A steel tube manufacturer announced Tuesday it has signed a lease on a building in Brookfield to expand its operations in a $10 million project that will produce up to 120 jobs.
The company's deciding factor on the site is nearly identical to that of what V&M Star officials said led them to expand in Youngstown: Marcellus Shale, or underground rock that traps in natural gas.
Help from local officials also played a role, they said.
"The ... facility was chosen in part because of the location, local industrial infrastructure, the economics and the support of local and state governments, the business development authorities and the local chamber of commerce," said Piotr Galitzine, TMK IPSCO's chairman.
After being issued an $872,000 state tax credit Monday, TMK IPSCO officials said Tuesday operations at the former Sharon Tube facility should begin during the second quarter of this year.
It will produce roughly 100,000 tons of threaded pipe per year in the expansion of its Ultra Premium Connections product line.
About 50 employees will be hired initially, but levels are expected to reach 120.
Other local businesses, like trucking companies, could benefit as well.
"They're local companies, but they may be part of the hauling business that hauls this material," said Sean O'Brien, an attorney for the building's owner. "So it's going to have a huge benefit to the local economy."
The tubing will be made at the company's steel mill plant near Pittsburgh and then brought to Brookfield to be threaded.
The Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber has been working for months to attract the business to Brookfield. Brookfield trustees, Congressman Tim Ryan and Governor Ted Strickland were also part of the effort.
"I was told when there was a little complication, the governor himself called the company to persuade them to come here to Brookfield," said O'Brien. "So everyone coming together and working together is an example of how business and government can make a project like this happen."
Scott Barnes, Vice President and CEO of the company, said they've seen remarkable growth in the company's connection product line and that the company has become one of the largest manufacturers of premium connections in North America.
