Hynes Investing $6.5M to Expand, Consolidate Here
AUSTINTOWN, Ohio -- Hynes Industries plans to move forward on a $6.5 million project that would consolidate its three area operations into the former Danieli Wean building on Hendricks Road by the end of this year.
Hynes, which processes steel for a variety of industrial customers, will add 42 employees to its local workforce of 140 under terms of the seven-year, 40% Job Creation Tax Credit approved Tuesday by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority in Columbus (READ STORY). Hynes will relocate operations from its Oakwood Avenue headquarters along with facilities on Industrial Road in Youngstown and in McDonald into the 265,000-square-foot Wean building at 3805 Hendricks Road.
“It’s really driven by our growth,” said D.R. Golding, vice president, strategic development, for Hynes. “Over the past three years Hynes has grown by 50% and we’re on track in 2014 to grow another 15% to 18%. So we found ourselves quickly running out of space.”
Hynes’ products include strip steel, flat wire, rolled form products and its proprietary slotted FlexAngle. The company, which has operated since 1925 and has been owned by the Bresnahan family since 1965, processes in excess of 100 million pounds annually. Roll form represents about 60% of the company’s business, Golding said.
Hynes considered a number of options including expanding its plant in Kokomo, Ind., “but our preferred solution was to do the growth here in the Youngstown area but at the same time consolidate everything under one roof rather than continue to spin off satellite facilities,” Golding said.
Sarah Boyarko, vice president, of economic development, North America, for the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, said chamber officials began talking with Hynes officials last fall to determine their needs. “As things progressed, we determined what assistance could be available to help with making the case to do this investment in the Mahoning Valley,” she said.
“It’s the best thing for the company to be able to consolidate in a location that’s less than a mile from where they’ve been going to work," Golding said. "We have employees that have been with Hynes for more than 40 years and it’s certainly a priority for us not to jeopardize jobs in the community. In fact, our employment’s grown probably 30% over the last three or four years and we expect we’re going to continue that trend.”
There is “every possibility” Hynes could exceed the 42 additional positions called for in the tax credit, he added.
The Valley faced “a serious level of competition” with Indiana for the project, Boyarko noted.
The former Danieli Wean building was “a magnificent candidate” for the proposed expansion, providing plenty of manufacturing and office space, Golding said. “And it sits on 33 acres, so not only would the building provide us with additional near-term capacity but the site offers longer-term growth capacity." The Hendricks Road site will offer about 25% more space than the existing three facilities but the company will also realize “certain efficiencies” in space from having all three operations under one roof, he added
The relocation will begin in July, with the arrival of a new $2.5 million roll-forming mill being custom built for Hynes that will now be delivered to the Hendricks Road plant. “We expect the whole project to take the balance of 2014,” Golding said. “There’s a fair amount that needs to be done on the office end.”
Consolidation of the manufacturing and finishing operations into the new building should be completed by early in the fourth quarter of this year, and the salaried staff should be relocated there by December. “That’s a fairly ambitious schedule but something that everybody’s bought into,” Golding said.
Hynes will lease the Hendricks Road building from International Realty Group. “It’s been empty for a while and the property ownership I think is relay pleased about the opportunity,” Boyarko said.
IRG’s business model is purchasing large industrial properties and repurposing them, Golding said. “They don’t just buy them and lease them as is. They invest in them,” he continued. As part of the deal, IRG will also purchase Hynes’ properties and market them. “They already have candidates for some of those,” he said.
“We’ve given tours on several occasions already to the facilities that are still being utilized,” Boyarko added.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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