Northwest Ohio Realignment

The refining side of Marathon has increased massively over the last decade. More than enough expansion to make up for the loss of Speedway. And if I'm thinking correctly, Marathon still supplies 100% of the fuel to all Speedway stores, they really just sold off the retail interest.
Yep...the number I was looking at while trying to find all sales revenue was only from their retail arm.
 
Dana, Andersons, OI, OC are the 4. Welltower is close.

Promedica was at $6.9B before Covid, which would have been equivalent to Fortune 400 or so. They are $3B now, which is probably equivalent to about 800 or so on the Fortune 1000.

First Solar is techically headquarted in Tempe, AZ. It has about 30 or so employees there and thousands in Perrysburg.

Marathon is, by far, the largest company in NW Ohio. It is bigger than all of the other publically traded companies in the area combined.

Toledo MSA does have a few other strong companies. Libbey is around $800m. I believe Yark Auto is in the same ballpark. Pilkington NSG's North American HQ is about that size.
Exactly. I regularly visit places like Greenville, Charlotte & Charleston for work and it's something to see the absolute bonanza going on down there. Folks are moving in droves down from northern states to these places and why not? I know this area tends to be heavily industrial so most do not have this luxury, but if the wife and kids wanted to go to Charlotte tomorrow it'd be no problem with my job. The fact is most white collar jobs now can be done 100% remote, and it's giving young families full mobility to pick where they'd like to live.

To give you guys an idea of the growth in Charleston, SC (same size as Dayton) is about 14,000 a year. That means they are growing by 1 Maumee, Ohio per year. School consolidation is going to absolutely dominate the discussion in the coming years as young adults continue to move to the Sun Belt. The fact that a district like Northwood was built a new school instead of being absorbed into Lake or Clay is insane. You cannot make a good argument for that district to exist outside of convenience.
Having lived in the upstate of South Carolina now for 20 years and still having parents back home in NW Ohio one thing that strikes me the most about living down here versus up there is being illustrated in this discussion.

Yes, the headquarters for Marathon is in Findlay BUT Findlay does not have a refining facility. How many jobs does the headquarters supply versus the actual operations?

Down here in SC we have actual operational facilities with BMW in Spartanburg, Volvo in Summerville, Michelin has 3 plants in the upstate AND the Michelin North American headquarters. Boeing is in North Charleston, etc...

My point is is it's nice to have headquarters existing in these places like Findlay and Toledo but what is their actual overall economic impact? I can tell you right now the impact of having an enormous BMW assembly plant in Spartanburg has had a ridiculous impact job wise on the local economy. The headquarters is back home in good ole Germany. So when we talk about headquarters, how many people work at that headquarters??? Couple hundred?
 
I get to Greenville, SC every year. Great place. If I ever retire down south (I probably won't) this is where I will go.
 
Having lived in the upstate of South Carolina now for 20 years and still having parents back home in NW Ohio one thing that strikes me the most about living down here versus up there is being illustrated in this discussion.

Yes, the headquarters for Marathon is in Findlay BUT Findlay does not have a refining facility. How many jobs does the headquarters supply versus the actual operations?

Down here in SC we have actual operational facilities with BMW in Spartanburg, Volvo in Summerville, Michelin has 3 plants in the upstate AND the Michelin North American headquarters. Boeing is in North Charleston, etc...

My point is is it's nice to have headquarters existing in these places like Findlay and Toledo but what is their actual overall economic impact? I can tell you right now the impact of having an enormous BMW assembly plant in Spartanburg has had a ridiculous impact job wise on the local economy. The headquarters is back home in good ole Germany. So when we talk about headquarters, how many people work at that headquarters??? Couple hundred?
Here are the last #s that I have. Revenue is based on a variety of sources including Fortune, Forbes, ZoomInfo, Hoovers, and news articles. Employee count is mainly based on the info from www.rgp.org

1709588606128.png
 
Having lived in the upstate of South Carolina now for 20 years and still having parents back home in NW Ohio one thing that strikes me the most about living down here versus up there is being illustrated in this discussion.

