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Diversification helps Summit County city improve its economy
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: April 18, 2013
One of the secrets to running a successful business is being able to adjust to market changes, in some cases diversifying the company’s offerings.
It’s a lesson that the city of Twinsburg has learned well. During the downturn, the Summit County city lost a major source of tax revenue when Chrysler closed its 2.2 million-square-foot stamping plant. But today the 167-acre property is the site of the CornerStone Business Park.
Chrysler announced that it would close the property in 2009 as part of its bankruptcy reorganization, leaving over 2,000 workers without jobs. While Maynards Industries Ltd. and several partners bought the property and its heavy machinery, the concern was that the area would be vacant for a long time since the main reason for Maynards’ purchase was so it could acquire and sell off the equipment. However, in 2011 a partnership composed of the DiGeronimo Companies in Independence, Ohio and Indianapolis-based Scannell Properties purchased the site and announced plans for redevelopment.
Vistar Ohio, a Performance Food Group company, is the first tenant to move into the new corporate park. Twinsburg had been the home of the vending, office and concessions food distributor for years but the owners were looking to move out of the Dutton Drive location to a larger facility. Twinsburg officials offered a 10-year property tax abatement to keep the business from leaving. Vistar employed about 50 people and is expected to add 10 more employees.
“Our focus the last 10 years has been to diversify our economic base and it is beginning to pay off,” said Larry Finch, director of community planning and development for Twinsburg.
“We received $5.2 million worth of grants to help us with remediation of the park,” said Mayor Katherine Procop, a two-term city council member, who was elected to the mayor’s office in 1999. “Our goal is to attract two or three large corporations or a group of smaller companies to the business park.”
Officials have scored other recent victories as well, including keeping Windstream Communications in the city. The Arkansas-based company moved into vacant space in the former Cole National Headquarters Building on Enterprise Parkway.
“The company will be consolidating some of its other local operations into the building which stood vacant for years,” said Procop.
Other large employers are GE Power Systems, Rockwell Automation, Goodrich Electrical Powers Systems and PepsiCo, along with others.
The largest employer today is medical supplies leader, AssuraMed.
The company has been growing in Twinsburg for more than 20 years. Formerly Edgepark Surgical, an RGH Enterprises company, it has expanded dramatically by providing equipment and supplies to the home care market.
The health care industry has become an important part of the scene in the city. Shortly after Chrysler pulled out, the Cleveland Clinic announced plans to build the $96 million Twinsburg Family Health and Surgery Center, complete with a 24-hour, full-service emergency department.
“That resulted in more than 300 jobs and it has since led to other health-care related ventures,” said Finch.
HCR ManorCare is constructing a new rehabilitation and nursing care facility at the corner of Darrow and Highland Road. Finch said Heartland of Twinsburg should provide between 120 to 140 jobs.
The city already has a number of senior or age-restricted residential developments, along with assisted and independent living facilities, including Legacy Place Twinsburg, Grande Village and a Summit County Housing Authority facility.
“We’ve had a senior center for years, and like many communities in northeast Ohio our senior population has been growing,” said Finch.
In 2012, Twinsburg welcomed the opening of the Kent State University Regional Academic Center on Creekside Drive.
“We also have a new Chipotle under construction on Creekside Drive. They will have a small patio and will likely get a lot of business from Kent State students,” said Finch.
A thriving business community is key to keeping things running smoothly in Twinsburg, which relies largely on income taxes for its revenue. Income tax collections support 86 percent of the General Fund Operating Budget.
“Our income tax base right now is about $23 million,” said Procop. “The city receives only a small portion of the income tax collection. The 2.2 mils we receive is used for police and fire pensions and to pay off the debt service for the bond the city issued for the purchase of Liberty Park.”
The city provides fire services to Twinsburg Township.
When Twinsburg lost Chrysler, which was its largest employer at the time, officials asked residents to agree to an income tax increase of a quarter percent, raising the rate to 2.25 percent.
“Now that we are doing better, the council voted to put the issue back on the ballot in order to repeal the quarter percent increase,” said Procop.
The mayor said the city also instituted cost-saving measures during the downturn, including reorganizing city hall, and reducing the staff from 182 to 162, mostly through attrition.
“We cut back on the frequency of some of our services like our branch and leaf pickups but we are steadily reinstating these. Our major services remained in place.”
There were foreclosures as well, and the city has been approved to receive about $35,000 in Moving Ohio Forward demolition grant money.
“So far there have not been any demolitions,” said Procop. “We are looking at a few city-owned properties but that has yet to be determined. We are fortunate in that our housing stock turns over quickly.”
Procop said Twinsburg has experienced a major population boom since she first moved to the municipality in 1977.
“During the ‘90s we went from about 9,600 to 17,000 residents,” said Procop. “Fortunately we were able to keep up with the infrastructure. I was on the council during that period. We built a new high school and enlarged the city’s wastewater treatment plant among other things.
