By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
A British company has chosen Bowling Green as the site for its first plant in the U.S.
Mineral Insulated Cable Company is leasing a portion of the former Lear plant at the corner of Fairview and Van Camp Roads on the northern edge of Bowling Green. MICC, a world leader in the manufacturing of mineral insulated cable products, plans to create at least 33 new jobs, and make a capital investment of $1.5 million.
“We’re thrilled that MICC has decided to locate in Bowling Green,” said Sue Clark, executive director of Bowling Green Economic Development. “It’s a great opportunity,” she said, for the city and for the company which was looking for an entry point into the U.S. marketplace.
MICC first learned about Northwest Ohio during a Select USA Investment Summit in Washington, D.C., when the company’s managing director Doug Dooley met Paul Zito, of the Regional Growth Partnership. MICC officials were considering locations like Chicago, Philadelphia and Texas.
“Paul was a good enough salesman to convince Doug to come to Northwest Ohio,” said Scott Warner, who is going to be general manager of the new plant. The benefits of the region’s central location, logistics and low cost of doing business were stressed.
Then once Dooley came to Bowling Green, he met Clark, who showed him the sites, including the former Lear plant.
“It was a real group effort between Regional Growth Partners and Sue Clark,” Warner said.
MICC agreed to lease about a third of the building, or about 45,000 square feet of production space, and some office space.
Lear was the only vacant industrial space in the city, Clark said.
“It was serendipitous,” she said. “It was the easiest project I ever worked on. It all fell into place very quickly.”
And it didn’t hurt that Mayor Dick Edwards has several strong ties to Great Britain, Clark added.
The smaller size of Bowling Green was attractive to Dooley, she added. “I think he feels comfortable in this size of community. There is somebody they can go to to answer questions.”
MICC manufactures cable insulated with copper or stainless steel sheaths, often used with steel instruments or in the petroleum industry.
The jobs created will be for engineers, standard production, shipping, receiving and high tech, Warner said.
Warner praised Clark and JobsOhio for their efforts to get MICC here to the U.S. “Without their help, we wouldn’t have been able to do it.”
Zito agreed. “I think it was a great example of the flow of an international, national and local effort,” he said.
Zito initially pointed to Toledo as an option as someplace less expensive and less chaotic than Detroit. But it was Bowling Green the Dooley settled on.
“He liked what he saw when he came here,” Zito said.
According to Zito, MICC officials visited Northwest Ohio six times over two years to gather more information and gain a better awareness of this region in negotiating through a very competitive site search process.
“I’m thrilled we were able to effectively communicate to MICC the key advantages of doing business in Northwest Ohio,” said Zito, vice president of international development. “This industry leader in advanced manufacturing will make a great addition to the regional landscape.”
