City of Medina Scores Another Manufacturing Win

Barbara J Dzur.
City of Medina.

In January 2016, shortly after it was announced that Valspar would be purchased by Sherwin Williams, Valspar revealed that it would close its operation in Medina as part of the purchase agreement.  This closing put nearly 100 employees out of work on April 30, 2016.

The Valspar facility, a 270,000 SF building with rail access at 1000 Lake Road in the Medina Industrial Park, was the original Plasti-Kote, a maker of aerosol paints for industrial and home use that had opened in the early 60’s.  This operation had been under the Valspar name since its purchase in 1998.  In addition to being one of the larger plants in the industrial park, it was also one of the companies helping to support the City of Medina Rail Consortium, served by the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad.  For safety reasons, Valspar brought the majority of its chemicals to Medina by rail rather than by truck.  The closing of this highly specialized plant made a huge impact felt on many levels.

In early May 2016, the building was put on the commercial market by Binswanger, and remained an active listing until almost a year later.  Timothy Breckner of Colliers International’s Cleveland office brought an interested party to tour the building in April 2017.  The potential buyer found that the building met its needs and the negotiations began with a meeting of all the stakeholders.

City of Medina Economic Development Economic Development Director Kimberly Marshall pulled together a team of over 30 people to meet with the prospect on May 23, 2017.  The team included Mayor Hanwell, city department heads, safety services, utilities company representatives, the railroad, Team NEO, and Medina County Port Authority, to name a few.  This large group was able to answer the prospective buyer’s questions, and have preliminary discussion of potential tax incentives.

By February 2018, Spray Products Corporation out of Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania completed its purchase of the Medina plant and commenced upgrades to the building and site, with a goal to open in mid-May.  Spray Products Corporation specializes in private label and custom contract aerosol packaging for companies of all sizes. They assist with all phases of product development, including research and development, regulatory support, packaging, and distribution. In an article by “Medina Gazette” reporter, Robert Finnan, the finalization of the purchase, and the terms of the tax incentives where published.

The company is now open and hiring workers on a weekly basis. It has been a “win-win” situation for Medina – a large highly specialized manufacturing building that could have sat empty for years has a new owner, the City Rail Consortium and W&LE Railroad are back to their original number of operating members, and the city has added a company with excellent growth potential that offers good paying job.