the recent years of manufacturing growth in Licking County, though vitally important, are lesser known.  Our challenge is to capitalize on the high-profile Intel news.  Now is our chance to grow our manufacturing workforce for all--Intel as well as our existing manufacturers.  There are great opportunities for our students to pursue well-paying, stable careers in manufacturing. 

It’s our time.  What a great time to be in Ohio.  What a great time to be in Licking County.

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This development column is a regular column in The Advocate.

It’s True! The Nation Enjoys Salmon, Crab Cakes, and Tuna Straight Out of Heath, Ohio

 

It was announced recently:  The nation’s first plant-based salmon burger is “caught” right here in the heart of Licking County.  Salmon is just the latest plant-based seafood option among many under brand name Good Catch created by a manufacturer who produces one-of-a-kind products in the Port Authority’s industrial park.

This international-worthy news has quietly been building up locally in Central Licking County for a few years now. Seizing upon an international trend, Gathered Foods markets salmon, tuna, crabcakes, fish sticks, and other Good Catch seafood products aided by a clean new building and an able workforce.  Order your first plant-based seafood at GoodCatchFoods.com today.

It’s true!  Plant-based food is a thing in Licking County.  Big time.

A British-Chinese joint venture was first.  GB Food and Gushen America found a new industrial building built on speculation by the Port Authority and started up in 2017.  GB expanded in 2018 and combined with Gathered Food’s new location to achieve a total manufacturing capability six times bigger by 2019.  Nature’s One followed in 2020 and KeHo Foods in 2021.

Plant-based food has indeed found Heath to be a good home.  In four short years, the numbers went from zero to five companies and from no buildings to five buildings combined with over 223,000 sq.ft. under roof.

It’s been quite a trend.  Plant-based food produced and distributed out of Heath now includes a wide variety of ingredients (soy protein crisps and non-GMO soy isolates) to consumer products (protein bars, organic baby formula, and some amazing tasting, chef-inspired seafood without fish in it). 

Plant-based foods are trendy in their own right.  The pandemic has proven the value of protein-rich, shelf-stable options.  The Plant Based Foods Association reports, in 2020, that 57% of American households brought some plant-based food into their kitchens. It’s the faster growing segment of the growing food industry, by almost double.

The trend isn’t left to just vegans and vegetarians.  According to the PBFA 98% of plant-based buyers also buy animal meat. Fully 79% of Millennials and Generation Z eat plant-based foods. 

Licking County is a place for this growing industry sector to thrive too.

The recipe for plant-based food industry success is the same recipe for manufacturing success.  Mix manufacturing culture, an available manufacturing workforce, and manufacturing-focused educational infrastructure. Fold in a pipeline of future manufacturing workers, streamlined planning processes, smart incentives, and ready-to-go sites and buildings. 

The community is building on these trends.  There’s a Southgate Corporation 65,000 sq. ft. new spec building available right now which is well-suited for food production. A clean, new speculative building is being built next door to these other producers by the Port Authority.  Before Summer, another 30,000 sq. ft. building will be available for a new tenant. 

C-TEC is gearing up pre-employment training specifically for the food industry workforce. STEM learning efforts at The Works are seizing upon the trend too with a recognition that plant-based food is very much a mix of science and technology.

I’ll predict our community’s oversized role in the plant-based food industry will continue into 2022 and beyond.

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This development column is a regular column in The Advocate.

Telling Our Plant-Based Food Story

 I'm just going to put this right here.

Our customers tell the Port Authority's plant-based food story better than we can.

Here's the story link and here's the story below:

My Local Foods at Walmart

I was gleeful.  My mostly quiet (except with Store Manager Steve) campaign to see Mid's Spaghetti Sauce on the shelves at my local Walmart met with success.

Mid's has been my sauce all my life.  It's a product made in Navarre, Ohio, just up US Route 62 an hour and a half north of Newark.  No other sauce compares, in my book.

More than a year ago, I wrote a blog on here and on NewarkAdvocate.com that tweeked Manager Steve for taking Mid's away.  My pitch:  It's a local product--good for the environment and good for the economy--that will increase sales for Walmart.

Steve knows that every time I saw him, I lobbied him to bring it back.  He promised he would do it.  He raised my hopes a few weeks ago when I ran into him.  He did what he said.

One problem though.

I bought the last meat sauce.  Time to refill the shelves, Steve.

Bringing Home The Home Bacon

I've written before.  It's not parochial to seek out and buy food products made closer to your home.  Though it may be eco-friendly to do so, there's many more reasons to do it than environmental ones.  It supports the local economy.  It can tend to keep food prices down too as the local brand is selling better.

