$2.2M spec building planned for Tiffin

The Seneca Industrial and Economic Development Corporation (SIEDC) has released plans for a $2.2 million speculative industrial building for the 11.3 acre site at the corner of Shawhan Avenue and Tyber Road in the Eagle Rock Business Park.

Private investors have acquired the site and will be building the structure, which is to be 50,000 square feet, will be expandable to 200,000 square feet, and will include office space. The shell for the building should be up by the summer of next year. Clouse Construction Corporation of Seneca County is the general contractor.

According to David Zak, president and CEO of SIEDC, existing companies have added on to their current facilities so there’s been activity, but there were no available sites for other companies looking to come to the Tiffin area.

Zak said, “Traditionally, the rule of thumb for the economic development profession lately within the last few years is that 80% of all companies looking for a new facility or that need space want to go into an existing building. If you don’t have an existing building, you are out of luck for every four out of five searches, so you have to have existing space. Tiffin really needed some space, and now our job is to try to then get that to happen. With that being said, there’s a driving need for 50,000 square foot buildings and 100,000 square foot buildings. Those are two sweet spots in terms of size, so we chose 50,000 square feet because that was something that would work with the private investors to get set up and it meets a big need, as well as having the capacity to expand them.”

According to Zak, the Tiffin area is well positioned for all general manufacturing. The area is home to food processing businesses, agribusinesses, automotive suppliers, has a large capacity for water and sewer capabilities, and really has all the bells and whistles.

Zak also noted that SIEDC is already considering options for another spec building to be built.

“It’s certainly our strategic desire and we definitely have the ability to welcome more manufacturers here. One out of every four workers in Seneca County is employed in manufacturing so it’s a number one industry in terms of workforce and we want to continue that trend. We would like to be able to attract a company or provide space for a company, be able to expand, and allow for the creation of new jobs which I think will be wonderful for people of Tiffin and Seneca County. I think you get a lot of wonderful benefits out of that,” said Zak.

Aerial rendering of the planned speculative building to be built in Tiffin

Aerial rendering of the planned speculative building to be built in Tiffin

Tiffin Mayor, Aaron Montz, said the building will allow Tiffin to be more open to new opportunities. “A spec building will give Tiffin a competitive edge when we are courting manufacturers seeking to locate or expand in our area,” he said. “Having the space available and customizable is attractive to a company looking to locate quickly and begin production.”

Denny Kerschner, SIEDC economic development committee chair and president, CEO, and owner of Tiffin Insulators, which occupies a previous spec building built in Tiffin, agreed. “When I was looking for a place to locate my business in 2007 Tiffin was an easy choice because of the available building. It is critical to have a building like this in order to compete for new projects,” he said.

Tiffin Insulators’ facility was a speculative building built by SIEDC in 2006, and the Quick Tab II facility, located in the Airport Industrial Park, was also a spec building built by SIEDC in 1994.

“We are very excited about this project. We have been working on this for a while and it’s exciting to see something like this come to fruition. We think having additional space is probably the biggest need we have from an industrial standpoint, so as an economic development specialist, I am very excited about this project. They’re not the easiest things to get off the ground, but I’ve been really fortunate to be able to have one and be able to start trumpeting its availability, and hopefully attract business and create new jobs,” concluded Zak.