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Developer Agracel Inc. debuted its 50,000-square-foot speculative facility in the Growing Acres Industrial Park on Albers Road.
CELINA - Illinois-based industrial developer Agracel Inc. debuted its roughly $6 million, 50,000-square-foot speculative facility to an audience of local and state officials and dignitaries during a grand opening ceremony Thursday morning.
Consisting of metal wall panels and potentially expandable to 300,000 square feet, the facility, constructed by Bruns General Contracting, is situated on a 10-acre, SiteOhio-authenticated plot of land in the Growing Acres Industrial Park on Albers Road, near State Route 29, in Jefferson Township.
With easy access to I-75, railroad service and a regional workforce of 200,000, the facility would be ideal for a traditional advanced manufacturer specializing in food production, automotive or other high-growth sector, according to Jason Kester, a regional development director at Agracel Inc.
The facility is actively being marketed by JobsOhio and Mercer County Community Development. Kester said Agracel would prefer to lease the facility but is open to selling it outright.
"If a local company or a company from out of state wants to come in and look at it, we'd be happy to sell it to them, too," Kester told The Daily Standard. "There's some requirements with JobsOhio about job creation as part of the funding for this. So they have to create 25 jobs, but we're really agnostic on the sale or lease."
Kester said he's very familiar with the area - and all the major employers.
"On our flyer, we actually kind of laid out all the big manufacturing facilities … or headquarters, from Crown to Ferguson to Honda, Airstream, Dannon, Cooper Farms, CAPT," he said. "The kind of existing manufacturing base normally kind of tends to attract other manufacturing."
Kester said Agracel has fielded a couple dozen leads on the building, three-fourths of which came through JobsOhio.
"And then we've had brokers in from Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Columbus, Detroit, already looked at the building, independently of the JobsOhio leads," he said. "So lots of activity, just no takers yet."
The facility really helps opens up the State Route 29 industrial corridor, said Mercer County community development director Jared Ebbing. It's located just west of plumbing giant Ferguson Enterprises Inc.'s pipe yard and distribution center.
"But we didn't really have the infrastructure in place to really promote this as an industrial corridor," Ebbing said. "We've always known we've needed just a little bit more, and attracting a great company like Agracel to come and build a speculative space like this, it really sets it apart. Now we have more tools in the toolbox to attract people and companies to this great area."
Developer Agracel Inc. debuted its 50,000-square-foot speculative facility in the Growing Acres Industrial Park on Albers Road.
The state invested more than $2.5 million in the project through avenues such as JobsOhio's Ohio Site Inventory Program and Ohio Department of Development's Rural Industrial Park Loan Program, according to State Rep. Angie King, R-Celina.
King called the project a win for rural economic development, providing much needed industrial space to attract new business and strengthen the local economy for generations to come.
"Without a building like this, it can be difficult to compete for manufacturing and supply chain investments," she said. "This project changes that. It tells companies that Mercer County is open for business - and that's especially important here in the 84th District, a region that's recognized as a leader in Ohio's advanced manufacturing industry."
The district's workforce, communities and strong work ethic have long supported the industries that power the state of Ohio, King insisted.
"And this building ensures that the tradition continues to thrive," she said. "This is an incredible project, and I'm proud to support the state initiatives that made this project possible and are bringing new economic opportunities to our region on behalf of the Ohio House of Representatives."
Terry Slaybaugh, JobsOhio's vice president of sites and infrastructure, noted that when chipmaker Intel decided to build a semiconductor factory in central Ohio a few years ago, Gov. Mike DeWine committed to fostering the type of economic landscape where any resident could get a good job close to home.
"And to me, that's what is really important about a project like this," Slaybaugh said. "You're going to have kids graduate from high school, you're going to have people in the local community that are going to have an opportunity to stay in this area, raise their families, have a great quality of life that Mercer County and this area provides for them, and be able to get a really well-paying job and be able to provide for their community."
Agracel Inc. purchased the 10-acre parcel in the industrial park for $400,000 from Growing Acres LLC, whose members include Jonny and Wanda Dicke, on May 2, 2023, online county records show.
Ebbing said he's been in talks with Agracel for the last few years. Having the industrial park authenticated by JobsOhio, meaning it's vetted and fully ready for development, helped seal the deal, he said.
This project was made possible due to the close partnership between Agracel, Mercer County, JobsOhio and the Dayton Development Coalition, according to Ebbing.
"It's a community approach, it's a team approach and good things come out of it - and that's what you see here today," Ebbing said. "Once a new company is announced to take the space, we'll be proud to welcome them with open arms and welcome them to our nice portfolio of great companies here in the region and add to the workforce."
