Record Pub...
Kasich helps open Kent firm
by Thomas Gallick
November 23, 2011 

Ohio Gov. John Kasich stopped in Kent Tuesday with a message of hope for those seeking a Rust Belt revival. 

“People thought manufacturing was dead,” Kasich said. “Well, they’re dead wrong.” 

Kasich visited Kent to celebrate the opening of MAC LTT, just one stop on his recent tour of sites in the state where new jobs have been created. In the past week, the governor has traveled from Toledo to Cincinnati announcing nearly 2,000 new jobs coming to the state, including 1,100 at the Toledo Jeep plant. 

MAC LTT, which produces liquid tank trailers, has created more than 60 jobs so far in Kent, with around 200 additional jobs expected next year.

Kasich said he believes the firm will be especially successful when fracking, the practice of using a mixture of water and chemicals to drill through hard rock and release natural gas, becomes more popular in the state. He said MAC LTT’s tanks could be used to transport the fracking fluid. 

Kasich said his administration does serious research into the viability of new projects before giving businesses loans and grants for new operations or expansions. 

“The incentives that we provide companies have to yield a return so that we’re not losing money and giving money away,” Kasich said. “This company, when you take into account ... all the taxes the state will get from the new jobs, it is a return on our investment in year one.” 

Michael A. Conny, CEO of the Alliance-based MAC Trailer, MAC LTT’s parent company, said the grand opening of the new division was a “dream come true.” 

Conny said the dream of expanding was almost dashed due to the economic downturn and poor lending conditions of recent years. He said MAC LTT would not exist in Kent without the state’s help.  

“The state of Ohio has absolutely put us in the driver’s seat in this building,” Conny said. “The state has definitely helped us create jobs here, and we’re going to do our part and have 250 jobs here before you know it.” 

In September, the state Controlling Board OK’d around $6 million in financing and grant funding to MAC LTT to help with the process of expansion. 

By early October, the first tank trailer came off of the MAC LTT assembly line, located at former home of Fontaine Trailer at 1400 Fairchild Ave. The company has a goal of producing 400 tank trailers per year. 

Dan Smith, Kent’s economic development director, said MAC LTT is the biggest new employer to come to Kent since Land O’Lakes arrived in 1983. 

See the video, read the story and others at Record Pub