Woodright recieves funding from Holmes County Economic Development Council, expands business

  • By Jenna Polen
  • June 26, 2012
  • 391
                        
Summary: The David Easterday & Company, Woodwright, has recieved money from the Holmes County Economic Development Council to install new tanks in their Holmes County business. The tanks will improve production and create new jobs that will stay in Holmes County. David Easterday & Company was founded in 1972. During that period of time Dave Easterday, with the help of his wife, Valeria were working solely as a painting contractor, painting houses and commercial facilities. Gradually, Easterday added employees to help him in his growing business. Easterday & Company has become one of the most successful painting contractors in the area, expanding from Wooster, Ohio to many places all over the East Coast. One of the places of expansion included Holmes County. After moving Easterday’s business into Holmes County the Holmes County Development Council (HCEDC) came to them and asked how they could help us grow the business. The company wanted a tank farm so that they could stabilize solvent prices and make larger batches reducing labor costs. The Holmes County Economic Development Council made the funds available to do just that. “We are a non-profit organization and we’re here to help businesses that are already in Holmes County grow with new jobs, and try to get new businesses to come with jobs. We reached out to Woodwright to see if we could help in hopes of creating new jobs,” said Executive Director of the Holmes County Economic Development Council, Tom Wilke. “The process was so simple, we asked them (HCEDC) and they found the funds for us. They were wonderful and we are so thankful to be in Holmes County, we we’re never really paid attention to in Wayne County and now that we are in Holmes County you can just tell they are interested in growing the economy and bringing jobs into the community,” said Marketing and Advertising director for Woodwright, Terri Babcock. Custom designed and built specifically for the Woodwright factory, Stanwade Tank, in Pennsylvania, delivered the products. Woodwright now has the capacity to store over 20,000 gallons of solvent. The largest steel tank weighs over 11,000 pounds empty and can hold 6000 gallons of product. The other 3 tanks hold a total of 9000 gallons and weigh more than 15,000 pounds combined. The project was funded by $54,000 loan taken from the revolving fund loan (RFL) in Holmes County. The RLF was established late last year through an $85,000 grant from the USDA Rural Business Enterprise Program and is administered by the Holmes County Economic Development Council. It is available to businesses in Holmes County for expansion or the purchase of new equipment. The terms can vary but are typically going to be low interest, relatively short term loans. This RLF represents a great opportunity for businesses in Holmes County to secure local, affordable financing to allow their businesses to grow and create new jobs “We’ve added one more job as of right now, and we are looking to add more in the near future as well. Along with the tanks we are also able to double our production with same labor,” said Babcock. Plumbing for the entire project is being done by Valley View Plumbing out of Fredericksburg, Ohio. Installation of tanks was managed by Springhill Construction from Dalton, Ohio. These huge tanks were maneuvered by Berlin Crane of Berlin, Ohio. The Woodwright loan is working in conjunction with an Enterprise Zone agreement developed in 2010 for a 1,824 sq. ft. expansion where Esterday committed to creating at least two new full time jobs by the end of next year. Along with the benefits already listed the tanks will save the company around $5,000 per month for the company. This type of job growth is why the Holmes County Economic Development Council is working with small and large businesses to establish the right incentives and programs. “Adding these tanks have been a dream for us for the last ten years and no bank would ever fund something like this, we are just so grateful to be receiving this help,” said Babcock.


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