Yes, the headquarters for Marathon is in Findlay BUT Findlay does not have a refining facility. How many jobs does the headquarters supply versus the actual operations?

Down here in SC we have actual operational facilities with BMW in Spartanburg, Volvo in Summerville, Michelin has 3 plants in the upstate AND the Michelin North American headquarters. Boeing is in North Charleston, etc...

My point is is it's nice to have headquarters existing in these places like Findlay and Toledo but what is their actual overall economic impact? I can tell you right now the impact of having an enormous BMW assembly plant in Spartanburg has had a ridiculous impact job wise on the local economy. The headquarters is back home in good ole Germany. So when we talk about headquarters, how many people work at that headquarters??? Couple hundred?
Marathon has about 2k of employees in Findlay so most corporate functions are done there. But your point is valid about operation facilities can be much bigger employers. All Whirlpool dishwashers are made in Findlay and they employ about 3k.
 
Marathon has about 2k of employees in Findlay so most corporate functions are done there. But your point is valid about operation facilities can be much bigger employers. All Whirlpool dishwashers are made in Findlay and they employ about 3k.
The Whirlpool washer plant in Clyde employs over 3,000. It's likely still the largest non-government & non-health care employer in NW Ohio.

It is only about 1/2 mile farther from Toledo than Findlay, is closer than Tiffin, and is definitely not part of the Toledo metropolitan area.
 
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The Whirlpool washer plant in Clyde employs over 3,000. It's likely still the largest non-government & non-health care employer in NW Ohio.

It is only about 1/2 mile farther from Toledo than Findlay, is closer than Tiffin, and is definitely not part of the Toledo metropolitan area.
Per link above Whirlpool employs 6182 in NWO my guess that also includes Putnam county Ottawa plant.

Here is the top 10 and you are correct.

1709594583298.png
 
The Whirlpool washer plant in Clyde employs over 3,000. It's likely still the largest non-government & non-health care employer in NW Ohio.

It is only about 1/2 mile farther from Toledo than Findlay, is closer than Tiffin, and is definitely not part of the Toledo metropolitan area.

How can we all forget that ONLY the Toledo metro area matters?

F*** all us little country folks throughout the rest of NWO, right?
 
How can we all forget that ONLY the Toledo metro area matters?

F*** all us little country folks throughout the rest of NWO, right?
I would never call Sandusky, Fremont, Tiffin, Findlay, or Defiance "country," nor Port Clinton, Clyde, Fostoria, Napoleon, or Bryan. Neither would I consider any of them to be part of the Toledo metropolitan area.

Most of the USA is empty compared to NW Ohio.

But I understand your point. I live less than a half hour from downtown Toledo. Our many friends in the Toledo area act like we live in the hinterlands. For a job, I once road with three Toledo guys out to Leipsic. Two of them were actually nervous. "There's nothing out here." I could see houses and farms in every direction, but they were genuinely anxious. I almost laughed but it was too weird.
 
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The Whirlpool washer plant in Clyde employs over 3,000. It's likely still the largest non-government & non-health care employer in NW Ohio.

It is only about 1/2 mile farther from Toledo than Findlay, is closer than Tiffin, and is definitely not part of the Toledo metropolitan area.
My initial post was F500 companies headquartered in the Toledo/NWO in direct response to someone saying the reason why Cincinnati was growing was because they had big companies HQ'ed there. Whirlpool is headquartered in Benton Harbor, MI.

The Combined Statistical Area as defined by the US Office of Management and Budget for Toledo includes Findlay, Tiffin, and Fremont (and with them, Clyde).
 
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Having lived in the upstate of South Carolina now for 20 years and still having parents back home in NW Ohio one thing that strikes me the most about living down here versus up there is being illustrated in this discussion.

Yes, the headquarters for Marathon is in Findlay BUT Findlay does not have a refining facility. How many jobs does the headquarters supply versus the actual operations?

