Firm to move to GE warehouse site, bringing 45 jobs, $2.25M in new payroll to Ravenna

Diane Smith, Record-Courier
·2 min read
The former GE Distribution Plant in Ravenna will be Boston Retail Products Inc.. The company expects to create 45 full-time positions, generating $2.25 million in new annual payroll and retaining $1.2 million in existing payroll
The former GE Distribution Plant in Ravenna will be Boston Retail Products Inc.. The company expects to create 45 full-time positions, generating $2.25 million in new annual payroll and retaining $1.2 million in existing payroll

The former GE Distribution Plant in Ravenna will soon become Boston Retail Products, bringing 45 jobs to the Ravenna site.

More: GE Distribution site sold: Development firm Industrial Commercial Properties to purchase GE Ravenna warehouse

The business, based in Medford, Mass. received a 1.232 percent, six-year Job Creation Tax Credit from the Ohio Tax Credit Authority for the project. The business expects to open by fall, said Brad Ehrhart, president of the Portage County Development Board.

Ravenna Mayor Frank Seman said the company will use two-thirds of the 420,500-square-foot building, and will combine the plants from Boston and Youngstown. The company signed a 20-year lease, he said.

"They intend to stay," he said.

Boston expects to create 45 full-time positions, generating $2.25 million in new annual payroll, and retaining $1.2 million in existing payroll as a result of the company’s new project in Ravenna.

The former GE Distribution Plant in Ravenna will be Boston Retail Products Inc.. The company expects to create 45 full-time positions, generating $2.25 million in new annual payroll and retaining $1.2 million in existing payroll
The former GE Distribution Plant in Ravenna will be Boston Retail Products Inc.. The company expects to create 45 full-time positions, generating $2.25 million in new annual payroll and retaining $1.2 million in existing payroll

More: Major investment planned in Ravenna in 2022

Boston Group designs and manufactures custom metal and plastic retail displays, fixtures, and display protection items for retail stores, hospitals, and pharmacies.

Last year, Industrial Commercial Properties of Solon, purchased the site, six months after GE closed the distribution center, which employed about 40 people. The same commercial real estate development company is redeveloping Chapel Hill Mall and the former Geauga Lake property.

The 420,500-square-foot GE Lighting warehouse/distribution building is on 37.5 acres located at 150 Loomis Parkway in Ravenna. The land is on the north side of the city, with close access to state Route 14. It is separate from the GE plant, at 6800 N. Chestnut St., which closed in 2014. That facility was purchased by Ray Harner, who turned the property into the Chestnut Commerce Center.

Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: New business to move to GE warehouse, bring 45 jobs to Ravenna