Dover and ProVia officials share excitement over expansion news
DOVER – Schaeffler is out and ProVia is in as the major manufacturer on the city’s north side.
The Germany-based Schaeffler Group had hoped to open a 300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility for electric vehicle components in Dover this year. However, late in the construction process, company officials confirmed those plans were changing due to a shift in the EV market.
ProVia Executive Director of Corporate Engagement Joe Klink says the Tuscarawas County Economic Development Corporation made the Sugarcreek-based company aware of a potential opportunity involving the Schaeffler property several months ago.
“Our business is growing at a very strong pace, and we have been looking for new facilities, new land opportunities. [We were] just realizing that at our existing Strasburg facility where we manufacture vinyl windows, we would be reaching capacity limits at some point in the near future… So, when this opportunity came up, it was a real godsend.”
ProVia has expanded rapidly in the last decade to more than 3,000 employees with the pending addition of 400 jobs in Dover and another 400 in North Carolina just announced this week.
“We attribute our growth first and foremost to the blessings of God,” Klink said. “There are just some things that we can’t explain beyond the hand of God working in it. From a human standpoint, just providing customers with quality products and high level service has served us very well.
“As our president and CEO Brian Miller often shares, growth is not our intent. That’s not necessarily our vision. We are focused on excellence in providing excellent service, excellent quality product, and sometimes when that happens, growth is the outcome.”
Klink says most of the new jobs created in Dover will be manufacturing positions. They will not impact employees at other locations, although Klink says some small shifts from the Strasburg facility will work at the Dover location to help get it up and running by early next year.
Klink says the 97-acre property in Dover could allow for the building to expand to three times the current size.
“That’s not going to be our initial goal. Our initial goal is to get into the facility up and running by early next year – 2027.
“The structure is up. It just probably needs a little bit of renovation to suit our needs as opposed to what Schaeffler built it for. Then [we’ll] get manufacturing equipment in there and get it up and running, and then as our capacity needs increase, we have the opportunity to add to that building.”
ProVia also announced it is buying 70 acres in Mocksville, North Carolina, where the company plans to construct a 580,000-square-foot facility to manufacture windows for the southeastern U.S. market. The company also has locations in Mississippi and Tuscarawas, Holmes and Wayne counties in Ohio.
MAYOR: EXCITEMENT OVER PROVIA OUTWEIGHS DISAPPOINTMENT ABOUT SCHAEFFLER
Dover Mayor Shane Gunnoe says the city will not lose anything with the transfer of the manufacturing facility from the Schaeffler Group to the ProVia company.
“In terms of payroll, it is the same actual annual payroll as what Schaeffler had pledged to bring. So Dover’s not out anything, and in some ways, I think we’re actually further ahead.”
Gunnoe says there is some disappointment with Schaeffler not being able to establish itself in Tuscarawas County.
“Certainly, we were excited for Schaeffler, and we are saddened that they weren’t able to call Dover home. But in a lot of ways, we’re maybe even more excited about the possibilities that ProVia has for the future in Dover.
“They’ve already identified the opportunity in the future to triple the size of that building, and that would bring even more jobs. I think long term, we’re just incredibly excited to partner with ProVia. Sure, we’re disappointed Schaeffler wasn’t able to called Dover home, but I think, over the course of the next 5 or 10 years, this is going to be something that’s even better for the city and Tuscarawas County.”
The city, with assistance from state grant programs, has been adding roads, utilities, sewers and other infrastructure to accommodate the 310,000-square-foot plant on 97 acres on the north Dover border. Gunnoe says all the tax agreements and promised returns carry on with the new owner.
“All of the local incentives are tied to the land and not to the company. As part of the transaction, ProVia will inherit all of the responsibility for the TIFF agreement. I could say with near certainty if we had not made those investments over the last two years, I don’t think ProVia would be calling Dover home.”