Medina County residents tour local manufacturing plants

MEDINA — Medina County residents toured local manufacturing plants to see how products like candles, turnout gear and steel products are made on Friday. Jake Altman from the Medina County Economic Development Corporation said the main purpose of the Made in Medina County plant tours is to show the public what products are being made right here in Medina County. "Often, we drive by these brick buildings or these gray sheet metal buildings, and we don't know what's going on right inside," he said. "There's so many cool products being made here, and so many innovative things that are going on right here in our community." The tours allow participants to see firsthand how products are manufactured and what modern manufacturing looks like, Altman said. It makes people aware of what kinds of jobs are available within Medina County. "People have an idea in their mind of what manufacturing looks like," he said. "We want to show folks that it doesn't necessarily look like what you think it does. It's a very modern industry where there's computers and robots and all kinds of things, but it still takes people to do the work to keep making these things." The following companies gave tours of their facility this year: Automation Tool & Die Boehm Pressed Steel Clampco Fire-Dex Fuserashi International Technology J&O Plastics Mack Industries Northlake Steel Ravago RICO Root Candles Three-D Metals TWB Welser Profile "Here in Medina County, there's such a great diversity of what's being made here," Altman said. "We want people to know that the products they use in their house, the pieces of their car or even the candles they see in church are made right here." The public participation during the tours shows the collaborative nature of the county, he said. "A lot of people that come to these tours are not Medina County Economic Development members," Altman said. "They're not manufacturers themselves, and they don't have some business interest in what's going on here. We have people from the community who are genuinely curious about what's being made here." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.