SIDNEY, Ohio — In March, Ross management announced the 90-year-old facility would close its doors and laid off dozens of employees, many of whom had been there for decades.
“Is it going to happen? Are we going to pull through? It could have fell apart. I’m glad it didn’t,” said Emerson Smith, a long-time Ross Aluminum employee, on the uncertainty of the future of his job.
Smith has taken a familiar path to work at Ross Aluminum for the last 43 years.
He’s the plant scheduler and is in charge of work orders for aluminum castings in the aerospace, performance racing, diesel engine, and power generation industry.
“We like what we do. We know where it goes, what it does. It’s interesting, especially when you get new projects,” Smith said.
It was not business as usual at the plant earlier this year, when Ross management announced the facility would close and laid off dozens of employees.
It wasn’t until new ownership, P&THE Manufacturing stepped up in April, welcomed back 95% of the laid-off workers, and promised millions of dollars of investment in the facility and its workforce.
That, with a $900,000 revitalization grant from JobsOhio.
“When you have several people that already had other employment and chose to come back when we called them. So that says a little bit more about they like it here, they know what they’re doing. They enjoy it,” Smith said.
“As far as being able to produce high quality, complex castings on the floor, you’ll find something very special,” said Pancho Hall, CEO & chairperson of P&THE Manufacturing, and Ross Aluminum head.
Hall shares in that enthusiasm and said Ross is now stepping up its marketing efforts to gain new clients.
Hall said Ross is working with state agencies to establish apprenticeship programs and on-the-job training.
“The expectation is that we do most of our hiring from within this 40 miles radius to where we are,” Hall said. “There is a commitment from the state to grow manufacturing in rural territory. Feel very fortunate to be at this point being embraced by it, and feel obligated to make sure that we do our part.”
While Smith acknowledges some challenges lie ahead for finding skilled employees to fill new jobs, he and his co-workers remain optimistic about Ross’ future.
“I feel good about it, cause I know where we were in the past and I know we can get back there again,” Smith said.
Overall, new ownership will invest $5.4 million in Ross Aluminum’s facility. Over the next two years, they plan on hiring 175 employees.
