Going Above & Beyond The Call Of Duty
The Reeves Mill Logistics Warehouse
Changing seasons, and a changing of the guard. Just six short months ago, with the retirement of long-time Executive Director, Harry Eadon, the Tuscarawas County Economic Development Corporation brought in a new leader with the hire of our Executive Director, Marla Akridge. Since then, other key members of the team moved on to new opportunities, new hires were made, and this has all given the TCEDC the look of a new administration. We often jokingly tell people John Kelly, our Director of Business Development and Administration, is the senior member of the team. John joined the EDC just three years ago. With a new administration, the TCEDC is chugging along.
We have enormous shoes to fill as the administration before us had a knack for going above and beyond the call of duty. We have made it our mission to continue this policy. To explain how we do that, I’d like to first talk about what our mission is, how that mission came to be, and then talk about what it is we are doing to keep the tradition alive.
According to the author, Peter Hendee Brown, we can trace the history of Economic and Community Development back to the decades following World War II,
“In the 1950s and 1960s, the federal government attempted to stimulate private investment in America’s struggling inner cities by implementing big plans. While the majority of urban land in the United States is privately owned and developed, the Urban Renewal program of slum-clearance and large-scale urban redevelopment projects put the government in the role of a visionary developer by combining federal funding with public planning and private development partners at a local level.”
Through the six decades after the war, institutions like the Port Authority, designed to manage and construct ports of entry, land, sea, and air, and other Community Improvement Agencies evolved to promote local Economic Development in their local regions. In their book, Economic Development Is Still Not For Amateurs, authors Jay Garner and Ross Patten define economic development as,
“what leaders need to do to enhance wealth-building opportunities for their constituents and build a quality of place that attracts and retains talent, residents, and visitors.”
Here in Tuscarawas County, the Port Authority was established in 2002, with part of its mission being economic development. Since then, many of our government subdivisions and community agencies have evolved and come under the management umbrella of a 501(c)3 known as the Tuscarawas County Economic Development Corporation (TCEDC). So many different boards, we often admirably call it the alphabet soup. If you’d like to know more about this breakdown, we have great information on our website. I know this isn’t the most interesting history lesson, but the big takeaway here, I hope, is that you understand it is our mission to help keep our local businesses happy, and market the area to outside businesses making them want to move here. We execute a multi-touch strategy to accomplish this including fostering entrepreneurship and startups from within, industrial, commercial, and residential site development, economic advocacy, and more.
It also means we’re involved in a lot of different things, from the Joy Redevelopment Project (pictured above), the Tuscarawas Regional Technology Park, and arguably our biggest success to date, the Reeves Mill Business Park. This is a renovated industrial site that now houses Deflecto, and Extreme Trailers LLC, and also includes a co-op Distribution Center in New Philadelphia, known as the Reeves Mill Logistics Warehouse on Commerical Ave. This facility serves two excellent local corporate citizens, Kraton Chemical and Dover Chemical. This is the part we talk about going above and beyond the call of duty for the citizens of Tuscarawas County.
The Reeves Mill Business Park
My business background is a unique mix. It includes real estate, marketing, advertising, websites, and video production. However, a large chunk of my professional life was spent in a distribution center for a national brand, operated and owned by a subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company. Immediately following High School, I spent eight years working for this company. I was cross-trained and promoted, learning a breadth of things about supervisory management, supply chain, distribution, and logistics.
With e-commerce emerging as the primary vehicle for consumer shopping, I have always advocated for the building of warehouses that could attract small and mid-level companies in need of distribution in the Midwest. It is no secret that companies expanding in the e-commerce space need distribution services, preferably in strategic locations. Knowing a truck driver is just an 8–10-hour shift away from 4 major Midwest cities, I have always thought of local people getting together to build these distribution facilities to compete for the jobs.
With the business network, access to funds, knowledge of grants, and experience in development, how brilliant it is for the TCEDC to take it upon themselves to make this happen? I happen to think this is a display of excellence by the leadership here. Finding creative, modern, tangible ways, to provide jobs and contribute to the economy. This is a great example of a community development corporation going above and beyond its call of duty.
Since starting my position with the TCEDC at the beginning of April, the Reeves Mill Logistics Warehouse in New Philadelphia has seen a changing of its own administration, I suppose with myself somewhere in this mix. Alongside our recently promoted Warehouse Foreman, Rob Lax, I have been hunkered down at our distribution center documenting, learning, operating, forklift driving, loading, hiring, and now training every single working day. We’re finding ways to be more thorough, identifying ways to be more efficient, and Rob, I must say has also gone above and beyond the call of duty. He really fits the theme here.
