If the lease is approved by Clark County commissioners, multiple agencies will be moved, including OSU Extension Horticulture and 4-H and Clark County Soil and Water Conservation District.
The move could cost the county thousands, but Commissioner John Detrick said the expense would be worth it as the expansion could bolster the local economy by about $8 million.
“The ripple effect is jobs plus the many visitors coming here staying in hotels, eating in our restaurants for a week or longer. This will have a big-time impact on the local community,” Detrick said.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” said Horton Hobbs, vice president of economic development for the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce’s Community Improvement Corporation.
“It’s the potential growth of one business and the potential displacement of other (organizations) in the community,” he said.
Commissioners, who own the agricultural building, are working out details of a 5-year agreement that would involve leasing the building to the CIC for about $16,400 annually. The CIC will then sublease it for about $18,400 to Konecranes, 4401 Gateway Blvd., according to a draft of the lease obtained by the News-Sun.
A lease could be finalized as early as next week, and Konecranes could occupy a portion of the building by June, said Tom Sothard, president of Konecranes.
Agencies now using the agricultural building would move in phases to the Springview Government Center, 3130 E. Main St., county leaders say.
“A total move of the agricultural building tenants will be accomplished before July 2013,” according to an email from County Administrator Nathan Kennedy obtained by the News-Sun.
Kennedy wrote that an architect/engineer will be hired to develop building and moving plans. Estimates on the cost of the move were not available Friday.
Detrick said the move would likely force commissioners to use petty cash and issue bonds to pay for remodeling offices at Springview and transplanting OSU Extension’s gardens and other structures, which take up two-thirds of the nearly 5-acre property at the agricultural building.
Commissioner David Hartley, who said terms of the proposed agreement have not yet been presented to commissioners, would not say Friday if he supports the deal.
“I’m going to have to look at it very closely. I’m going to have to look at the cost of the move. They’ve got the gardens out there. We’ll have to see,” Hartley said.
The global training facility will bring thousands of people to Springfield for training and add administrative and technical jobs that will pay between $35,000 to $120,000 annually, Sothard said.
Konecranes expanded the local facility in 2008, before laying off 18 people in 2009 during the recession. The company, which builds cranes that lift up to 80 tons, has since rebounded and outgrown the facility, Sothard said.
Officials train employees offsite at four locations, including Clark State Community College. The company had considered developing a training facility on the company’s campus in Texas before learning of an opportunity to lease the agricultural building across the street from Konecranes at PrimeOhio.
“We wanted to stay in Springfield. It’s a good place to do business at the end of the day, and we wanted to continue to make Springfield our base, but these jobs could have very easily moved out to Texas,” Sothard said.
The location will give the company a permanent place where employees can be trained in one building, Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Mike McDorman said.
“This is a perfect fit for them, but we have to mitigate the concerns of the (tenants) in the building,” McDorman said.
McDorman said he and area leaders want Konecranes’ expansion to be win-win-win for the company, tenants in the agricultural building and the community.
“We’re going to do everything we can to work with the tenants (in the agricultural building) and meet their needs and grow more jobs in the community,” McDorman said.
The agricultural building was built in 1990 as a one-stop shop for the 4-H clubs and the farming community.
Tenants in the building are: Clark County Farm Service Agency, OSU Extension, Clark County 4-H, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and Clark County Soil and Water Conservation District.
Clark County 4-H, soil and water and OSU Extension occupy the building rent free. FSA pays about $28,000 annually, which includes rent, janitorial service and utilities, county officials said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in January plans to close 259 FSA offices and labs nationwide in a move to save $150 million. The local office, which has two staff members, was among the offices on the list to close and move to Madison County.
Clark County Soil and Water Conservation District Urban Coordinator Jereme Best said the three staff members in his office are taking a wait-and-see approach.
“We’re neutral. If it happens. It happens,” Best said.
OSU Extension officials and about 70 master gardeners raised concerns this week about moving after learning the agency would likely move to the east end of Springview, where the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management Agency are located.
Most said moving to Springview would likely be a better location than the industrial park where they are now. Others questioned whether the community would support tax dollars being spent on moving the gardens.
“We want to partner and do what’s best for the community. The question is what is this going to cost,” said Pam Bennett, OSU Extension director.
Patty House, OSU Extension educator for 4-H Youth Development, said she is waiting for details about the proposed move. She said she’s most concerned about the proposed phased-in move and if agencies that remain in the building will continue to have access to the conference rooms for meeting and training programs.
House, whose agency serves 4,000 children annually, said 4-H club families and volunteers may have a difficult time moving away from the Clark County fairgrounds.
Sothard said Konecrane is flexible on the move and wants to work to make the transition as smooth as possible for tenants.
“We don’t want to push anybody out,” Sothard said.
McDorman said officials will do everything they can to help tenants with the move.
“I think once we mitigate their concerns everybody will be happy. We will provide them with space that more than meets their needs. We’re going to provide jobs that are going to bring thousands to Springfield each year who will stay in our hotels, eat at our restaurants.”
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