Down here in SC we have actual operational facilities with BMW in Spartanburg, Volvo in Summerville, Michelin has 3 plants in the upstate AND the Michelin North American headquarters. Boeing is in North Charleston, etc...

My point is is it's nice to have headquarters existing in these places like Findlay and Toledo but what is their actual overall economic impact? I can tell you right now the impact of having an enormous BMW assembly plant in Spartanburg has had a ridiculous impact job wise on the local economy. The headquarters is back home in good ole Germany. So when we talk about headquarters, how many people work at that headquarters??? Couple hundred?
That's the reason why the northern areas of Columbus are booming. The Honda plants in Marysville and East Liberty will employ just under 10,000 people by 2026 just by themselves. Having the state force Intel into New Albany over their other options (Wood County and Warren County) just further ballooned things.
 
That's the reason why the northern areas of Columbus are booming. The Honda plants in Marysville and East Liberty will employ just under 10,000 people by 2026 just by themselves. Having the state force Intel into New Albany over their other options (Wood County and Warren County) just further ballooned things.
Intel is absolutely blowing the Columbus area up...There's an immediate need for 25,000 housing units just in the general area of the plant (5-mile radius). Housing prices have just skyrocketed.
 
Intel is absolutely blowing the Columbus area up...There's an immediate need for 25,000 housing units just in the general area of the plant (5-mile radius). Housing prices have just skyrocketed.
Yep...would've been cool to have them in another area in the state knowing the impact it would make, rather than having the State Legislature just further fatten the pig in the middle.
 
My initial post was F500 companies headquartered in the Toledo/NWO in direct response to someone saying the reason why Cincinnati was growing was because they had big companies HQ'ed there. Whirlpool is headquartered in Benton Harbor, MI.

The Combined Statistical Area as defined by the US Office of Management and Budget for Toledo includes Findlay, Tiffin, and Fremont (and with them, Clyde).
Thanks.
 
Yep...would've been cool to have them in another area in the state knowing the impact it would make, rather than having the State Legislature just further fatten the pig in the middle.
Columbus is best suited with the best existing infrastructure in the state, access to major interstates for national travel, namely I-70, and an airport with room to grow. It's the logical spot. I live in northwest Ohio and Toledo wouldn't make sense. Cleveland is in the same boat as Toledo on a larger scale but with an airport. Cincinnati could have been acceptable but much of the increase in value would be seen across the river. Putting it in the middle of the state pretty much ensures that all added value will come back to Ohio.
 
Columbus is best suited with the best existing infrastructure in the state, access to major interstates for national travel, namely I-70, and an airport with room to grow. It's the logical spot. I live in northwest Ohio and Toledo wouldn't make sense. Cleveland is in the same boat as Toledo on a larger scale but with an airport. Cincinnati could have been acceptable but much of the increase in value would be seen across the river. Putting it in the middle of the state pretty much ensures that all added value will come back to Ohio.
Toledo has three Interstates and an airport too.
 
Columbus is best suited with the best existing infrastructure in the state, access to major interstates for national travel, namely I-70, and an airport with room to grow. It's the logical spot. I live in northwest Ohio and Toledo wouldn't make sense. Cleveland is in the same boat as Toledo on a larger scale but with an airport. Cincinnati could have been acceptable but much of the increase in value would be seen across the river. Putting it in the middle of the state pretty much ensures that all added value will come back to Ohio.
Toledo sits at the intersection of the two most trafficked highways in the US for material transportation, has an international waterport and cargo airport as well as major intersections of two cargo railways (all things Columbus doesn't have). Not sure anything other than "in the middle of the state" makes Columbus a "better" option compared to either of the other two C's or Toledo....outside of Columbus getting preferred treatment from the State Legislature and most state agencies. It also might've made sense to spread the wealth to other areas of the state in order to lift the profile of the state as a whole instead of one region.

It's a wonder that Cincinnati has been able to do what they've done fighting uphill at the state level for most everything.
 