I buy Mid's spaghetti sauce (Navarre) and Nickles bread (from Navarre too).  I'll seek out Kroger milk (Newark) and favor local fruits, cheeses, and deli meats.

Bacon has more than one choice.

Though I grew up near the Sugardale meats plant and seek out Sugardale bacon on my weekly grocery buy, Oscar Meyer bacon comes from the Kraft plant in Coshocton, Ohio just 40 miles away too.

Thus, bringing home the bacon is a hometown thing to do either way you cut it, Sugardale or Oscar Mayer.

Showing My Small Town, Homestyle Bias

This is the $8.99 fried chicken dinner at Watts Restaurant in Utica.

I like the place, the price, and, especially, the food. I guess I have a small town, homestyle bias.

Ah, Peach Season

Today, officially, is the first day to pick your own peaches at Legend Hills Orchard west of Utica in northern Licking County. I got half a peck yesterday of some ready picked fabulous-tasting, juicy peaches.

As a kid growing up, our house had a great oddity. The previous owner had fruit trees on our little suburban lot. Together with fruit-bearing cherry, red plum, and green plum trees were several peach trees. We used to harvest so many peaches we gave away and tried to sell off more peaches than we could eat.

In my book, nothing beats fresh peaches. It's local too!

An Institution Lost: Riley's Bakery

I heard the other day that Riley's Bakery on West Church Street in Newark, Ohio was closed for good.

I had to drop by to get proof and, sure enough, it is.  It's truly an institution lost.  The bakery was 88 years in business, according to a NewarkArcade.com summary, and led by its current owner since 1996.

Just two years ago, I wrote about the importance of places like Riley's to the local charm of a person's hometown. The loss is not just for the Hudnall family as much as it is for generations in Newark.

My kids and I had a routine of stopping in for donuts before school every once in a while or on a Saturday morning. 

Neither they nor I will ever forgot the aroma nor the taste, even if we never smell the bakery or taste anything like its donuts again.

Homestyle Restaurants Are Great

Actually, my kids are great, because they don't complain when I deviate from the chain store pattern and go the small town, homestyle route.

The fried chicken and noodles at Watts' Restaurant in Utica is fantastic. Watts' is a 100-year Licking County treasure and is worth a stop.

A Lesson On Local and Regional Foods

Only one left. Mid's Spaghetti Sauce, a pasta sauce made just up US62 in Navarre, Ohio, is nearly gone from the shelves at Newark's Meijer this past Sunday morning.

Wal-Mart carried Mid's until, inexplicably, they just stopped all of sudden recently.  What a shame.  It's their loss.  Clearly, as the near-empty shelves show, it's Meijer's gain.

Though I spread my grocery budget around, I'm more often a Wal-Mart shopper who goes other places only when certain things aren't found there.

I've written before about my fondness for Wal-Mart.  In my past career, I helped Wal-Mart pick Steubenville for a grocery distribution center.  The same DC that distributes food to Newark.

However, Sunday proved what's wrong with Wal-Mart's lack of stacking more regionally-made foods on its shelves. I may be typical.  Sunday, I went to Meijer for Mid's and looking for some other bargains.  I left, though, with a grocery cart full from my entire list. No stop at Wal-Mart this time.   If Wal-Mart, in this case, had stacked Mid's, I would have had no reason to go to Meijer.
 
The arguments for grocers to stack more local and regional foods run the gamet.

There's a more liberal argument.  Some people argue for regional foods because it's more eco-friendly to distribute food shorter distances.

There's also a more conservative argument.  I've heard effective arguments for the economic development value of buying more regionally-sourced foods.  The region that manufactures and exports out of its region more food than it consumes is the one that economically benefits the most.

For me, the more pragmatic argument is best.  Wal-Mart should stack more regional brands for their own bottom line--more sales. 

Much like the rest of my Gen X generation, I'm a cost-conscious shopper who rarely has much brand loyalty. However, I'll seek out Nickles bread, Sugardale bacon, Smucker's jelly, Velvet Ice Cream, Brewster swiss cheese, Kroger milk, and other regionally-produced brands. I'll even pay a little bit more for those brands too, though, often, it's not a cost issue.

So, I guess this column is all about delivering a lesson for Wal-Mart's store manager.  Time to stack Mid's again, Steve.  It's for your own good, and ours.

Writing About Bacon

Yesterday, I wrote about butter. So, why not bacon today?

This photo is from a restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky leaning to the odd side. Everything on this table contained bacon in one form or another. Wow.

A Butter Object in Every Town

The Ohio State Fair's most famous attraction over the years is the butter cow.  It's a mainstay.

I  suppose I'm being a little irreverent, but i have to ask:  What if other venues copied the act and started crafting things out of butter?

Take our Port Authority, for example.

