On the heels of the adoption of Ironton’s 2000 annual operating budget –  a budget that reflects more than $150,000 in revenue losses and cutbacks in every department, including the layoff of three police officers –  hope returned to the city in the form of a major job announcement Monday.

Tuesday, March 28, 2000

On the heels of the adoption of Ironton’s 2000 annual operating budget –  a budget that reflects more than $150,000 in revenue losses and cutbacks in every department, including the layoff of three police officers –  hope returned to the city in the form of a major job announcement Monday.

State tax incentives paved the way for Gov. Bob Taft’s announcement that Leibert Corp. is coming to Ironton. The corporation, a computer technologies company, will set up shop in the former Cabletron Systems Inc. building as part of a $4 million project that will bring an estimated 150 jobs within six months and an additional 50 jobs over the next three years, according to Taft’s office of communications.

"Liebert’s decision to locate its operation in Ironton is indicative of the quality of the business climate and the work force in Lawrence County," Taft said in a press release. "Liebert’s investment in Ironton is a result of the local community’s dedicated efforts and the state’s ability to assist with those efforts, to market and cultivate a business opportunity and create jobs."

Earlier this month, Taft spoke of the imminent arrival of a business to fill the Cabletron building, which left about 300 people unemployed when the company decided to out source its manufacturing work.

The job loss took its toll on the city budget, Mayor Bob Cleary said.

"The city has been struggling with our budget and trying to put numbers in place based on our best estimate of what the city revenues will be for next year, as well as the remainder of this year," he said. "This announcement will certainly change some of the budget ideas and we’ll be looking at the funding issues that are coming in."

This bit of good news is a preview of things to come, Cleary said.

"This is the big announcement that everyone has been waiting on for months," Cleary said. "We’re very excited to announce that Leibert is officially moving to Ironton and are of the mind that this is the first of many such announcements that will happen for the city."

These jobs will begin to fill the void left by the departure of not only Cabletron Systems Inc., but also by the relocation of Ashland Inc.’s headquarters to Covington, Ky., and closures at Intermet-Ironton Iron and Honeywell Specialty Chemicals as well, Cleary said.

"This is really exciting news to Ironton," Cleary said. "These 150 jobs are needed in the worse way. It looks like a lot of the prayers have been answered and that the residents of our community are going to be able to stay here in Ironton and work here in Ironton. We couldn’t have received better news."

Although made wary by the unfulfilled agreement with Cabletron, which had promised expansion and longevity in the city, Cleary said this corporation is of the caliber that it will be able to make good on expansion plans.

"These are good quality jobs that are coming in, and, the way I understand it, they will have benefits and be long-term jobs," Cleary said. "It’s been a long wait, but this corporation has the strength to keep them here for a long time to come."

In fact, when Liebert representatives were touring the building grounds, they already had expansion in mind, Cleary added.

"This group had looked at the property before determining they will locate here, and even at that time, they looked at the overall picture for all of the potential involved," Cleary said. "They looked at the surrounding properties with expansion possibilities in mind and were very excited about the property."

Announcements such as this one take a lot of dedication and determination from the community as a whole and from the groups focused upon economic development in the city and county, he added.

"It’s taken a lot of hard work from the Lawrence Economic Development Group, from the T.J. Justice, director of the governor’s Region 7 economic development office and his staff, as well as the many staff members the governor has had working for us here," Cleary said. "All of these people deserve a real round of thanks from the entire community."

Efforts at economic development will not stop with one announcement, either, Justice assured the community.

"I think this is great news for Ironton and I am very pleased that we’ve been able to bring some good news to the community in a relatively short period of time," Justice said. "I hope this will trigger more positive economic development opportunities in the future."

Future efforts will still focus on the plans laid out by the state and the community economic development resources, Justice added.

"The emphasis right now is on the market research that has commenced," he said. "That effort will continue and we will still be looking into doing some aggressive marketing for Ironton and Lawrence County. I think an announcement like this gives us some momentum in that direction."