The Leadership Champaign County program offers participants in-depth, “behind the scenes” looks at local government, education, and healthcare, among other exclusive opportunities. Participants tour farms, factories, and other local facilities while learning from business owners and community leaders about a wide range of topics. Hands-on activities throughout the program sessions encourage group collaboration and leadership development.

The program meets the third Thursday of every month from September - May. Each full-day session features a different topic; topics include Agriculture, History and Heritage, Education, Economic Development, Government, Healthcare, and Quality of Life.

Applications are available on the Chamber’s website at https://www.champaignohio.com/leadership-champaign-county and will be accepted through September 6. Interested parties are encouraged to contact the Chamber with any questions by emailing info@champaignohio.com or calling 937-653-5764.

The Champaign County Commissioners are exploring grant opportunities to improve internet/broadband service. The first step is to collect data to determine the need for improved internet service, and this will be done through a survey. We need your opinion! Please take a moment to complete the survey (at your home), it can be found at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LUCInternet.

Please share this information with others in Champaign County.  Thank you!

“Having worked with the Urbana community for many years, we are confident that Urbana is the ideal place to facilitate expansion. Between its hardworking people and its business-friendly environment, we look forward to continuing our growth in Urbana for years to come.”

Todd Winnenberg, general manager of the three Urbana operations, said, “It’s truly an exciting time to be a part of Sutphen Corporation. This move emphasizes the Sutphen family’s commitment to its employees by staying local and providing a great opportunity for area jobs.”

The Champaign Economic Partnership (CEP), Sutphen leaders, and local, regional and state partners worked together to enable Sutphen to maintain and expand its operations and workforce in Champaign County, CEP Director Marcia Bailey said. Sutphen also considered a site in Pennsylvania and other locations in Ohio.
“I am grateful for everything our partners have done to help make this project come together and allow Sutphen to continue serving our community, now and well into the future, with a tradition of quality manufacturing, rewarding employment opportunities, and strong prospects for continued growth,” Bailey said.
Julie Sullivan, Executive Vice President of Regional Development for the Dayton Development Coalition, said, “We and our partners at JobsOhio welcome Sutphen’s plans to expand their manufacturing operations in Urbana. An Ohio company in its fifth generation of family leadership, the fire apparatus they make here take a piece of this state’s compassionate spirit to first responders across the country, making sure critical life-saving equipment is safely produced in the U.S.”
The new building will be built northeast of the intersection of State Route 55 and Edgewood Avenue, on 55 acres of land that will provide Sutphen ample room for further expansion in the future.

Julie Sutphen Phelps, a fourth-generation family member, vice president of Sutphen Corporation and president of Sutphen’s Hilliard, Ohio, facility, said, “This expansion allows our family-owned business to continue to grow and expand within Urbana and the fire industry as a whole. While we continue to grow, we know that our apparatus quality, our individualized customer experience and our dedication to our mission and values will not falter.”

The new building is being designed to optimize workflow of fire apparatus manufacturing, from start to finish, and will combine the operations of Sutphen’s three current Urbana facilities – the Sutphen Service & Technical Division, 49 N. Ludlow Rd. Urbana; the Sutphen Urbana Chassis Division, 1701 W. County Line Rd., Urbana; and the Sutphen Urbana Pumper Division, 1653 W. County Line Rd., Urbana.

Ground will be broken in August or September and Sutphen officials anticipate moving into the new building in the fall of 2022.

Sutphen to Recruit at July 10 Career Fair

Sutphen Corporation will be at the Champaign County Career Fair, July 10, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., on the former Urbana University campus, to recruit for a wide range of current openings and future opportunities, for material handlers, assemblers, electricians, plumbers, fabricators and more.

The Sutphen booth at the Career Fair also will feature pictures and drawings of the new building and information about the company and employee benefits

Urbana FD Awaiting New Sutphen Pumper Truck

In addition to gaining a new Sutphen manufacturing facility, the local community will soon be served by a new Sutphen heavy duty pumper truck, purchased by the City of Urbana to replace a nearly 20-year-old pumper that the Urbana Fire Department will keep for backup service.

Urbana Fire Chief Dean Ortlieb said, “The quality of the Sutphen truck and the warranty and service agreement that Sutphen offered made it an easy decision. To be honest, no one came close to offering us what they did. And we are pleased to support local.” He said the truck will be delivered in August.

Harry Sutphen, a fifth-generation family member and owner of Heritage Fire Equipment, the Urbana-area Sutphen fire apparatus dealer, said, “My dad, Dan Sutphen, has worked with Urbana-area fire departments since the 1990s. Today, he and I work together throughout the community and are excited to see how Sutphen’s new growth benefits the area.”

About Sutphen Corporation

Sutphen Corporation, founded in 1890, is the nation’s largest and oldest continuously family-owned and operated fire apparatus manufacturer. With headquarters in Dublin, Ohio, the company manufactures the highest-quality, heavy-duty, custom-built emergency response vehicles. In addition to the Urbana facilities, Sutphen also is located in Hilliard, Ohio, and Lake Ariel, Penn.

