State treasurer tours ElectriPack

After receiving a loan from a state program for small businesses, a Centerville company recently hosted Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel.

ElectriPack Inc., 976 Senate Drive, had taken part in the GrowNOW program, which enables small business owners to receive a 3 percent interest rate reduction on new or existing small business loans for two years with the opportunity of renewal. The program is a partnership between eligible banks and the Ohio Treasury. Small business owners must commit to the creation or retention of at least one full-time job or two part-time jobs in Ohio for every $50,000 borrowed, up to $400,000.

“GrowNOW broadly serves as a catalyst for Ohio’s economic development by supporting the small businesses that drive it,” Mandel said.

ElectriPack, which opened in 2002, is a manufacturing facility, fulfillment warehouse and distribution company. It offers the following services:

• wire harness and test lead manufacturing;
• inventory storage and management;
• order processing;
• kitting;
• assembly;
• packaging;
• direct shipping to customer locations.

“Our fulfillment and distribution services are targeted primarily to manufacturing and distribution companies that need access to a distribution operation without the capital investment required to acquire staff and operate a warehouse facility,” CEO Jeanne Wright said.

Wright said she found out about GrowNOW when she took a seminar administered by the Small Business Administration. “I walked away from that with more information in one day than a year’s worth,” she said.

She applied for the program and was accepted. She used some of the funding to work with Sinclair Community College for a blueprint reading class. She also purchased high-speed automated equipment.

Companies outside the United States often provide the services that ElectriPack does, according to Wright. “We’re not on a level playing field,” she said.

Electripack, which has 37 employees, started as a packager and distributor of electronic components, Wright said. It is now 60 percent manufacturing, she said.

“We’ve lost some other companies in the Miami Valley,” Mandel said. “We’re trying to be aggressive.”

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The Centerville-Washington Township Times
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
From the desk of Doug Skinner