By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green officials received kudos – and a big check – from the Wood County Commissioners Tuesday morning. The $250,000 check is intended to help with infrastructure costs for the Abbott Laboratories plant being built on the north edge of Bowling Green.
“Congratulations on the biggest project in the county you landed,” Commissioner Craig LaHote said to Bowling Green Mayor Mike Aspacher and Bowling Green Economic Development Director Kati Thompson.
Aspacher said the new $530 million manufacturing facility, and the 450 jobs promised with it, is huge for Bowling Green.
“This has the ability to be transformational to the city,” the mayor said.
Thompson thanked the county, including the Wood County Economic Development Commission, for helping the city attract Abbott Laboratories.
“Partnerships are meaningful,” she said. “And we would not have been able to win this project” without that teamwork.
“Winning a project like Abbott requires collaboration of a great number of people,” Aspacher said.
Entities supporting the city in its efforts included the state, JobsOhio, Regional Growth Partnership, Wood County Port Authority, Wood County Economic Development Commission, and the county commissioners.
“It really is a team effort. We appreciate the collaboration,” the mayor said.
The exact infrastructure costs for the Abbott project are still unknown.
“That’s still under design,” Thompson said of the electrical, water and wastewater needs for the plant. “We don’t have the full scope of the project yet.”
The county’s contribution toward infrastructure is a relatively new idea, Gottschalk said. The economic development commission suggested that the county commissioners use some of the surplus conveyance fee funds to help with large projects, he said.
“This is kind of a new thing,” Gottschalk said of using the public sector money to assist big economic development projects.
In December, Abbott Laboratories announced Bowling Green was selected for the company’s new specialty and metabolic powder nutritional products manufacturing facility.
Abbott plans to invest $530 million in the facility and create 450 permanent new jobs. The site is over 100 acres at the southeast corner of Ohio 25 and Nims Road intersection – directly east of the Route 25 and Bishop Road intersection.
Last month, the Bowling Green Board of Public Utilities gave the green light to start moving on the needed infrastructure – including electric, water, wastewater, and possibly a stoplight at Route 25 and Bishop Road.
Abbott is a global company that designs and produces diagnostic and medical devices and powder nutritional supplements. The Bowling Green plant will produce nutritional products for people with extreme allergies and dietary restrictions.
Ground will be broken this year, with construction expected to be completed in 2026. Production at the plant is projected to begin in 2027.
While the city does not have final usage projections from Abbott, it is expected the plant will be a large user of water, wastewater, and electric services based on the initial request.
The city expects to benefit from the infrastructure investments made to accommodate the plant’s needs.
The additional utility sales will help with revenue growth in the utility funds. The city should also see growth in income tax revenue from the project with the creation of 450 jobs. That revenue will benefit the Water & Sewer Capital Improvement Fund along with the other income tax revenue funds.
The city plans to serve Abbott’s electric load out of the Bishop Road substation. The 36-inch waterline on the west side of Route 25 will supply water to the site. There is currently no sanitary sewer at the site and this will require some study to find the best option for this service.
Transportation improvements are also expected on Route 25, which could include a traffic signal at the Bishop Road intersection, and possibly a Route 25 southbound left turn lane into the property. There is already a Route 25 northbound left turn lane for Bishop Road.
Nims Road will also likely require improvements since this road is fairly narrow and is not designed to carry the potential traffic that may need to access the site.