“By the time I took office as mayor our population started stabilizing,” said Procop, who added that about 19,000 people live in Twinsburg right now.
A few years before Procop was elected, the city purchased Gleneagles Golf Course.
In 1999 officials opened the Twinsburg Fitness Center, which has become the hub of community activity.
“At the beginning of 2001, we purchased 900 acres of green space which is now Liberty Park. The municipality owns over 2,000 acres of parks and open space,” said Procop.
In addition, officials have worked to preserve Tinker’s Creek by acquiring much of the land in the riparian zone. The mayor said as a result of the purchase and conservation easements, the bio-habitats and water quality of the creek are being improved.
Twinsburg also has numerous ball fields and operates the Twinsburg Community Center, which has a swimming pool, diving boards and a slide at the outdoor water park.
Every summer, Twinsburg holds its “Rock the Park,” concert series at the Perici Amphitheatre in Glenn Chamberlin Park.
“It is enormously popular,” said Procop. “It draws large crowds and since we have acts ranging from rock to classical, it is a way of reaching different segments of the population.”
The city holds other community events throughout the year, including hikes and races for children and adults. “We have amazing programs for every age group,” said Procop.
“The Twinsburg City School District is rated as excellent and the library has been rated number one in the nation for its demographic. I raised my children here and now my son and his wife, who live two houses away, are raising their children here.”
The city of Twinsburg was formed through a charter in 1957, with the township proper being divided to create the city jurisdiction.
In 1963, the Twinsburg Historical Society was formed. It set up operations in what was once the Twinsburg Institute founded by Samuel Bissell and built in the 1860s. The society’s museum showcases pictures, papers, documents, tools and equipment from the early history, which dates back to 1817 when the first settler arrived in what was then Millsville.
Twinsburg gets its name from two identical twins, Moses and Aaron Wilcox, who were from Killingworth, Connecticut. The two purchased about 4,000 acres of land in 1819, selling small parcels at low prices to attract settlers. The twins offered six acres for a public square and money toward starting the first school in exchange for the residents changing the name to Twinsburg.
In 1976, a small group of parents got together with their twin children, marking the beginning of what is now the Twins Days Festival. Today the annual event is the world’s largest gatherings of twins with approximately 3,000 sets attending each year.
One of the main things that officials are focusing on now is the redevelopment of the area around Twinsburg Square.
“We are working on establishing a community improvement corporation,” said Procop. “We would like to make the square a destination point.”
The city already has several well-known restaurants, including the award-winning Blue Canyon Kitchen & Tavern, as well as Rav’s Creekside Tap & Grill, Brewsters Café and Sassy’s Bar and Grille.
“We want to encourage mixed-use development,” said Finch. “It is still early in the process but we are looking at a number of properties around the square that are underdeveloped, meaning there are just a few structures on a large piece of land. That way we don’t have to acquire them, they are ready to assemble.”
Finch said the city is also getting ready to update its comprehensive land use plan.
“We are gathering information on transportation, land use, and other issues. We want to determine the condition of properties and roadways,” said Finch. “A committee made up of planning commission members, council representatives, residents and area business owners will then take a look at the objectives and help revise them so we can implement a plan, which will include what we want to see in the area around the square.”
Procop was among the local leaders who took part in an economic development trip in China put together by the Mayors Association of Portage, Summit and Stark Counties (formerly the Summit County Mayors Association).
The trip took place at the end of February and included stops in Beijing, Nanchang, Qingdao, Kunshan, Pudong and the Songjiang District of Shanghai.
“I believe any time there is an opportunity to promote the region, in particular the city, it is important to do so,” said Procop.
“I was fortunate to travel with a local business owner, Lee Mao, who resides in Shanghai part of the time. She accompanied us on the trip and helped to represent our area to the Chinese. She owns the Lianda Corporation in Twinsburg. I had many opportunities to meet with officials and business leaders.”
Finch said the city is still looking to fill vacancies at sites on Dutton Drive and Canyon Falls Boulevard.
“We have an occupancy program that we put in place in the late ‘90s that provides grants relative to the amount of income tax employees would pay to encourage occupancy.
“We are also concerned about business retention, so we have a program in place that involves us interviewing companies to make sure they are satisfied, and trying to find out if they have needs that we can help them with like traffic or infrastructure problems.”
Although business development and retention are important, the mayor said she would continue to work to make the city an enjoyable place to live.
“My favorite saying is that any municipality can be a city, but we are a community! Bringing the community together has been a goal throughout my years in office,” said Procop. “It is important to bring neighborhoods and people together through the events and programs that we offer.”
“We offer a deep set of services,” said Finch. “Between the city and Summit County Metro Parks we provide over 3,000 acres of contiguous park area, our property taxes are low compared to other communities and we have great schools.
“Personally I love the open space since I’m an outdoors person.”