Cooper, Nieman earn Ec. Devel. awards

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Cooper Farms Cooked Meats was selected as the “Enterprise of the Year” while retired business executive — and tireless development volunteer — Bernie Nieman was chosen “Volunteer of the Year” during Wednesday evening’s Van Wert County Economic Development Annual Dinner.

Cooper Farms, which recently added 50,000 square feet to its Van Wert Cooked Meats facility and plans to add 150 jobs as well, has become a major area employer. The local plant, first opened in 1991, was nearly destroyed 11 years later when an F-4 tornado rampaged through Van Wert County on November 10, 2002. The company made a commitment, however, to rebuild in the aftermath of the storm and has been expanding ever since.

Nieman, a retired executive for Federal-Mogul Corporation, has been very involved in a number of development activities in Van Wert, including the Community Improvement Corporation and Industrial Improvement Corporation, and also has provided numerous volunteer hours to Van Wert County Hospital, Elks Lodge 1197, the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio, Habitat for Humanity and St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church.

Calling himself an “adoptive native” of Van Wert, Nieman, who said he was surprised at the honor — especially when it came immediately after he handed out the “Business of the Year” award to Cooper Farms — was born in an Illinois town similar to Van Wert and said he appreciated the moxie of local residents.

“The people of Van Wert know how to get things done,” Nieman noted. “I’m just here to help them try to do that…”

Van Wert Economic Development Director Nancy Bowen also reported on development activities in the county, with much of that emphasis on jobs being created by local employers and the progress being made to get utilities and rail to the 1,600-acre Jobs Ready Site to make it ready for a large industrial plant.

The speakers for the evening then got a bit windy. Actually, wind was the topic of both speakers: Dan Litchfield, business developer for Iberdrola Renewables, and Sarah Distelrath, project manager for Horizon Wind Energy.

Both Litchfield and Distelrath spoke of the benefits their companies are bringing to the area, with Litchfield stressing the nearly $5 million his company will spend locally in land lease and property tax payments.

Distelrath said the 55 turbines in the first phase of her company’s local wind farm project should be online by July 1. Horizon has signed a contract with AEP for the energy produced by those turbines.

Iberdrola, which has three wind farm phases planned for Van Wert and Paulding counties, is working on the first phase the Blue Creek Wind Farm, which will include 152 wind turbines when completed this year, also plans to install 100 turbines in Paulding County as part of the Prairie Creek Wind Farm and also plans to add another 150 wind turbines in southeastern Van Wert County as part of the Dog Creek Wind Farm.

Litchfield said about a third of the power to be generated by the Blue Creek project has been sold, but the company plans to sell the remaining power on the open market.

Horizon also plans to add 25 more turbines in Van Wert County, Distelrath noted.

Van Wert Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming, who chairs the Van Wert County Economic Development Advisory Group, also passed the gavel over to the next chair: Delphos Safety-Service Director Greg Berquist.