The fourth generation of the Sutphen family currently leads the company, and fifth-generation family members work in various positions throughout the business.

This project is contingent upon approval of JobsOhio and local economic development incentives, which will be made public after final agreements are executed.

From Urbana Daily Citizen

Clearview Solar, a Champaign County-based subsidiary of Open Road Renewables, is currently working with landowners using lease agreements to utilize acreage for a photovoltaic (“PV”) electric generation facility to be located north of Rosewood in Adams Township.

Clearview Solar’s plan allows for a maximum generation capacity of 144 megawatts of electricity.

According to the company’s website, the approximated fenced area is 1,061 acres. The foundation is to be made from driven pilings, making a concrete foundation unnecessary.

Thousands of interconnected solar modules are to be mounted on racking attached to the steel pilings. The proposed site has a maximum height of 15 feet and an estimated ground coverage ratio of 31%.

Like any other major utility facility in Ohio, Clearview Solar is required to obtain a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need from the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) before construction can begin.

A typical OPSB certification process can take anywhere from 9 to 12 months. After several months of going through the standard application process through OPSB, the solar project is in the final stages of approval.

After meeting with the Champaign County Commissioners at the beginning of June, Vice President of Development at Open Road Renewables Doug Herling agreed to be available for a public meeting after the commissioners expressed concern about lack of community awareness.

However, according to Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jane Napier, the solar project is too far into the process for community members to be successful in any oppositions that may arise.

The commissioners requested that a public meeting would be scheduled in order to spread word of the project.

The public meeting will be Tuesday, June 22 at 9 a.m. in the auditorium of the Champaign County Community Center.

Herling will be there in person to give a presentation. There will be a question-and-answer session where the public will have the opportunity to ask questions concerning the proposed solar project.

Later this summer, Scioto Street is scheduled to be resurfaced under a separate Ohio Department of Transportation project from Locust Street to the US 36/SR 29 split.

The Freeman Avenue Improvements Project involves the replacement of select sidewalks, all drive approaches and all curb and gutter on Freeman Avenue between Miami Street and Union Alley. Curb ramps at intersections will also be updated. Finally, the street will be milled and paved along its entire length. J&J Schlaegel, Inc. is the project contractor, and the concrete flatwork will be completed by their subcontractor, Oglesby Construction, Inc. The paving will be subcontracted to Wagner Paving, Inc.

The total cost of this project is $193,886.50.

The city has successfully obtained Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding, administered through the Champaign County Commissioners, in the amount of $136,000. In addition, the remaining local match funding of $57,886.50 will come from the city’s Capital Improvement Fund and will pay for curb ramp installation and paving. The contractor anticipates that the project will start on Monday, June 14 with all work to be substantially completed on or before Friday, July 30.

During the work on Freeman Avenue, some areas will have on street parking restricted. The contractor will be working on one side of Freeman Avenue at a time. Due to width constraints, the city and contractor have opted to make Freeman Avenue a northbound, one-way street during the project with appropriate signing. This temporary change will reduce vehicular conflict points during ongoing construction.

In addition to the project on Freeman Avenue, a separate project to replace the curb and gutter along Scioto Street between Locust Street and East Lawn Avenue/Patrick Avenue is scheduled to start on Monday, June 14. M&T Excavating LLC is the project contractor, and the concrete flatwork will be completed by their subcontractor, Oglesby Construction, Inc. Completion of this project is anticipated in July. This project is under contract for $250,239.74, and this project is being completed after a resolution of necessity was passed by Urbana City Council to require that property owners replace curb and gutter within this project area. Traffic will be maintained on Scioto Street during the curb and gutter replacement project, but some on street parking will be restricted.

Earlier this spring, the Powell to Bon Air Sanitary Sewer Project was completed. This project commenced in October of 2020 and involved the installation of a new sanitary sewer main between Bon Air Drive and the Champaign County Fairgrounds. This $834,863.05 project came in under the original contract amount with the project being funded through a grant and a no-interest loan obtained through the Ohio Public Works Commission. This project addressed a bottleneck/capacity issue within the city’s sanitary sewer system and extended sanitary sewer service into an unsewered area.

The Phase 2A Water and Sanitary Sewer Replacement Project is anticipated to be completed on or before the original project completion date of June 26. This project commenced in August of 2020 and involved the replacement of the sanitary sewer main from Jefferson Avenue to Bon Air Drive.

In addition, water main replacement was completed on Scioto Street from Jefferson Avenue to Berwick Drive; Crescent Drive between Ames Avenue and Finch Street; Ames Avenue between Scioto Street and Amherst Drive; and Finch Street between Scioto Street and Amherst Drive. This $1.786 million project is being funded by low interest loans obtained from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for the water portion and the Ohio Water Development Authority for the sanitary sewer portion. All utility work on the project is now complete, and the contractor is working to complete restoration and punch list work items.

Later this summer, Scioto Street between Locust Street and the US 36/SR 29 split will be resurfaced under a separate contract through the Ohio Department of Transportation. The resurfacing project for Scioto Street is funded with 80% federal funding through ODOT’s Urban Resurfacing Program and a 20% local match of $123,984.