Here's Toledo's problem in a nutshell. This is the metro area; trades and manufacturing employment outweigh white collar jobs significantly by a total of 118K to 47K. That means for every white collar employee, there are 2.5 blue collar employees in the Toledo area. That is double what Columbus's ratio is. Problem is, for those who do attend college they're going to cities like Columbus because the jobs in the Toledo area are few and far between. That's what is driving a lot of the exodus in my opinion for this region.
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Meanwhile here's the Columbus area, where the divide is 361K to 292K. Think about that for a second, not counting government jobs & healthcare you're looking at a 1.2:1 ratio to blue collar jobs in the Columbus area.
1709822069704.png
 
Here's Toledo's problem in a nutshell. This is the metro area; trades and manufacturing employment outweigh white collar jobs significantly by a total of 118K to 47K. That means for every white collar employee, there are 2.5 blue collar employees in the Toledo area. That is double what Columbus's ratio is. Problem is, for those who do attend college they're going to cities like Columbus because the jobs in the Toledo area are few and far between. That's what is driving a lot of the exodus in my opinion for this region.
View attachment 55481

Meanwhile here's the Columbus area, where the divide is 361K to 292K. Think about that for a second, not counting government jobs & healthcare you're looking at a 1.2:1 ratio to blue collar jobs in the Columbus area.
View attachment 55482
Kind of a chicken and egg conversation, honestly, and fascinating to consider. Toledo was a larger city than Columbus until 1950 and the metro was roughly similar in size until the mid-1970s. Something happened in the 60s that ballooned their population at a higher rate than Toledo's

Ohio State's Enrollment in 1959: 23,260 [this is also roughly the average enrollment from 1948-1959)
Ohio State's Enrollment in 1970: 50,804

Some of the more experienced posters will also note that in the 1965-68, Univ. of Cincinnati, Univ. of Akron, and Univ. of Toledo began the process of moving from municipal institutions to state institutions based on state pressure under Jim Rhodes (fascinatingly, an OSU alum). In doing so, the incentive for young people in those regions to stay local (taxes were used to pay for the institutions, thus making citizens of the cities and regions have far lower tuition) was cut and Ohio State chartered as an open enrollment institution. The State has a tradition of doing whatever possible to make sure OSU was, is, and always will be on top, and it has had significant positive impact in their region and has has significant detrimental impact to the other regions of the state.
 
Toledo sits at the intersection of the two most trafficked highways in the US for material transportation, has an international waterport and cargo airport as well as major intersections of two cargo railways (all things Columbus doesn't have). Not sure anything other than "in the middle of the state" makes Columbus a "better" option compared to either of the other two C's or Toledo....
Columbus has a cargo airport.

Columbus: quicker to reach the Atlantic, closer to WorldPort (Louisville) and World Hub (Memphis.) Existing gridwork of over-the-road and freight hub-and-spoke systems with the major carriers for domestic shipping is concentrated closer toward 70.
 
Columbus has a cargo airport.

Columbus: quicker to reach the Atlantic, closer to WorldPort (Louisville) and World Hub (Memphis.) Existing gridwork of over-the-road and freight hub-and-spoke systems with the major carriers for domestic shipping is concentrated closer toward 70.
I'm just going to assume that you're unfamiliar with Toledo's proximity to major freight and port infrastructure and the fact that I-70 is nowhere near as important for freight transit in comparison to 80/90 and 75.

Also, I'm not saying that Toledo was a better choice for Intel, hell, there isn't enough educational infrastructure to hire local like there would be in Columbus, but to outright dismiss the two other options (I personally felt Cincinnati would've been the best option in Ohio for Intel) in lieu of constant support for a region that already gets the lion's share of it is poor stewardship by the State.
 
