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One would be hard pressed to find a city with more spunk than Mansfield (pop. 53,000) in north central Ohio, halfway between Cleveland and Columbus.
The city in the 1970s and 80s weathered trying times -- the loss of several industries, most made redundant by antiquated facilities and management practices.
But yesterday's Mansfield is long gone. The unemployment rate created by the lost industries has been halved to about six percent as new industries begin to flood the area. And, physically, Mansfield has a whole new appearance.
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How did the city do an about-face?
First, Mansfield took stock of its many assets: a multimodal location where air, rail and interstates converge. Next, it installed a massive program of tax abatements that created Enterprise Zones, Community Reinvestment Areas and loan packages. Then it tidily packaged an enormous amount of land into a set of industrial parks at the 2,400-acre Class I Mansfield Lahm Airport. State and local officials consider the airport Ohio's top prospect for an air hub or other large commercial aircraft businesses. |
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The airport's 9,000-ft. runway handles the world's largest cargo craft, the Russian Antonov 124-100, which flies European space vehicle parts and other cargo into and out of Lahm to points all over the world.. This under-utilized airport has all the qualities site-seeking industry might need -- water and sewer, natural gas, electricity, telecom, fire protection and law enforcement.
Total land available at the airport industrial parks is about 1,600 acres -- all within three miles of I-71 and an hour of Cleveland or Columbus. A bonus is the probability of a Foreign Trade Zone, a subzone of the Akron-Canton FTZ.
It didn't take long before such potential caught the eye of industry. One company selecting an airport site was Newman Technology, which supplies Honda with mufflers, tailpipes and trim.
Newman is one of 16 automotive companies in Mansfield. Other big players are Armco, which employs 700 in a continuous casting operation, and GM, which has a 3,200-employee stamping plant in the Village of Ontario.
These automotive parts companies and over a dozen more find an abundant work force in Richland County. Because the jobless rate is higher than in other parts of Ohio, industry can readily fill its employment rolls with skilled workers. An indication of the labor pool is the fact that Richland exports more talent to work in Columbus each day than it keeps in the county. And that talent wins high praise from industry.
"People are the difference between a 'good' company and a 'great' one, " says a Newman Technology executive. "In 1987 our company started operations at Mansfield Lahm Airport with little more than a dozen associates whose strong desire to learn set a foundation for growth. Today, our 390 people are the reason for our success and the vision of our future."
Richland County has many other assets for industry. One is its affordability. Mansfield, for example, ranks among the 15 most affordable housing markets in the country. To put that in perspective, a $150,000 home in Richland County would cost $300,000 in Columbus.
Mansfield just received the 1996 City Livability Award by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Waste Management. The first place award honors mayors for exemplary leadership in developing and implementing programs that improve the quality of life in American cities. Mansfield's award was based on renovation of the downtown.
Just as Mansfield shows new enthusiasm in its industrial progress, it has replaced its defeated look downtown as well. The new Carrousel District is a three-block area of 35 historic and mercantile buildings anchored by a carrousel in the middle of town. The program cleaned out blight and marginal businesses and brought the lovely old Victorian buildings back to life.
"People come downtown now who never came before," says Jack Pollock, economic development director in Mansfield's Community Development Dept. "We're even bringing retailers back downtown from the malls. The whole city has turned around, and people are now proud to say they're from Mansfield."
On top of those accolades, Mansfield is about to capture another honor in a new book, Fifty Fabulous Places to Raise Your Family. The author cites the restoration project, the school systems, quality housing and cultural and recreational activities among the reasons she chose Mansfield.
Though it is a mid-sized city, Mansfield has a lot of the qualities usually associated with small towns. "We sell what we don't have: congestion, crime, labor shortage, high cost of living, high taxes," says Pollock. "We do have land and we do have plenty of water, with a pumping capacity approaching 25 million gallons per day. We're big enough to have ancillary support services in the local area. Yet we're small enough that you can get to your job in 10 minutes."
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