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Leadership Highland Explores Local Manufacturing

Brooke Beam, PhD

Ohio State University Extension, Highland County

Agriculture and Natural Resources/Community Development Extension Educator

March 2, 2020

 

Leadership Highland explored local manufacturing by visiting several area businesses on February 26, 2020. The tour explored businesses in both Hillsboro and Greenfield.

David Higgins, of Higgins Steel Roofing, provided a guided tour of the warehouses at the business. Higgins demonstrated several metal presses that custom form orders for customers. Participants learned that currently the most popular color being used in metal construction is black and that Higgins Steel Roofing custom makes orders daily for customers.

Leadership Highland participants touring Higgins Steel Roofing.

Next, participants met with Todd Wilkin, city manager for the Village of Greenfield. Wilkin led the group on a tour of the Greenfield Industrial Park, local historical sites, and planned improvements to one of the parks. The Greenfield Industrial Park is one of two industrial parks in Highland County.

Leadership Highland meeting with Todd Wilkin, city manager for the Village of Greenfield.

While in Greenfield, Leadership Highland toured Greenfield Exempted Village School District’s McClain High School with Jason Potts, McClain High School Principal. Built by Edward McClain, the high school features a large collection of murals, artwork, and history.

Jason Potts, principal of McClain High School, provided a tour of the building. In this image, participants are in the library.

The final stop of the day was a tour of Weastec. Leadership Highland learned about the daily operations of the facility, where automotive parts are tested before being sent to vehicle manufactures.  Jim Tomko provided a presentation about the global presence Toyodenso Company, Weastec’s parent company. Toyodenso has facilities in the United States, Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Germany.

For more information about Leadership Highland, or other OSU Extension programs, contact the OSU Extension office in Hillsboro at 937-393-1918.

Parker House Hotel Virtual Tour

Demolition of the Parker House Hotel at 10:30 am on February 28, 2020, in downtown Hillsboro.

If you didn’t get at chance to see inside the Parker House Hotel before its demolition this week, check out the virtual tour that was filmed during Leadership Highland’s tour of the building in September of 2018. Also worth watching is McClain High School Students’ video that also tells the history of the building, see both films below.