Regional Chamber Celebrates Family-Owned Businesses

Regional Chamber Celebrates Family-Owned Businesses

POLAND, Ohio – Thirty years later, attorney Brian Coulter still remembers the name of the local business – Graft Electric – that was splashed across his Little League team uniform, as well as the business names of the other teams he competed against.

“But it wasn’t just baseball – it was daily life,” Coulter said. “When my dad needed an electrician, he called my buddy’s dad from Graft Electric. And when someone from Graft Electric fell off a ladder on a job site, they called my dad. … he was a chiropractor.” Read more

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Archive building work begins

Archive Building Work Begins

Work on the new Columbiana County Archive Building at the former site of the Department of Job and Family Services at the corner of East Chestnut and North Jefferson streets in Lisbon has started. Core borings were taken to analyze the soil composition prior to construction. The $6.9 million facility will be a two-story, 24,600-square-foot, climate-controlled, secure block and brick building with a dry chemical fire suppression system, a commercial shredder and office space. Columbiana’s C. Tucker Cope and Associates was awarded the contract. The county is required by law to keep all records it generates. (Submitted photo) Read more

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Inside Multifamily Giant Greystar’s Modular Construction Strategy

Inside Multifamily Giant Greystar’s Modular Construction Strategy

Many in the U.S. construction industry have long dreamed of achieving a scaled-up modular building system, which is more common in Europe and Japan. Modular construction for housing offers clear benefits, but numerous challenges like varied building codes and local factory shortages have hindered its widespread adoption. Read more

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Mathews picks designer for new gym

VIENNA — The Mathews Local School District has taken another step in one of its biggest projects.

The resolution states that several firms submitted proposals that included pricing information to representatives of the district administration, school board, criteria architect and legal counsel.

C. Tucker Cope and Associates was deemed to be “superior” by interviewers because of factors such as having in-house engineering with experience in metal buildings like the gym, performing most of the work with its own labor and cost. The company also had a scheduled completion date of October 2025 that would create a safer environment for students and reduce the number of disruptive construction activities during the school year.

The resolution states there was a consensus that J. Herbert Construction Co. Inc. had done good work on the Baker Elementary School addition for the district, but C. Tucker Cope was deemed a better fit for the board’s criteria for the gym.

The cost of the gymnasium is not to exceed $1,889,861.

Mathews Local Schools unveiled plans for the gymnasium in September.

The cafeteria and gym are part of a multipurpose room at Mathews Elementary School, which stuffs two significant school operations into one space, according to Superintendent Russell McQuaide.

McQuaide said in September that the new gymnasium also will benefit high school students, who use a gym dubbed “the shoe box” because of its reputation as one of the smallest regulation gyms in the state.

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Greystar nears debut of its first modular US apartment project

Pennsylvania development shows promise of method delivering 40% faster construction times

By Jon Leckie
CoStar News

November 11, 2024 | 5:40 P.M.

The largest U.S. apartment owner is set to open its first multifamily project built with modular structural pieces completed in its Pennsylvania-based factory as it looks to develop a system to counter the rising cost of development while offering moderately priced rents.

 

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Construction Underway on New FirstEnergy Transmission Service Center in Mahoning County

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, Jan. 31, 2023 — American Transmission Systems, Inc. (ATSI), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), recently broke ground on a new operations service center in North Jackson, Mahoning County, to help streamline operations and maximize efficiencies along the local high-voltage power system.

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Greystar Announces Groundbreaking of LTD. Spring Run, The Company’s First Modular Development

Modern Living Solutions Modular Apartments Coming off Assembly Line and Hiring in Knox, PA

Coraopolis, PA – August 15, 2023 – Greystar Real Estate Partners, LLC (“Greystar”), a global leader in the investment, development, and management of real estate, including rental housing, logistics, and life sciences, today announced the groundbreaking of Ltd. Spring Run, the first property made up entirely of units created in the Modern Living Solutions (“MLS”) factory – Greystar’s modular construction business focused on building off-site, prefabricated modular apartments sustainably and at an attainable price point under Greystar’s dedicated impact housing brand, Ltd. by Greystar.

