Business View Magazine | February 2019

a video they did for the Uniontown Brewing Company, a new local business that started here in 2017, and it was every bit as good as a Bud- weiser commercial. That’s why we signed them on to promote Ashland.”Williams is taking it one step further by investing in the downtown. He bought a building in the core and is working with Grow Ashland on a tax incentive to help with renovation costs. In other exciting news, a film company is relocat- ing from Los Angeles to Ashland. Scott Donnelly, owner of Ashland’s Donnelly Ford, purchased and restored a historical downtown building for his movie company, Good Deed Entertainment. Don- nelley is excited because, not only is his heritage building a wonderful location for his new office, it is also a perfect setting for film shoots. Another new addition to the community will be Central Ohio Medical Textiles (COMTEX), a com- mercial hospital laundry company. COMTEX is constructing a $20-million facility which will bring 75 jobs in the first three years and 100 by year five. For the future, Goon says, “I see every- thing in the City of Ashland being built up.We’re annexing more property from the townships and I see us growing north of the Ashland Business Park. Our development to the east, past I-71 and onto 250, is a tourism destination area. This high traffic location is home to a number of locally- owned businesses, including the original Fin, Feather, and Fur Outfitters, a sporting goods re- tailer with five additional locations in northeast Ohio. Another successful business is Grandpa’s Cheesebarn, which just celebrated 50 years in business in Ashland with additional locations in Norton and Summit Mall. There are also sev- eral new franchises that opened recently in this area, including Hampton Inn & Suites, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin Donuts, Chipotle, and Tim Hortons.We look forward to this being an Enter- tainment District complex with even more retail and restaurants – a definite destination to draw people to Ashland, where they can enjoy them- selves, dine, and shop.” Goon added, “I’m honored to be Executive Direc- tor for Grow Ashland. Helping local businesses and working to expand economic opportunity is something I’m very passionate about. I love meeting with our local community and business leaders and developing a plan for progress in Ashland County.We want our existing businesses and new prospective companies to know that we will always go above and beyond for their proj- ects.” PREFERRED VENDORS Simonson Construction Services, Inc. www.simonsonconstruction.com Lippert Enterprises, Inc. –LippertEnt.com 149