By BRYAN SCHAAF

Staff Writer

WOOSTER The resurgence of the job climate in Wayne County is no secret to those who live in the area.

But following an award from Site Selection Magazine, the rest of the country now knows about it, too.

The magazine honored the Wayne Economic Development Council as an honorable mention recipient for being one of the Top 20 economic development groups in the country for 2007.

"As we considered the nominations for the top development groups this year, it became clear that the most competitive organizations shared several characteristics," Ron Starner, director of publications and general manager of Site Selection publisher Conway Data, said in a release. "They provide market access to expanding companies, strong logistics support networks, highly qualified and abundant labor pools, competitive business costs and good, old-fashioned ingenuity to get deals done."

Groups were ranked on the basis of overall new jobs, new jobs per 10,000 residents, new investment amounts and new investment per 10,000 residents.

WEDC President Rod Crider said the county saw 37 new projects a year ago, which contributed $146 million in capital investments.

Those investment numbers are up from $105 million in 2005 and $108 million in 2006.

"What we've been able to do is really engage leadership here," Crider said. "I know I say that to the point where people get sick of hearing it, but the level of cooperation in Wayne County is something you don't find in most areas. That's a huge reason for our success. When you have everybody pulling for the same thing, you get better results.

"Also, we have a great product here in Wayne County. I think a lot of that comes from the satisfaction level of existing businesses. A lot of our growth has been from businesses already here deciding to expand rather than look at a new location. That's a great testament to this area."

Of the 37 new projects or expansions in the county, 17 had at least a $1 million investment and 50 new jobs created.

According to a release from the WEDC, the companies that completed or announced investment projects last year included American Augers, Bekaert, Bosch Rexroth, Collier Well Equipment, Johnson Brothers Rubber Co., Morton Salt, the Ohio State University's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, PFI-Orrville, Preferred Airparts, Quality Castings, Santmyer Oil Co., Speed France, Stonecraft, TechniGraphics, J.M. Smucker Co., Walnut Creek Foods and the Westerman Companies.

In addition, those projects in 2007 carried an average annual wage of $32,000, or about $15.40 per hour.

Steve Shapiro, chairman of the WEDC, said cooperation within the community and hard work are a big reason why the county has continued to thrive despite an economic dip.

"Rod Crider does tremendous things in terms of bringing everything together required to bring new industry to the area," Shapiro said. "Things like this don't come because of happenstance. The work of our predecessors at the WEDC, guys like Chris Schmid and Steve Matthew who are both still very active, have been a huge help.

"There's also a bit of luck involved. When you have present companies here that can bring other related businesses to the area, that's helpful. It's hard to say what will happen in the future, but as long as we maintain a climate that's friendly to businesses and can offer them the right incentives, hopefully we'll continue to be successful."

Schmid, past chairman of the WEDC, pointed to Crider's professionalism and regional involvement as a large reason why the county has performed so well economically.

"You have to hire the right people, and Rod is a real professional," Schmid said. "He knows how the game is played. We listen to him. We challenge him, and all together we have a team that creates a lot of good will in the community. There is a lot of willingness in Wayne County to cooperate with the WEDC."

The former LuK USA president, Schmid also noted the growth companies have seen over the past 10 years as a huge reason the county was able to rebound after the loss of 850 manufacturing and 400 administrative Newell Rubbermaid jobs in 2003.

"I left LuK in 1999 and we had 600 employees," Schmid said. "Now they have over 1,000. If a company had come to Wooster and announced they were adding 400 jobs, we'd be tripping all over ourselves. But because it's a company that's been here, we just accept it. Look at companies like TechniGraphics, Seaman Corp. and Wooster Brush nobody ever talks about them because they're always in the background. They're just steady.

"That's what the WEDC is focusing on. Not the big, glamorous jobs, but assisting the companies who are already doing it. The county has really cooperated with us, and that makes for a better business climate."

Schmid served as the interim WEDC president for a spell while Matthew was the chairman, and Matthew said Schmid's service bought the group enough time to find Crider for the position.

"Rod was well known outside of Ohio, and he brought his connections both inside and outside of Ohio here when we hired him," said Matthew, president of Wooster Hydrostatics. "We were in tough shape as an organization at the time, but through the support of the county commissioners, (former WEDC president) Frank Beeson and Darcy Pajak , we were able to put together a plan and find a very capable person to run the organization. If Chris hadn't agreed to be the president, we probably wouldn't have gotten Rod. I'm so excited for Wayne County now.

"Orrville has a fantastic situation going and I'm pleased where we're at. It's quite gratifying given where we came from. We went from the initial shock of losing Rubbermaid to overcoming that with a tremendous team effort. Everybody pulled together to make this happen."

Before this most recent award, it was announced Wayne County was ranked as the No. 1 micropolitan area in the Midwest by Site Selection.

In addition, the county ranked third nationally, trailing only Lexington-Thomasville, N.C., and Statesville-Mooresville, N.C.

Crider said the real benefit of receiving such awards is the exposure it gives the county to the rest of the country.

"We didn't seek these awards, it's all done by a third party," Crider said. "To get that kind of recognition through a magazine gives us added credibility. People are going to look at Wayne County as a result of these awards and see that there must be something good going on there. So many people are expanding and locating there. It's worth taking a look."

Reporter Bryan Schaaf can be reached at 330-287-1645 or bschaaf@the-daily-record.com.