Major Wins Gain Global Attention In Northwest Ohio
With much of America opening up and companies on hiring sprees, the country continues making its way back from the pandemic. This especially holds true in Northwest Ohio. In fact, there might not be a location across the U.S. that had a better two-week stretch than Northwest Ohio in late spring.
Two major project announcements were made over a 16-day period which will bring more than $1 billion in investment along with 2,674 new jobs to this region.
Peloton announced plans May 24 to build its first U.S. factory in Wood County, a state-of-the-art plant where the company will commit $400 million to the facility, along with 2,174 jobs. Then, just 16 days later on June 9, First Solar announced a $600 million-plus investment to construct its third regional manufacturing plant – a project expected to add 500 jobs.
National media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and the New York Times all covered these stories, bringing positive national attention to the Northwest Ohio region.
“The fact that we’re attracting global leaders like Peloton and First Solar continues to demonstrate that Northwest Ohio has the assets businesses need to succeed. In addition, the RGP has been extremely diligent in building and nurturing relationships with key consultants and corporate contacts – and it was those relationships which helped us land both projects.”
- Dean Monske, president and CEO of the Regional Growth Partnership
The Peloton Output Park in Troy Township will produce the company’s bike and tread starting in 2023, with groundbreaking taking place in August this year. The 1-million square-foot facility will sit on some 200 acres and include manufacturing, office and amenities space, making it one of the largest connected fitness manufacturing plants in the world. The company also plans to host facility tours and open an on-site showroom.
First Solar, meanwhile, is already recognized as a leading corporation in Northwest Ohio with 1,500 current workers at its two existing sites in Lake Township and Perrysburg Township. Its planned 1.8 million square-foot facility will produce an enhanced thin film PV module for the utility-scale solar market in the U.S. Once fully operational, it will make the company’s Northwest Ohio footprint the largest fully vertically integrated solar manufacturing complex outside of China.
Construction on the First Solar plant will begin in the second half of 2021, with production slated for the first half of 2023.