Coshocton County: From 'Big Ditch' to Distribution Center

In pioneer days, Coshocton County, in east Central Ohio, was a central stopping point along the "Big Ditch," a 300-mile long canal connecting the Ohio River with the Great Lakes. Thus, the stage was set for the county of 35,000 to catch the eye of shippers.

Today, the canal is a tourist attraction, one of many that support a large visitor industry in the county. It gave way as the main distribution mode when the county began to receive service from the Pennsylvania Railroad in the 1800s. On the main line from New York to St, Louis, Coshocton once saw 87 trains a day go through.

Coshocton's economy today is based in industry and agribusiness, with a good seasoning of tourism.

Major employers include General Electric's 600,000-sq. ft. Electromaterials plant, providing industrial laminates for printed circuit boards. Armco's Coshocton Stainless plant produces stainless steel for trim, utensils and hardware with 500 employees. Stone Container's corrugated paper mill and three calendar companies are also among Coshocton's biggest employers.

Coshocton is on U.S. 36, 17 miles west of I-77. U.S. 36 is on the schedule for four-laning this year to the interstate, thus greatly improving the distribution potential of the county.

	Coshocton is also the headquarters of the Ohio Central Railroad, an up-and-coming short line that is playing a major role in the intermodal and general freight shipping needs of a 13-county East Ohio region. With a 160-mile main east-west line from Columbus to near the West Virginia border, the Ohio Central connects with Conrail, CSX and Norfolk Southern.
Shipping Coshocton style 150 years ago: Horse-drawn barges on the Ohio & Erie Canal.

Coshocton has a number of home-grown success stories -- companies that started with little and now make a big impact in their fields. Each has a distinct presence in distribution.

Ansell Edmont, a division of Pacific Dunlop and the world's largest producer of synthetic industrial gloves, was born in Coshocton. It now has manufacturing facilities all over the world and does all of its distribution from Coshocton. The multinational began in the basement of the owner, where he dipped the gloves, then vulcanized them in his kitchen oven.

Another home-bred is Pretty Products, now a division of Lancaster Colony. The world's largest manufacturer and supplier of automotive floor mats, Pretty Products distributes to OEMs and to retail outlets across the country from its 240,000-sq. ft. Coshocton distribution center. The company employs 800 at its manufacturing and distribution facilities in the county.

In the trucking industry, Coshocton produced Trans-Service, a nationwide freight carrier with a fleet of 100 trucks. Primarily a flat bed carrier, the company hauls such locally-made products as cast iron water pipe for Clow and steel for Armco.

Part of the credit for the carrier's success, says its president and CEO Bill Waters, is Coshocton's pool of farm-oriented labor. "The best advantage of this area," says Waters, "is our ability to hire people with a good work ethic. Rural Ohio produces a dedicated worker."
	Distribution today means satellite communications to insure on-time delivery.

Coshocton offers sites on the rail line. One site has a 52,000-sq. ft. spec building on 6.5 acres to allow plenty of room for expansion. The spec was built with versatility in mind -- it has 22-ft. eaves and is fully finished, with a steel-reinforced concrete floor, heating and sprinkler systems. Jobs Plus, Coshocton's economic development unit, is willing to put in rail siding at the site and spurs to other sites in the county.