I'm just going to assume that you're unfamiliar with Toledo's proximity to major freight and port infrastructure and the fact that I-70 is nowhere near as important for freight transit in comparison to 80/90 and 75.
90 east of Cleveland is not that important beyond the crossing in Buffalo. 80 east of Chicago is only useful as a link out of New York/NNJ to northern destinations and points NW of Chicago (MSP, WI and the Pacific NW.)

East to west logistics pathing for imports on the Atlantic, and shipper origin along I-95, caters stronger toward the 70 corridor and the southerly arteries. Unless a firm like Intel vertically integrated their logistics, the 75 and 80/90 angle doesn’t matter. Do you get to Norfolk, VA easier from Toledo or Columbus? How about the Carolinas?
 
Columbus got the Intel project partly because of the flock of techy people in the area, Ohio State, etc. To be honest I think the location stinks. The newly redone 161 is about the only highway around the project - everything else is small roads that will need widening. To me it clogs up an already busy area and blows up small towns like Johnstown, Pataskala and Granville, who were already growing at abnormal rates.

To me the smarter thing to do was stick this project in a big empty space off south 270 or 70 and essentially create a new town in an undeveloped area. Spread the traffic and wealth around a bit.
 
Columbus got the Intel project partly because of the flock of techy people in the area, Ohio State, etc. To be honest I think the location stinks. The newly redone 161 is about the only highway around the project - everything else is small roads that will need widening. To me it clogs up an already busy area and blows up small towns like Johnstown, Pataskala and Granville, who were already growing at abnormal rates.

To me the smarter thing to do was stick this project in a big empty space off south 270 or 70 and essentially create a new town in an undeveloped area. Spread the traffic and wealth around a bit.
western Licking County has also gone through a massive warehousing boom in the last ~3 years. Multiple Amazon facilities, new fulfillment & packaging centers for Kohls and Yankee Candle, FedEx building a brand new shipping facility that services coast-to-coast, Kroger pumping in money to greatly expand the Tamarack Farms dairy plant. That all is great for economic development but it also is contributing to strain on the roads. 37 and 310 need to be widened, and in the case of 37 it should widen to 4 lanes between 70 & Delaware and in some stretches be 6 lanes.
 
I would never call Sandusky, Fremont, Tiffin, Findlay, or Defiance "country," nor Port Clinton, Clyde, Fostoria, Napoleon, or Bryan. Neither would I consider any of them to be part of the Toledo metropolitan area.

Most of the USA is empty compared to NW Ohio.

But I understand your point. I live less than a half hour from downtown Toledo. Our many friends in the Toledo area act like we live in the hinterlands. For a job, I once road with three Toledo guys out to Leipsic. Two of them were actually nervous. "There's nothing out here." I could see houses and farms in every direction, but they were genuinely anxious. I almost laughed but it was too weird.
I grew up in NW Ohio. Went to Univ of Toledo in the late 80's There was a girl there from one of the ritzier suburbs of Cleveland. She had never seen a cow until the day she was moving her stuff into UT
 
western Licking County has also gone through a massive warehousing boom in the last ~3 years. Multiple Amazon facilities, new fulfillment & packaging centers for Kohls and Yankee Candle, FedEx building a brand new shipping facility that services coast-to-coast, Kroger pumping in money to greatly expand the Tamarack Farms dairy plant. That all is great for economic development but it also is contributing to strain on the roads. 37 and 310 need to be widened, and in the case of 37 it should widen to 4 lanes between 70 & Delaware and in some stretches be 6 lanes.
Wouldn't it be cool to have any of that stuff in other areas of the state? Man...you'd have three or four thriving metropolitan areas at that point and wouldn't have to worry about the traffic congestion issues as well as the insane amount of infrastructure redevelopment funds Columbus is getting force-fed because of poor statewide economic development.
 
Wouldn't it be cool to have any of that stuff in other areas of the state? Man...you'd have three or four thriving metropolitan areas at that point and wouldn't have to worry about the traffic congestion issues as well as the insane amount of infrastructure redevelopment funds Columbus is getting force-fed because of poor statewide economic development
Those companies have to want to locate in these other areas.
 
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