History: Brookville Roadster, a family owned and operated business, has been operating its 52,000 square foot facility in Brookville for over a decade.  The company is a manufacturer and industry leader in the reproduction of steel body parts for 1928-32 Fords. 

Problem: Brookville was looking to existing facilities in Indiana and Michigan to expand their business to a new project – distribute and manufacture parts of the 1932 three-window coupe.

Business First! Solution: After conducting a Business First! visit, the City of Brookville learned about Brookville Roadster's desire to expand business in a facility outside of Ohio. With this information, Montgomery County Economic Development Department approved an ED/GE grant to assist in the retention of Brookville Roadster in Montgomery County. The project retained 44 jobs and created an additional 15.

Comments: Kenny Gollahon, Vice President of the company stated: "The ED/GE Program is a great program which allowed us to do our expansion while we continued forward with our new 1932 three-window project.  Without this grant, our expansion would not have been possible and we would have looked at other alternatives.  It was great pleasure working with the County and the City of Brookville on this project.  We look forward to more projects in the future.  Get real -- ride in steel!"

Problem: In 2004, Lord Corporation planned to expand their company once more but needed additional resources.

Business First! Solution: Lord was assisted by a $250,000 ED/GE grant from our department. The township learned that Lord planned to expand by another 38,000 square feet and a Business First! visit was conducted. In response to this visit, several resource partners were contacted to assist Lord with IT assistance and workforce issues.  In addition, the Township applied for another ED/GE grant on Lord's behalf and the company was granted an additional $200,000 in 2005 to help fund the new addition. In 1999, the company employed 141 employees and today employs 194 with a commitment to add 30, bringing the total to 224 employees, an increase of 58%.  The facility itself has increased its size by more than 59,000 square feet. 

Comments: Dan Nickolai, President of Lord Corporation said the following about ED/GE and Business First!: "We are competing with another Lord Plant in Erie, PA for capital funds to expand  and make future improvements.  This ED/GE grant greatly assisted in directing additional capital funds to the Dayton Plant."

DESICCANT PACKAGING COMES TO FLOW-DRY IN BROOKVILLE

Doug LeConey, President of Flow-Dry, located in the City of Brookville, has high regards for the BusinessFirst! Program.  LeConey explained that when a Business First! visit was conducted at Flow-Dry, it was learned that the company was looking at various options to expand the Desiccant Packaging portion of their operation – with several of those alternatives being located outside Brookville and Montgomery County. 

Brookville staff immediately took action, and with the assistance of Business First! Resource Partners and a $125,000 Montgomery County ED/GE grant, Flow-Dry constructed a new 3,000 square foot climate-controlled Desiccant Packaging area within their existing facility.  This team effort enabled them to make the expansion, meet customer requirements, attract new business, retain 38 jobs and create 15 new jobs.

PKWARE INC – ZIPPING INTO NEW LOCATION IN MIAMI TWP

PKWARE, Inc., the IT company that developed the zip technology for data compression, has decided to stay and grow in the Greater Dayton region.

The company is moving to a new location in Miami Township at 3131 Newmark Drive.    The permit process is underway for improvements and the company should be moved in by late April, relocating 24 employees to the new facility.  Montgomery County has been working with PKWARE through the Business First! Program since March 2004.  Through a Business First! visit with County and Township officials,  it was learned that the company was considering a move to its headquarters location in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  After meeting with the company, the Township was able to secure an ED/GE grant to assist PKWARE, Inc. with HVAC improvements at the new location.  Paul Neitzel, of PKWARE, had this to say about his experience with Business First! and the ED/GE Program:

"Working with Montgomery County and Miami Township officials over the past year was very rewarding.  They took the time to fully understand the challenges we faced with the expiration of our existing lease arrangement and worked with us to overcome those challenges.  The Business First! Program and the ED/GE Program were critical in keeping PKWARE, Inc. a Montgomery County and Miami Township employer.  In my view, the Business First! Program in conjunction with the county ED/GE Program should be expanded to help retain local businesses."