Gerber & Sons Inc. invests in Holmes County
Gerber & Sons, Inc, a local Baltic company that has been around as a family business for close to one century, has joined the growing number of companies that have taken advantage of Holmes County’s enterprise zone agreement.
The newest addition to the growing number of companies investing in Holmes County through the Holmes County Enterprise Zone Agreement is Gerber & Sons Inc.
The announcement was made at the Monday, March 20 Holmes County commissioners meeting at the Old Jail meeting room in Millersburg, where the commissioners quickly welcomed Gerber & Sons Inc. by passing a resolution.
What makes this agreement different from those more than 40 agreements in the past is that the company was formerly in Tuscarawas County. While it isn’t moving its new facility far, the move from one area in Baltic to another on Railroad Street will bring the business into Holmes County.
“This is something that’s been in the works for a couple of years,” said Mark Leininger, Holmes County Economic Development Planner. “Gerber & Sons operates a mill facility on the square in Baltic, and their current facility is located in the Tuscarawas portion of Baltic, and they have a couple of smaller buildings near the mill they use.”
Leininger said there are actually two phases of the project. Gerber & Sons Inc. had previously acquired land on the north side of Baltic in the Holmes County portion at the end of Brickyard Road, near both ProVia’s Baltic facility and Keim’s proposed building and facility.
Phase I involves renovating an existing structure and expanding it to be used as a warehouse. Leininger said the finished facility will be approximately 48,000 square-feet in size.
Phase II will be the construction of a new mill facility that will be approximately 100-feet, by 100-feet of square space. The facility will include a pellet mill and an automated bagging line, offering for automated capabilities than what the company currently utilizes.
The project will result in the creation of nine new full-time positions and the retention of 47 existing positions. Completion will involve the relocation of these positions to Holmes County. Leininger said that because of the move from Tuscarawas County, the company had to seek a relocation waiver from the Ohio Department of Development.
“They conducted an interview with the company and investigated the facts surrounding the proposed project and signed the waiver March 10,” Leininger said. “That’s sort of the green light to forge ahead from the Department of Development’s perspective.”
Leininger said this enterprise zone agreement was a large one, in terms of anticipated capital investment from Gerber & Sons Inc.
The estimated cost of new construction is roughly $16.4 million with renovation costs coming in at approximately an additional $2.5 million. Additional machinery and equipment costs will come in at around $8.2 million.
The Village of Baltic administration submitted and approved the agreement on Tuesday, March 14. Letters and documents to the schools were sent out Jan. 24. The proposed terms of the agreement are in line with all of the other enterprise zone agreements, with a 50% tax abatement for a period of 10 years.
Commissioner Dave Hall said Leininger approached him 10 months ago to aid in the process. Hall met with Gerber & Sons leadership and connected the business leaders with the appropriate USDA rural development agency, where Hall was a former director.
Since federal dollars of grant funding are involved, U.S. congressman Troy Balderson did an onsite visit.
“It’s an exciting first step,” Hall said. “There will be other steps they will have to take on the federal level.
Leininger said an additional bonus that comes out of this move is the cleaning up and renovation of the old brickyard property that has become dilapidated over the years because it was dormant.
“It was not technically in productive use,” Leininger said. “This project will result in clean-up of the property and return it to a productive property.”
Commissioner Joe Miller said the county should be excited about the addition because Gerber & Sons Inc. is a quality, family-owned company that will add to the county’s economic future.
“There’s nothing wrong with (Tuscarawas County), but we are thrilled to have them come to Holmes County,” Miller said. “The available land just happened to be right next to them in Holmes County.”
Leininger said this is the first company the enterprise zone agreement has ushered in a company from outside of the county but added that this is a traditional courting of accompany in which the county is trying to entice a business to come into the county.
He said it was circumstances with where the proposed property to which they were moving happened to be in Holmes County, within a half-mile of their existing site.
“It works well for the company and facility because the jobs will remain in the village,” Leininger said.
Phase I of the project is expected to begin soon, with the clean-up portion taking precedence.
Leininger added that ODOT provided funds to aid in the clean-up of Brickyard Road, which he said needs a lot of work.
Leininger said Gerber & Sons, Inc. has more than 105 years invested in the family business.