Our customer, Boeing, could make a butter missile, though I don't think it would survive re-entry.

A person in a cleanroom garment might make for a good butter sculpture.  That fits the venue.

Newark is known for its building-sized basket.  Might as well add the butter basket.

My hometown, Massillon, could have a butter version of its most famous former resident, Paul Brown.  Butter brown?

The most-famous Ohioan, Thomas Edison, could make a good butter figure to inspire a whole new generation of inventors (and cholesterol lovers).

For me, though, especially this time of year, the butter shape I crave to see the most is a pat of butter on an ear of Ohio sweet corn.  Yum.

Digesting a Different View on the Food Industry

One of the most memorable presentations at the recent International Economic Development Council's Spring Conference in Indy was from an unlikely source.  Dan Carmody, President of the Detroit Eastern Market, gave a different view on the food processing industry.  His presentation stood out as it was a great departure from the globally-focused, build big boxes World in which many of us in the room normally find ourselves working.

I have to admit.  I saw attracting an international food processor to locate at our industrial park as much more impactful on our economy than a network of local farmer's markets.  I'm now convinced of the merits of a different point of view.

His presentation was more convincing than most because it was both informative and humorous (It's hard to make sarcasm work as well as Dan did.).  I especially appreciated the PowerPoint slide that showed salsa, chips, cheese puffs, and beef jerky at a convenience store as an example of how one's daily diversity of food groups can be achieved.

Here's how Carmody's mission was described in the speakers' program: 

"Eastern Market seeks to build the MOO Food Shed (Michigan, Ontario, Ohio) into the nation's most robust regional food system by building alternative distribution methods to address food access issues in under served communities, by fostering a new generation of local food processing to increase food sector employment and create new markets for food that will be grown in the City of Detroit, and by further enhancing Eastern Market as a compelling retail food destination."

The MOO food shed is Dan's vision of Detroit at the center of a multi-state, two-nation regional food distribution system that sees existing urban markets like the Eastern Market and neighborhood-based ways to distribute locally-produced food.

Detroit's national grocery chain presence has eroded and Dan's Eastern Market has been an integral part of meeting Southeast Michigan's grocery needs in some old-style, yet modern-in-practice ways.  The Eastern Market is increasing its historic role as a wholesale location for regional grocers and encouraging food carts and corner markets for further distribution.

His Twitter account profile reads "Place Maker and Local Food System Advocate" to ably describe his vision for the Eastern Market and his very clear advocacy.

The largest take away from Dan's remarks was that if the U.S. could move the average American's source of food in his diet to 20%  regionally-sourced food, the U.S. economy would benefit as would American's diets.  Dan predicts this vision, if realized, would also bring solutions to our health care problems as well.

Fascinating.

Dan's presentation had an immediate impact on me.  I passed on eating the cookie at the refreshment break after his remarks.  I had a Michigan apple instead.

Liking The Plate Thing

It's one of those things that leaves the government open to criticism and brings some chuckles, but I kinda like the change from a food pyramid to a plate.  ChooseMyPlate.gov was unveiled earlier this week with help from the First Lady.

I can see my kids knowing this plate, and I can see myself using it too.

As a parent, I like to try to convince my kids the value of a well-balanced meal.  I've struggled, though, to even remember the pyramid thing.  In fact, the pyramid thing tended to make me forget the four food groups nutrition guide I grew up knowing.  How many groups did the pyramid have?  What was on top?  Huh?

So, credit to someone in the Obama Administration for a government innovation worth sinking your teeth into.

Eating Sushi: A Novice's Perspective

I'm a non-expert on sushi, but I eat it so I, therefore, can write about it. 

I had some this last Lenton Friday. 

I'll often grab some at Kroger nearby my office and make a lighter lunch out of it.  California Roll is about as far as I like to go. 

I'm sure some people who now consider me more than the novice I disclosed in the column title will stop reading by now.

If you are still reading, here's my advice based on advice I've gotten and my personal taste:

The best advice I got, and I can't credit where I read this, was to dabble some wasabi onto a piece.  Then, dip the piece into some soy sauce, but be careful just to dab a little bit.

Every few pieces, cleanse the pallet with a bit of some pickled ginger and go again.

The advice, as I recall, was that this way preserved the array of flavors best of all with no one dominating.

I'll go for that.  Enjoy.

Great Mix: Licking County and Food

I'm on the second draft of a piece on the food production industry in Licking County being put together as a collective work of the Licking County Chamber's Economic Development Committee .  The conclusion first:  Licking County possesses a wide array of capabilities that support the County as a prime location for the food processing industry.

Licking County is already home to dozens of production facilities ranging from dairy and ice cream production to plant sterols and wholesale beverages.  Combined, the industries employ over 1,000 people.

