Muskingum County: A 'Natural' for Distribution

A location on I-70, an hour's drive east of Columbus, makes Muskingum County (pop. 82,000) an obvious choice for distributors. And it has not been overlooked. Among companies shipping to broad markets from Muskingum County are New Bakery, producing hamburger buns for 1,600 Wendy's restaurants in 29 states, and AutoZone, which selected Muskingum County for its largest distribution center after a three-state site search.

Owens-Brockway Glass Container recently completed a 300,000-sq. ft. distribution center, and Longaberger Co., Muskingum County's home-grown billion-dollar-a-year basket-maker, added 900,000 sq. ft. for production and distribution.

In addition to I-70, which bisects Zanesville, Muskingum has service by three railroads. This is an advantage welcomed by such companies as Armco, which makes stainless steel used in auto exhaust systems, and Benco Pet Foods, a unit of Ralston Purina.

The county has a Class I regional airport, with two runways. Here, on 368 acres, the Muskingum County Port Authority is developing an industrial and distribution park just a mile from an I-70 exit.

The availability of the competitively priced sites caught the eye of another homegrown Muskingum County company, 5B's, one of the largest contract embroiderers and apparel makers in the country. 5B's recently chose a 55-acre site in the airport park for a four-phase expansion that will eventually yield facilities amounting to 600,000 sq. ft.

That's quite a rise for a company that began business just 16 years ago in the basement of the owners, Lee and Vicci Biles. The company, which now employs 1,200, intends to be a $2 billion a year business by the year 2008.

Boosting the potential to reach that goal was the company's decision to launch into retailing. In addition to doing contract embroidering for major league sports teams and 800 colleges and universities, the company makes its own line of decorative home products and fleece wear, selling in its 28 BWear stores in Ohio and West Virginia. The number of retail outlets is expected to reach 1,200 by 2008.

5B's puts its Muskingum County work force up against any in the world. In a sort of sewing Olympics, the company's labor force bested the South Koreans by several thousand stitches an hour. The keys to profitable U.S-based sewing operations, says Vice President of Operations Rob Kaminski, is a strong employee training program, continual reinvestment in equipment and "sheer determination."

"Zanesville is perfectly located for us as we grow," says Vice President of Operations Rob Kaminski. "From here we can open up big new markets -- 65 percent of the U.S. population is within a day's drive. And 17 million people a year travel along I-70. We want to tap into the flow and bring them into our stores."

5B's brings new meaning to the term "just-in-time." Says Kaminski: "We can react very quickly to changes in the marketplace. For example, say we're doing contract embroidery for a national football league team. In the third or fourth quarter, the team is winning by a good margin, and they'll get on the phone and tell us to start making product. We can have the product out the door just as the game is finishing."

Throughout each expansion, 5B's has been assisted by the Muskingum County Port Authority and by a supportive county commission. Low-cost industrial revenue bonds and an Enterprise Zone covering most of Muskinghum County and offering a real and personal property tax abatement program are among the benefits for new and expanding firms.