Web Exclusive – Business moves expected to bring 225 jobs to Canal Winchester

ThisWeek CW 07/05/2011

http://thisweeknews.com/live/content/canalwinchester/stories/2011/06/29/business-moves-expected-to-bring-225-jobs-to-cw.html?sid=104

Canal Winchester expects to gain 225 new jobs as a result of operations consolidations and moves involving two companies.

Mayor Michael Ebert announced at the July 5 city council meeting that HFI Inc. LLC is purchasing the current TS Trim manufacturing plant at 59 Gender Road, at the corner of Gender Road and Walnut Street. TS Trim will consolidate its operations at the company’s primary Canal Winchester location at 6380 W. Canal St.

“HFI currently has two plants, and they’re in the process of purchasing the TS Trim plant they (TS Trim) are getting out of headliner business and taking their employees to the Canal Street location,” Ebert said. “(HFI) also does other manufacturing of auto products so when the changeover of lines happens is when they’ll finalize the move over.”

HFI, like TS Trim, is an automotive manufacturer supplier. According to Ebert, HFI will take over the production of Honda headliners when it moves its current Groveport and Obetz manufacturing operations to the Canal Winchester facility. The company hopes to add 225 new jobs.

“Any time you get 225 new jobs, we’ll take it,” Ebert said. “We haven’t put a figure to that, but it’s quite a significant thing in my book, and we’re looking forward to having HFI in town, I think they’ll be a great company to work with.”

The build-out of office space at the new location is scheduled to start immediately, with the first HFI plant move occurring by this fall and the second by fall 2012. According to Ebert, the jobs are expected to be created over the next year as a part of this transition.

“We don’t have salary numbers yet to see what the impact will be for the city, but we’ve requested them from HFI and hope to have them soon,” city finance director Nanisa Osborn said.

TS Trim will not lay off any employees, according to Ebert. He said TS Trim will train all relocated employees on the Honda door component production and assembly line as the company expands its production of the door components.

For more on this story, check back with ThisWeekNews.com and see the July 14 edition of ThisWeek Canal Winchester.