Darke County Economic Development introduces new area plant managers
By Bob Robinson 

GREENVILLE - “It’s been an easy transition,” said Billy Bryant, new plant manager for Florida Production Engineering in New Madison. Bryant said everyone in Darke County is nice and friendly… an easy transition. 

Jim Dura, new plant manager from the FRAM Group, had the same story to tell regarding his transition seven months earlier from Erie, Penn. 

“I love Darke County,” he said. “My wife loves it, loves the people.” 

Darke County Economic Development Director Marc Saluk held a “Meet & Greet” at the Bistro Off Broadway for six new Darke County plant managers on May 21. While only four of the managers were able to attend, they were greeted by more than 100 public officials, members of the P4P (Partnering for Progress) and the general public. 

Whirlpool’s plant manager Ken Hossler has been in Darke County for about a year. He was equally impressed with the community that hosts Darke County’s largest manufacturer. 

“It’s a great community,” he said. “I love the small town ‘can do’ attitude here.” Hossler, a long-time Whirlpool employee, was reassigned from Findlay, Ohio. 

The exception to Darke County’s new arrivals is Greenville’s Continental Carbonic plant manager Rocky Harrison. The former Ansonia Police Department employee is a native of Darke County. 

Unable to attend were Jim McIntosh, manager of PolyOne, formerly Spartech, and Daryl Means, manager of Klockner Pentaplast, both in Greenville. 

According to Saluk, these six manufacturing companies represent 1,700 employees in Darke County. 

“I’ve spent a lot of time with this new group of managers,” he said. “They are good people committed to their companies and employees. They definitely want their companies to have a good working relationship with their communities and all have visions for growth.”

In addition to having an impact on employment in Darke County, the companies are responsible for major economic activity in the county and throughout their range of customers. 

FRAM for instance, according to Dura, supplies over 300,000 oil filters a day. 

“In the last six weeks we have brought back everyone from layoff and have been hiring off the street,” he said. “We recently went from six line shifts to seven.”

FRAM has 304 hourly employees and 28 on salary. 

Whirlpool’s Hossler said the company has just over 1,000 employees and is gearing for additional expansion now that the hand mixers have been brought back from China. He said they will be building about 800,000 hand mixers and about two and half million stand mixers this year. 

“We’re evaluating a couple new products,” he said, adding that he couldn’t provide details at that point. 

“What’s great,” he said, “is that it is coming to Greenville and not going overseas.” 

Harrison has been at Continental Carbonic since August 2011. He noted that while there are no current expansion plans, the company has 55-60 employees and produces 300 tons a day of ice and 350 tons daily of liquid. 

Bryant said that Florida Production Engineering manufactures parts for the automotive industry and is in a “grow” mode with current sales at $25-30 million and 80-100 employees. 

“We’re working with new technology to be more competitive,” he said. 

Saluk said that he is delighted to have these individuals leading the production capabilities of some of the county’s manufacturing facilities. 

“We’re extremely fortunate to have this group here,” he said.