Meet Rob Lax
Reeves Mill Logistics Warehouse Foreman
My first day on the job at the warehouse—a time the employees were working a lot of overtime, short-staffed, and facing new leadership—Rob introduced himself to me by saying,
“I’m in it for the long haul… Whatever you need me to do, I’m here to see this through with you.”
Over the course of the last 2 months, Rob has done just that, going, again, beyond the call of duty anytime it was required. So much, when trying to restructure how the clerical work would be done, promoting Rob to lead the warehouse going forward seemed like a no-brainer to the team at the EDC. In the spirit of going above and beyond the call of duty, I want to tell you a little more about Rob.
In 1992, he graduated from Dover High School and shortly thereafter married his high school sweetheart, Natalie. Rob and Natalie Lax, have been enthusiastically together for nearly 3 decades and have had two daughters. A lifelong citizen of Tuscarawas County and son of a local policeman, Rob cites his mother and grandmother as having the biggest impact on his life.
After High School, Rob took a job in manufacturing at Allied Baltic Rubber, before taking a job and being promoted to Warehouse Foreman in 1997. In 1999 Rob left Allied Baltic Rubber to join the crew at Snyder Manufacturing Inc. where he remained until just last year when he come to work at the Reeves Mill Logistics Warehouse in New Philadelphia, a project part of the EDFA’s Reeves Mill Business Park. Recently promoted to Warehouse Foreman, Rob prides himself on giving our customers high-quality distribution services while maintaining accurate inventory.
In his time off, Rob enjoys adding to their family campsite at Leesville lake where he spends time with his wife. His favorite place in Tuscarawas County is anywhere alongside the Tuscarawas River, where enjoys kayaking and fishing. When asking which restaurant he would recommend to visitors, he said “Donnie’s Tavern in Zoar. They have a fantastic menu made from locally sourced ingredients.” I sat down with Rob for an interview, so the community could get to know him. Check out this interview below.
JC Shively
Business Development Director
Community Accelerator BroadbandOhio Report
One-Page Report of Participating Teams
BroadbandOhio Community Accelerator
BroadbandOhio
May 27, 2022
The BroadbandOhio Community Accelerator will be a collaborative effort by BroadbandOhio, Ohio State University Extension, Heartland Forward, and Benton Institute for Broadband & Society to help local governments throughout Ohio receive expert instruction and support as they prepare to leverage new dollars that will be made available by the State, as well as through the historic passage of the federal infrastructure program. After a month-long application period, the following four teams have been selected to participate in the pilot of the BroadbandOhio Community Accelerator. Each of these teams will participate in the fifteen-week program to learn about mapping, business models, broadband networking, and other such topics related to broadband expansion.
Team Defiance County Lead by Stephanie Metz, Clerk of the Defiance County Commissioners Office, this team comprises of members from a variety of industries. Ranging from economic development, Chamber of Commerce, to the Public Library and Mercy Hospital, Team Defiance is comprised of 10 participants. Defiance County is currently undergoing a survey to determine the areas of greatest need in the county, contracted with Lit Communities. The hope is that this study, in conjunction with the team’s participation in Accelerator will position them well for future growth.
Team Shelby County Lead by Angela Hamberg, Executive Director of the Shelby County Regional Planning Commission, this team comprises of members from a variety of industries. Ranging from the County Commissioners Office and Chamber of Commerce, to the county ESC and United Way, Team Shelby is comprised of 11 participants. Shelby County passed a resolution in May 2021 to establish a new fund for the distribution of funds received through CLFRF. The County has also posted an RFP (March 2022) to expand middle mile broadband services and expand broadband service to unserved and underserved residents.
Team Tuscarawas County Lead by Marla Akridge, Executive Director of the Tuscarawas County Economic Development Corp., this team comprises of members from a variety of industries. Ranging from the County Commissioners Office and local school districts, to the Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital, Team Tuscarawas is comprised of 15 participants. Tuscarawas County is amid a small study to determine speeds in the rural areas of the county. OMEGA estimates it would cost nearly $85m to bring adequate broadband access to underserved areas throughout the county. While Team Tuscarawas is newer to broadband expansion efforts, the team members are excited to begin their efforts in this program.
Team OVRDC Lead by Gina Collinsworth, Public Information Coordinator of the Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission (OVRDC), this team comprises of members from a variety of industries. Ranging from multiple County Commissioners Offices and USDA to Southern State Community College, Team OVRDC is comprised of 9 participants.
Team OVRDC brings a unique blend of professionals across six counties together to engage in this program and continue in broadband expansion efforts as a regional commission.
The inaugural cohort beings meeting on June 15, 2022 and will continue for fifteen consecutive weeks. At the culmination of the fifteen-week program, the teams will be able to present on their vision of broadband expansion in each of their communities. The intent is that each community team will identify shovel-ready projects so that providers and external partners may begin broadband expansion.
