Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 9

183 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 9 building project is still in the design and funding stages, but the vision is already well-planned out. “The first building will be a manufacturing and warehousing facility making Athens County more competitive for state leads and potentially attracting businesses that could serve as suppliers for our existing companies; improving efficiencies in production,” states Fitzgerald. “The second will be a biomedical lab and office facility to accommodate the growth and expansion of companies that matriculate through the Ohio University Innovation Center; a business incubator that graduates many biotech and biomedical-oriented companies.” With such a burgeoning economy, developing a strong workforce is key. In that regard, the county has a great deal of support from Ohio University, Hocking College, and the Tri-County Career Center. “Here at ACEDC, we try to maintain a great relationship with the leadership at Ohio University,” says Perani. “We keep a great 95% of the world’s freight travels in sea shipping containers. One company is going to change how that freight moves. www.QuickLoadz.com INTERMODAL ROBOT ICS ATHENS COUNTY , OHIO Hockhocking Adena Bikepath Courtesy of Tim Creamer from Buckeye Hills relationship with OhioMeansJobs.com and Athens County Department of Job and Family Services (ACDJFS). There’s also the Area 14 Workforce Development Board (WDB). The Director is Laurie McKnight, and we work with her regularly. We hold retention and expansion meetings with our businesses where they tell us about some of the workforce problems they’re having. We put those companies in touch with the WDB to help them hire more skilled workers suited to their needs.” A good example is the connecting of Appalachian Renewable Power Systems Ltd. and Stirling Ultracold, a subsidiary of Global Cooling, Inc. with the WDB to help them upskill their workforce. This was especially critical in the case of Stirling Ultracold, which manufactures ultra- low temperature (ULT) freezers; an essential product in the storage and transport of the MRNA COVID-19 vaccines across North America.