Past & Present

Earlier this year, the City of Defiance was ranked among Site Selection Magazine’s "Top 100 U.S. Small Towns for Corporate Facilities." This is the seventh consecutive year that the City of Defiance has been ranked on the list. Defiance County is gaining a national reputation due to the amount of economic activity throughout the region. There are numerous projects that have been or are being completed in Defiance County.

In Spring of 2006, Keller Logistics constructed a 130,000 sq. ft. warehouse expansion which further enhances the logistics services Defiance County has to offer. Also in 2006, First Federal Bank started construction on a 58,000 sq. ft. corporate operations center building on Elliott Road adjacent to U.S. Route 24.

Defiance County is the first county in Ohio that hosts two bio-diesel producers. American Ag Fuels, located in the City of Defiance, opened their doors in July of 2005. The company started at a one million gallon per year capacity; they are expanding to seven million GPY capacity this year. PEC Biofuels, Inc., located in the Village of Hicksville, started production in the summer of 2006. The company plans to produce one million gallons per year; with hopes of future expansion. Attracting businesses in the alternative energy marketplace has become a priority for the Defiance County Economic Development office; we are looking forward to future endeavors and investment in alternative forms of energy throughout the county.

In 2005, Johns Manville Corporation chose to invest over $130 million in an expansion project at one of their City of Defiance facilities. The company chose the Defiance location out of over 200 other possible sites throughout the United States. Due to this investment, 85 jobs will be retained at that plant (there are three Johns Manville plants in the City of Defiance).

Standridge Color Corporation, a plastic color-resin manufacturer based in Social Circle, GA invested $4.5 million into a new Defiance facility. The company is the first manufacturer in the plastics industry in Defiance County. It is our goal to encourage more investment in plastics manufacturing throughout the county.

Construction activity has started on U.S. Route 24 that connects Defiance with Toledo, Ohio, and Fort Wayne, Indiana. The highway is in the process of being expanded to a four-lane, 65mph expressway from Toledo to Fort Wayne. This creates the opportunity to attract distribution centers, manufacturers that need interstate access, and individuals who work in large cities but seek small town living. This infrastructure project is expected to create $430 million of investment in Northwest Ohio. We look forward to taking advantage of the opportunities created by this important highway project.