Valley native's $20M plant transforming East Side

By KALEA HALL

khall@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Update on chill-can plant

Video

Mitchell Joseph of the Joseph Company International, Inc. gives an update on the East Side chill-can plant.

Mitchell Joseph stands on Lane Avenue and describes the future of his company. By the time the chill-can complex on the city’s East Side is finished, Joseph will be able to directly see the stadium of his alma mater, Youngstown State University.

“The transformation is amazing,” Joseph said. “The nice part is the people who have lived around here ... they can’t believe this is really happening. I think that it’s really important that the city receives industry. I came to Youngstown because I was born here.”

Joseph’s company, Joseph Co. International, broke ground at 130 N. Lane Ave. for the $20 million-plus chill-can technology, can-filling and distribution center in November. The Irvine, Calif-based company has the trademark to the “chill can,” which allows a drink to be chilled in less than a minute by turning a knob on the can’s bottom.

The site will consist of seven buildings: Building No. 1 is the plastics division; No. 2 is where cans will be filled with product; No. 3 is the assembly factory; No. 4 is a warehouse; Nos. 5 and 6 will be production units; and No. 7 will house the Joseph Co. East Coast operations.

Products from the chill-can complex will vary. There are Panther Punch and West Coast Chill, two energy drinks. Other potential products include cosmetic creams and lipstick that become instantly cooled.

“I get more and more excited every time I come back,” Joseph said.

The complex will send products to Texas and Miami to Boston and across Western and Eastern Europe.

It will bring at least 257 jobs to the area. Hiring will begin in the fourth quarter of this year.

“We most definitely anticipate production in late spring of 2018,” Joseph said.

Joseph is the fourth-generation Joseph family member in the beverage industry.

The lower East Side location of Joseph Co.’s East Coast operations is under construction where his great-grandfather founded and operated Star Bottling Co. from 1921 to 1970.

Joseph graduated from YSU in 1969 with a degree in political science. He soon joined the beverage industry.

In 1991, Joseph’s company was formed and the chill-can concept began to develop.

Joseph moved from Youngstown to California. After taking over as YSU president, Jim Tressel brought Joseph in to show him what’s happening at his alma mater and in his hometown. Around that same time, Joseph was thinking of launching a new location for his company.

“It captured his imagination,” Tressel said. “When we were sitting and talking about [Youngstown and YSU], you could just feel the emotion of him being back home. I think it was the emotion and the twinkle in his eye ... [he felt] that this was meant to be.”

The chill-can complex will have an internship program with YSU.

“It’s been amazing to me to look out from my back porch and be able to see the area get opened up and all the dirt moved around,” Tressel said. “The once vibrant East Side has awakened.”

The project hasn’t been easy. Ten to 15 houses had to be acquired and then knocked down. Then, trees and 63,000 cubic yards of dirt were removed. That much dirt would fill a football field including the end zones 29.5 times.

Parella-Pannunzio Inc. of Youngstown is the general contractor. In its more than 50-year history, this is the contractor’s largest project, company officials said.

With the contractor’s guidance, work on the site is ahead of schedule.

One building is finished. Construction has started on the second building and construction on the third starts in September.

“It’s wonderful that he’s back to his roots,” said John Pannunzio of Parella-Pannunzio Inc. “I’m sure his dad and grandfather would be ecstatic to see what he’s accomplished. To be able to improve the property, it’s exciting.”

In October, the city’s board of control approved a $1.5 million grant for the chill-can center. The city also approved a 75-percent, 10-year real-estate tax abatement for the project.

Youngs-town Mayor John A. McNally sees the center as a success for the city. Joseph is adding LED lights to the buildings and an illuminated chill can to make the complex more aesthetically pleasing.

“He wants it to look more than an industrial site,” McNally said. “He wants it to be a spotlight for the community.”