The complex that once housed T&W Forge in Alliance is being demolished. Some of the buildings date to 1910, according to county records.
ALLIANCE The former T&W Forge building is headed for the scrapyard.
Demolition of the complex, now owned by Jim Wallace Land Co. based in Sagamore Hills, started in January. Wallace bought the property in November. His company specializes in demolishing older factories and recycling material from the structures.
Wallace said steel and other metals in the building, as well as the bricks, will be recycled. Once the building is cleared, the land will be offered for sale. The property in the 900 block of W. Ely Street is 11.85 acres, according to county records. Across from the demolition site on the north side of W. Ely Street, Wallace owns another 3.5 acres of former T&W Forge property that already is vacant.
Cleveland-based SIFCO Industries closed the facility in 2017. The company, which bought T&W Forge in December 2010, cited the loss of a key customer in 2015 as the reason for closing. Production moved to a facility in the Cleveland area. The decision meant the loss of nearly 40 jobs.
The T&W Forge complex is separate from its next door neighbor T&W Stamping, which is part of Durrel Partners, an investment firm in Twinsburg.
The T&W operations once were part of Transue & Williams, a company that formed in the 1890s to forge steel parts. Parts of the T&W Forge complex are more than 100 years old.
Acquisition
The Karcher Group has acquired Pole Position Marketing, a digital marketing agency based in Lake Township.
The deal was announced in late January, and Karcher Group said the combination will expand its digital marketing business and strengthen its search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising and content marketing.
Pole Position Marketing’s owner, Stoney deGeyter, has joined Karcher as a vice president for search and advertising, while three of the company’s employees moved to Karcher.
Geoff Karcher, president of The Karcher Group, said adding Pole Position complements the company’s offerings and adds to its ability to serve clients.
New ownership
RE/MAX Crossroads now is owned by Linda and David LeFleur. Agency founded Dennis and Lary Lou Steed transferred ownership to the LeFleurs.
Last year, Linda LeFleur, who has worked as a licensed real estate agent since 2001, partnered with RE/MAX Crossroads as a broker. She now will serve as majority owner and broker.
RE/MAX Crossroads formed in 1993. The Canton-based agency has seven offices in Northeast Ohio, with an eighth to open soon in Avon. The firm has 160 licensed real estate agents. The firm said that in 2017 it ranked first in Ohio for closed transactions per sales associate.
Oman company adds Diebold Nixdorf units
Sohar International, a service company that operates in the banking sector and is based in Oman, has purchased a mix of automated teller machines and cash recycling technology from Diebold Nixdorf. The equipment has the newest Microsoft 10 operating system.
Using the equipment, Sohar can improve and modernize the way consumers engage with the bank. Mujahid Al Zadjal, deputy general manager of information technology and alternate channels for Sohar, said Diebold Nixdorf is helping the bank redefine its business while building upon its existing digital infrastructure.
The deal with Sohar is the use of Windows 10 in ATMs installed in the Middle East, Diebold Nixdorf said in the press release announcing the agreement.
Rotary revival in Lake
Several businesses in Lake Township are reorganizing a new Rotary Club in Lake Township to cover Hartville and the Uniontown and Greentown communities.
Organizers said they envision a new Rotary Club to fill service gaps in the community, while working along with other civic groups such as the Lions Club, Love Our Community, Lake FISH, and the parent teacher organizations at local schools.
The group, which includes members from Consumers Bank, Hartville Kitchen and Collectibles, Gentlebrook and local schools, wants to begin meeting weekly for lunch at the Front Porch Cafe, 932 W. Maple St. in Hartville.
“We want to rebuild Rotary here. We have such a solid foundation. The Rotary mission of ‘service above self’ is what this community is all about,” said Annette Mignano, Consumer Bank sales and service manager.
Helping hands
Charities are benefiting from assistance offered by Wayne Homes and Dominion Energy.
The “Not-So-Random-Acts of Kindness” program at Wayne Homes will lead to 14 national and local charities sharing more than $12,000. For every house sold from Nov. 26 through the end of December, Wayne Homes donated $150 to the charity of the buyer’s choice.
A number of local charities and foundations received assistance, along with St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, the American Cancer Society and the Wounded Warrior Project. Over the past 11 years Wayne Homes has donated more than $70,000 to charities.
Dominion Energy, parent company to Dominion Energy Ohio, will present $5,000 to the Stark County Hunger Task Force. The grant is part of $155,000 awarded statewide and $1.6 million overall that was presented to more than 299 charities in 12 states.
Vehicle sales start strong
Sales of new vehicles started strong in January, rising more than 5 percent compared with last year, according to figures collected by the Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers Association.
Dealers in the 21-county region — including Stark, Tuscarawas and Carroll — sold 21,299 new vehicles last month, compared with 20,280 sold in January 2018.
“While the numbers are encouraging, you have to remember that we are going up against a weak January last year,” said Louis A. Vitantonio, president of the GCADA. “The best news is that the numbers are comparable to January of 2017, which started off a very strong year in terms of overall sales.”
Reach Edd at 330-580-8484 or edd.pritchard@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @epritchardREP