A leading third-party logistics provider is taking aggressive steps to attract new business to Northwest Ohio. Keller Logistics has confirmed plans to construct two spec buildings in neighboring counties, with visions of drawing heavy job-creating opportunities tied to advanced manufacturing.

Keller Logistics will soon begin constructing a 70,000 square-foot spec building in Defiance County (Defiance), which is expected to be completed by February 2023. The other planned structure, a 150,000 square foot building in the adjacent Henry County (Napoleon), is scheduled for completion in April 2023.

Both spec buildings are being supported through the Ohio Site Inventory Program (OSIP), an innovative initiative created by JobsOhio to boost competitiveness of the state in competing for economic development projects. The $50 million program offers grants and low-interest loans to support speculative site and building development projects.

Bryan Keller, CEO of Keller Logistics Group, credited the JobsOhio program as a key advantage for developers and communities across the state.

“This gives Northwest Ohio a tremendous opportunity to create new assets which will ultimately attract new businesses,” said Keller, whose Defiance-based logistics company also works in real estate development. “This program mitigates risk and allows us to offer more competitive rates to end users.”

Keller’s team has already found success when the first spec building it constructed several years ago in Defiance attracted Decked, a manufacturer of truck bed storage systems. In addition, Keller Logistics also has plans to develop two more regional spec buildings in 2023. “With all the assets here in Northwest Ohio, we have confidence a new building will attract a solid company,” Keller said.

Moving forward, Northwest Ohio currently has a robust pipeline of potential projects through OSIP, bringing an additional 1 million square feet of new inventory. To learn more on Northwest Ohio’s top sites and available buildings, visit the Regional Growth Partnership website at https://rgp.org/sites-buildings/.

“Keller Logistics’ construction of spec buildings in Defiance and Napoleon with JobsOhio assistance is critical to attracting new industries, investments and jobs to the area. These modern facilities are tailored for the needs of today’s companies to build and grow in Northwest Ohio, further securing Ohio as a manufacturing powerhouse for generations.”

– J.P. Nauseef, President and CEO, JobsOhio

The Regional Growth Partnership is the lead economic development organization serving 17 counties in Northwest Ohio. As a private nonprofit development corporation, the RGP is dedicated to fostering regional, national and international business investment opportunities across the region. The RGP serves as Northwest Ohio’s network partner for JobsOhio. Visit www.rgp.org for more information.

JobsOhio is a private nonprofit economic development corporation designed to drive job creation and new capital investment in Ohio through business attraction, retention and expansion. The organization also works to seed talent production in its targeted industries and to attract talent to Ohio through Find Your Ohio. JobsOhio works with six regional partners across Ohio: Dayton Development Coalition, Ohio Southeast Economic Development, One Columbus, REDI Cincinnati, Regional Growth Partnership and Team NEO. Learn more at www.jobsohio.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.