Ohio and Pennsylvania | Silver Shovel Award Winners 2008

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2008 Silver Shovel Awards Over 10 Million Population

Two other states with populations greater than 10 million — Ohio and Pennsylvania — received Silver Shovel awards.

Mark Crawford (Jun/Jul 08)

Two other states with populations greater than 10 million — Ohio and Pennsylvania — received Silver Shovel awards.

Ohio — Ohio’s economy packs a punch — in 2006 it was the seventh-largest economy in the country. Manufacturing is the key economic driver, making Ohio third in state GDP. The top industries are fabricated metals and transportation equipment, followed by plastics, rubber, electrical equipment, and appliances.

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Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson accepts the Gold Shovel from Area Development’s Publisher Dennis Shea on behalf of Governor Rick Perry, State of Texas.

Slideshow: Gold & Silver Shovel Winners' Top 10 Projects

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Among its top projects for 2007, Amylin Pharmaceuticals is expanding its manufacturing operation in West Chester, Butler County, and state sources say 500 new jobs are being created. The $400 million project provides extra capacity for manufacturing a diabetes drug that is in clinical development. BioOhio, the state’s bioscience development organization, helped convince Amylin to expand in the state.

Parts for the high-temperature turbines of aircraft engines will be manufactured at a $32.8 million facility PCC Airfoils is building in Painesville. Ohio was chosen over Georgia and Oregon for the 96,000-square-foot facility, which will create some 150 jobs. The company has received a $952,824 tax credit over a 10-year term.

Avon Products has chosen Washington Township in Muskingum County for a $115 million distribution center. The 590,000-square-foot facility will handle distribution for 50 percent of its U.S. sales and will replace existing operations in Illinois and Delaware. Avon received a 55 percent tax credit worth about $1.6 million for an eight-year term to establish the distribution center.

Pennsylvania — With a GDP of $510 billion, Pennsylvania has the seventeenth-largest economy in the world. With a $2.8 billion economic stimulus package, Pennsylvania has been highly effective in attracting corporate investment, especially from foreign companies. Pennsylvania has also passed more than $2 billion in business tax reductions since 2004.

Resperonics, a medical equipment manufacturer, is expanding in the state by constructing a 165,000-square-foot facility to produce sleep-therapy devices. Located in Upper Burrell Township, the new plant is only a few miles from the company’s headquarters in Murrysville. “This facility will enable us to further support our obstructive sleep apnea business, a core growth driver of the company,” says president John L. Miclot. “It also offers the potential for high-volume material logistics.”

A new headquarters and battery plant is being built in Lyons Station by East Penn Manufacturing Co. The $130 million endeavor will result in least 500 new jobs. The state of Pennsylvania has promised $21.4 million, which will leverage $108 million in private investment.
Pennsylvania’s central location in the eastern United States also makes it a favorable location for distribution facilities. Texas-based McLane Co.’s new $53 million, 400,000-square-foot grocery distribution facility in Jessup is utilizing a $525,000 funding package that includes $225,000 in customized job-training funds.