North Baltimore, Ohio -
By Justin Michaels - bio | email | Facebook
Posted by Lisa Strawbridge - email
NORTH BALTIMORE, OH (WTOL) - The State of Ohio has been offering incentives to stay, but Continental Structural Plastics officially announced the closure of the plant in North Baltimore, leaving 220 employees out of a job.
The company has been thinking about leaving North Baltimore for at least two years and decided not to take the state incentives. They'll be moving the plant to Huntington, IN.
Most recently, there were environmental concerns. "There was an environmental concern expressed over the last six weeks, but that issue was going to be resolved in my view," said State Representative Randy Gardner.
He says Continental has given no specific reason for leaving. He says their last issue with the state dealt with an Ohio EPA permit fee, a $500,000 fee that was waived to keep the company in the Buckeye State. Continental never re-applied to have the fee waived a second time. "There are other issues that would cause Continental to leave the State of Ohio," Gardner said. "We need to find out what those are because we need to reposition and strengthen Ohio."
Workers will be voting on a severance package Wednesday. All declined an interview for this report.
The state is moving to what they call Phase Two. "Phase Two means, 'Lets keep people employed in North Baltimore. Lets keep the plant operating, whether it's another owner, operator, or management team," said Gardner.
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