Top stories No. 4 & 3: Peloton boots plant plans; voters pass numerous levies
As 2022 comes to a close, The News-Messenger and News Herald are counting down the top stories of the year. Today we look at the No. 4 and No. 3 story based on online readership and staff input.
No. 4: Peloton's puts brakes on big plans for local plant
It was supposed to be a symbol of the economic vitality of Northwest Ohio. It turned out to be a casualty of the global economic downturn.
In August, 2021, Peloton broke ground on a state-of-the-art, 1-million-square-foot factory in Troy Township in Wood County, a short commute for prospective employees in Sandusky and Ottawa counties. The well-known stationary bicycle exercise company planned to invest $400 million on the project and hire 2,200 workers with an annual payroll of $138 million.
But those impressive plans all went up in smoke on Feb. 8, when Peloton announced it was dropping plans to build its first U.S. factory.
Peloton Interactive announced it was "winding down the development of its Peloton Output Park (POP) manufacturing plan," as part of a series of maneuvers designed to prop up the company's finances.
The company said it was going to cut 2,800 jobs, or 20% of its workforce. According to Forbes, Peloton has lost billions of dollars, ditched its CEO and watched 95% of its market capitalization evaporate as of October.
Beth Hannam, Sandusky County's economic development director, said after February's announcement that even though Peloton abandoned plans for a plant in Wood County, its initial selection of the site helped raise awareness of Northwest Ohio.
"Our area is just ripe for development by virtue of our location," she said. "It's unfortunate what happened with Peloton. But it has nothing to do with what's going on in Northwest Ohio."
William Lynch, Peloton's president, told the News-Messenger at the August 2021 groundbreaking ceremony the company was excited about partnering with Ohio, choosing the Buckeye State over other opportunities in Michigan and North Carolina to become the home of the company's first manufacturing site stateside.
Hannam's perspective has proved accurate, as Abbott Laboratories announced Dec. 15 it plans to build a new baby formula powder plant in Bowling Green, which is also in Wood County, at a cost of $536 million. employing 450 workers.
No. 3: Voters go the polls and approve most levies
The Nov. 8 General Election was a good one for most of the school districts in Sandusky and Ottawa counties.
Voters in Sandusky County passed levies for the Clyde-Green Springs Local School District, and Gibsonburg Schools, but rejected Fremont City Schools proposed 1.25% income tax renewal, a source of revenue Superintended Jon Detwiler described as essential. It generated $9 million a year for FCS, which was 19% of the district's budget.
Woodmore Local Schools, which is in both Sandusky and Ottawa counties, saw its 3-mill renewal pass by a comfortable margin.
In Ottawa County, voters in the Benton Carroll Salem School District passed a 3.3-mill emergency levy renewal that raises $1.4 million a year for the district.
In contested races for local office, Republican Russ Zimmerman was reelected Sandusky County commissioner by a 69-31% margin; state Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, won reelection by a 66-34% margin.
Overall, Sandusky County voters passed eight levies and Ottawa County voters approved 12 levies, rejecting two in Put-in-Bay Township, one for police services and the other for parks.
Tomorrow: The countdown of the year's top stories winds up with No. 2 and No. 1.
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Year's top stories No. 4 & 3: Peloton boots plant; voters pass levies