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Work on new NS field office is underway

EAST PALESTINE — Ever since the Feb. 3 train derailment, Norfolk Southern has pledged to maintain a permanent presence in the village. The railroad took a step forward in August by acquiring the former Brittain Motors building at 428 N. Market St. to establish a Norfolk Southern Field Office. Renovations on that building are currently underway.

“The office will bolster Norfolk Southern functions in the region and create a central location to support residents on an ongoing basis, including housing the family assistance center,” Norfolk Southern stated in a press release provided during a tour of the property on Friday. “The office space will also feature a community meeting room to facilitate continuous dialogue with the village for long-term support efforts.”

Located at the corner of Market and East Clark streets, the office will be near the planned new regional safety training center and across the street from the historic train depot which Norfolk Southern is renovating and donating to the village. The field office is meant to house and support both community engagement and operational functions.

Norfolk Southern established the family assistance center in the days following the rail disaster at the Abundant Life Church in New Waterford before moving the center to a leased space on Rebecca Street in East Palestine in May. Its eventual location inside the Norfolk Southern Field Office will give the center a permanent residency in the village and offer those seeking support more discretion with private offices.

Meanwhile, the railroad’s base for business in the village has been operating from rented space inside the Centenary United Methodist Church. Those offices too will relocate permanently to the field office.

The new office will also give Norfolk Southern a place to conduct business unrelated to the derailment in the village.

Director of Community Affairs at Norfolk Southern Stacey Mansfield, who conducted Friday’s tour, said sales teams are expected to work from the office from a “reconfigured floor plan to accommodate the various functions of Norfolk Southern employees and community meetings.”

When renovations are complete, the office is expected to complement existing structures on North Market Street with a “brick facade to better match the aesthetic of the downtown district.” An artist rendering of the finished exterior of the building closely resembles that of the East Palestine Memorial Public Library.

Norfolk Southern said that over $1 million in building renovations to the field office will be completed by local contractor, J. Herbert. Youngstown, Ohio-based Strollo Architects developed the designs and is expected to be completed in the late first quarter or early second quarter of next year.

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Columbiana HS amateur radio program praised

COLUMBIANA — Radio signals from the Columbiana High School have touched down all around the country and are reaching around the globe through the Clipper Amateur Radio station, K8LPS.

Over the last few years interest in the start up STEM program has grown and only recently students were able to begin sending their signals from the newly constructed permanent high frequency station.

The school broke ground on the new station in late July and were able to install the tower for use by students this fall.

Students have practiced remote and emergency communication.

District Superintendent Don Mook said many people in the community helped support the STEM program available to both middle and high school students through monetary and equipment donations.

“Tens of thousands of dollars have been donated as well as time and equipment to provide our schools with state of the art radio equipment,” he said.

The equipment includes high frequency base station amateur radio transceiver, high frequency triband transceiver, high frequency antennas and Federal Communications Commission capabilities.

Members of the radio program made a presentation to the board of education this month, and said that the new station and equipment was an investment of the school and community worth roughly $50,000, including labor.

The club’s future plans include seeking Amateur Radio Digital Communications grants, home radio kit building, travel and scholarship opportunities, and contests.

The board of education honored those who played a role in the success of the program through the presentation of Key Clipper awards during the board meeting.

“All of these awards are people who have come together as a community to support a start up Radio and Electronics STEM program at Columbiana High School and South Side Middle School,” Mook said.

Awards were presented to high school Principal Jeff Jackson, teacher Colleen Campbell, parent and Columbiana Police Department officer Wade Boley, Kelly Williamson and her husband Michael, representing the Fairfield Ruritans, Richard Sell and Ginny Perkins of the Columbiana Community Foundation, Scott Dunn of RAA Data, Jake Giesy of Tri County Tower, Rick Graft, of Graft Electric, and Scott Jones and Mark Ludwick of DX Engineering.

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Columbiana Port Authority Plans ‘Spec’ Building in Leetonia

LISBON, Ohio — The Columbiana County Port Authority Board of Directors is moving forward with plans to construct a 60,000-square-foot speculative building at its industrial park in Leetonia. This week, the board approved seeking funding for the project’s estimated $2.9 million construction cost.

A resolution was passed that grants either Executive Director Penny Traina or Chairman Charlie Presley the authority to sign all closing documents pertinent to financing from the Rural Industrial Park Loan Program.

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