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Kasich in Findlay

It's the tale of two companies unfolding in Hancock County.

As one company expands, other's fear another may be moving out. Governor John Kasich was in Findlay on Friday to weigh in on both. As the lockout continues at Cooper Tire and Rubber, the governor was questioned on his thoughts about the situation. Kasich said he only sees one way for the lockout to end successfully, and that's if union workers and the company are able to discuss their differences and come to an agreement.

 Although this was a hot topic of the day, this was not what brought the governor to Findlay. The flip side to the threat of a company leaving, is a company expanding it's operation.

Hamlet Protein is a company that's been in existence for nearly twenty years. Friday they extended their operations to the state of Ohio. Five different states including Indiana and Iowa were pending sites before the Denmark company known as Hamlet Protein, settled their plant in Findlay, Ohio.

The Danish company is a manufacturer of soybean based protein for animal feeds. According to the chairman of Hamlet Protein's board of directors Ole` Anderson, Findlay was chosen because of the high level of protein in its soy beans. Aside from the rich level of protein in the soy beans found in the area, the company was able to purchase an existing facility rather than building a new location from the ground up to hold it's operations, making the 88,000 square feet facility a practical move. The first line is a project that employees twenty five people.

Anderson says they will decide sometime in March whether or not to add on a second line.

Governor Kasich welcomed the Danish company to the Buckeye state. Ever since taking office,, he has been working hard to bring new companies to Ohio, just like Hamlet Protein.

Findlay also offers a customer ready base for the feed.

The new plant hopes to do mass exporting of it's product to Asian markets.