Central Ohio is also home to a wide array of manufacturers and headquarters too with bakeries, meat processing, cheese production, and beverage production in close proximity.

Raw materials are abundant in the region, including cream from Tamarack Dairy and eggs from Ohio Fresh Eggs. Plus, seven major food distribution centers are within a two-hour radius of Newark, including two Wal Mart food distribution centers.

Ready-to-build sites abound.  The sites boast abudnant water supplies, including a massive aquifer able to supply process water, and rail service on the state-owned Panhandle Line which promises open access for large, rail users.

Here's a few of the key bullet points in the piece:

Part of Major Industry in Ohio

• Ohio saw $25.2 billion in food processing production in 2006
• Ohio is located between the grain belt and populous Eastern markets
• Ohio’s export capabilities are strong due to multi-modal distribution capabilities
• Food processing is an important industry in Ohio, employing over 60,000 workers

Ready-to-Build Sites Suited for Food Processing

• Major underground aquifer for process water
• Capacity for public drinking water sources
• Capacity for BOD-generating facilities
• State-owned rail line provides open access for large rail users

Nearby Major Food Distribution Centers

• Walmart (2), Target, Kroger, GFS, Mattingly Foods, and Meijer DC’s are within a two-hour drive

Nearby Agricultural/Food Industry Research & Development

• HQ for Ohio Department of Agriculture located in Licking County
• Located in proximity to Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Env. Sciences
• Located 66 miles from Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center
• Home to Dawes Arboretum for research, horticulture, and demonstration projects

Robust Local Agriculture Industry

• Significant producer of raw materials
• Significant user of food production byproducts
• 90%+ family-owned farms
• 40,765 acres corn, 67,567 acres soy bean
• 701 acres orchards

A Food-Focused Workforce

• Customized, food-industry focused pre-employment training available from C-TEC, COTC

Proximity to Support Industry

• Packaging: PCA (Newark), International Paper (Newark), Unipac (Hebron), WS Packaging (Heath), Constar (Hebron)
• Industrial Cleaning: MPW Services (Hebron)

I'm a Retired Facebook Pizza Page Maker

I'm retired.  I'm making no Facebook pizza pages anymore.

Yesterday, I successfully convinced the daughter of the owners of Kraus' Pizza to take over the Facebook page. 

I started the page as a fan after my mom brought me a pizza in February 2009.  I started with a photo of a box and a handful of my friends.  I transferred it to the Kraus family with 7,117 fans.

It was fun to watch and, equally, fun to marvel at the power of Facebook to connect people with what they like around the World.

Now, I watch from the fan side, where I belong.

Restaurant Review: Golden Wok Worth the Walk

The half-way-down an alley location and the extremely dated decor might make this restaurant seem like a bit of a throwback.  It's a throwback worth going back to.

It's easy to forget its there and I'm not sure what reminded me, but my wife and I enjoyed dinner last night at the Golden Work in downtown Newark.  The Chinese restaurant is half way down the alley between North Park Place and Church Street in Newark. 

The egg rolls were out of this world.  A crispy breading gave way to a host of fresh ingredients inside.  Most Chinese restaurants have long since forgotten how to make egg rolls this good.  No mysterious pink meat here.

The lo mein and sweet and sour pork were delicious as well.  Fresh ingredients repeated here too.

It's worth the walk to the Wok.

About Eating Pizza and Quoting Nixon on Thanksgiving

A pizza like this pizza was my Thanksgiving Dinner in the early 1990's.  Though it was delicious, it was not what anyone should want to do for Thanksgiving.

My parents accepted an invite to my younger brother's in-laws house for dinner.  My youngest brother went to his girlfriends house.  I turned down the invite from Great Aunt Marie to be with my first-cousins-once-removed and second cousins who didn't even know who I was. 

Instead, I volunteered to deliver meals to the "shut-ins" in Columbus, but they had too many volunteers and turned me away before I delivered anything.

I thawed out a half-baked pizza and had it in my 740 sq. ft. apartment in Columbus.  Alone.

I was single.  That was then.

This is now.

Today, I'll be having a Thanksgiving dinner of a more traditional sorts with my wife and four kids.  A turkey is in the oven.  Stuffing, corn, mashed potatoes, a cranberry dish, and pumpkin pie are on the menu too.

That's better.  Though the food will be great, that pizza was pretty darn good too.  It's not about the food.

President Richard Nixon is quoted to have said, "Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain."

Though a lonely pizza dinner for Thanksgiving isn't the deepest valley, it's low enough I can appreciate the magnificent part of the opposite experience.

Being with my family on Thanksgiving is magnificent.  Family is what it is all about.

And I'm thankful.