Corvac Composites was officially welcomed to the state and to Greenfield on Thursday in a grand opening ceremony held at the Greenfield facility on North Washington Street.
The invitation-only event saw state officials and their representatives, local officials, representatives of area businesses and organizations, contractors and vendors, and Corvac officials and employees.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony included Greenfield City Manager Ron Coffey assisting Corvac President and CEO Jim Fitzell cut through a red ribbon draped in front a large piece of machinery in the gleaming manufacturing space.
Following the ribbon-cutting, remarks were offered by Sen. Bob Peterson (R-Sabina) and representatives from the offices of Ohio Speaker of the House Cliff Rosenberger (R-Clarksville) and U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio). Also in attendance were representatives from U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup’s (R-Ohio) office.
Peterson, who said that while he was a farmer he was “used to growing more than soybeans,” and that growing jobs and creating jobs is exciting. He applauded Corvac for choosing Greenfield and congratulated all those involved in the team effort to make it happen.
“So far, being in Ohio has been a wonderful thing for us,” Fitzell told those gathered. “I’ve said it all along; we came here because of the people.”
He thanked everyone present for their part in Corvac expanding to Greenfield and the company’s customers, the whole reason Corvac exists.
“We are delighted to be here,” he said.
Also making remarks were Corvac Operations Manager Sean Rusiecki, Corvac Vice President of Manufacturing John Huber, Jobs Ohio Senior Managing Director Kristi Tanner, and Wes Triplett with Corvac customer Toyota.
Tanner recognized Greenfield native Katy Farber with the Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth (APEG), who Tanner called Greenfield’s “number one cheerleader” during the process of locating in Highland County. She also recognized the efforts of the Highland County Board of Commissioners, Greenfield officials, and others for their collective efforts in helping get Corvac to Greenfield.
The first announcement that Corvac was coming to the area came nearly a year ago. In October, the auto industry supplier announced that its purchase of the industrial facility at the corner of North Washington Street and SR 41 was complete. The property had sat vacant since RR Donnelley pulled up its Greenfield stakes more than two years ago, taking more than 160 jobs with it.
More than 175 full-time positions are expected to be in place at the plant over the next three years.
It has been reported previously that the manufacturer was to begin production earlier this year. So far there are about 30 employees at the facility. Additional positions will be added as production ramps up.
Corvac started “as a humble North American supplier to Toyota’s early vehicles back in the early 80s,” according to the company website. “In 2001, new energy and focus was brought into the scene and the shape of today’s Corvac began to emerge. Holding the customer as the center of everything that we work on at Corvac, the building blocks of innovation in product, process, and learning took hold.”
The company says that while Toyota is still its largest customer, “we are now engaged with customers in almost every corner of the automotive world.”
Corvac has locations in Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana and Texas. Internationally, it has a manufacturing facility in Turkey, and sales offices in Germany, Italy, Japan and China.
Reach Angela Shepherd at 937-393-3456, ext. 1681, or on Twitter @wordyshepherd.
