LORDSTOWN Official makes bid for Hyundai

The Lordstown planner said he was shocked to learn Hyundai has already picked two Ohio sites.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
LORDSTOWN -- This tiny Trumbull County village, already home to two massive General Motors plants, is making a bid for the $1 billion auto production plant that Hyundai Motor Co. will build in the United States.
Ron Barnhart, village planning administrator, said he was mailing out an informational packet to the Korean automaker Monday asking that Lordstown be considered as a plant site.
Barnhart said he was shocked when he read a Vindicator report Saturday that Hyundai had already selected prospective sites in two other small Ohio communities -- Wapakoneta in northwest Ohio and Mount Orab in southern Ohio near Cincinnati, although it is also looking at sites in other states. It was the first he'd heard of the project.
Never too late? He said he's not buying the argument of a Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce official that it's likely too late in the process for the Mahoning Valley to be considered.
Reid Dulberger, executive vice president for the chamber, said he's certain Hyundai conducted an extensive search to find locations that meet its criteria. The Valley's chance of getting considered at this point would be "one-in-a-million," he said, arguing that it is wiser for local development officials to concentrate on other, more certain projects.
"I don't care if it's one in a million, we've got to try for it," Barnhart said.
He said he had made an effort to meet with Ohio Department of Development officials in Columbus who specialize in helping international businesses find plant sites in the United States, hoping to ensure Lordstown would be informed if an opportunity arose.
"I thought I had made some very good contacts, and this was a big disappointment," Barnhart said. "Why not let us know so that the company can make its decision statewide?"
Location advantage: Location is Lordstown's biggest advantage, he said. It's a half-mile from Ohio Turnpike east and west interchanges, which were built partially to serve the GM assembly and fabricating plants, and is less than one mile north of Interstate 76.
The village has 300 acres of commercially zoned property available and 900 acres zoned for industrial use. About 90 percent of the industrial property is served by gas, water and sewer lines, and two local tax abatements are available.
vinarsky@vindy.com