ADA, OH (WLIO) - The Wilson Football Factory has been part of Ada since 1955, and now with a new factory, they have reaffirmed their commitment to the community and Ohio for years to come. Pearl Lewandowski has the story.
“Look, Ohio and football are iconic partners. The first professional football game was played in Dayton, Ohio. We are the home of the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. We have resilience, grit, the toughness that football has; that's the toughness that the people of Ohio have, and of course, we should be partners for the future,” says Lt. Gov. Jon Husted.
Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted was on hand to help the community celebrate the new Wilson Factory in Ada. The facility has been running for around a month now and, so far, has helped Wilson increase football production by around 20%. One of the reasons that Wilson decided to keep the factory in Hardin County is because of the Ada community and its workforce.
“To see that craftsmanship, passion, and the pride that we have. You look out here; everyone has their fingers taped up, right? They have gloves on. They are having their own football game every day. They come in the morning, tape up, go to work, untape, go home. We grab them from Findlay, Kenton, Lima, Alger, USV—right all of these small, even Ada, of course. But that's what we love about it, we love that small town; I know everybody’s name, I know their kids, what sports they are in. That’s what we like about the whole thing,” says Andy Wentling, plant manager.
The $15 million Wilson investment is just one of many multi-million and even billion-dollar commitments various companies have made in the Buckeye State. Husted says the world's economy runs through Ohio.
“You can’t run a national economy without the things that we make here, and we are seeing billions of new investment. It’s not just football facilities; but it’s also computer chips; it’s also our pharmaceuticals; and it’s the data centers that power all of our devices. People ask, why does a data center matter? Well, if you shop online, if you have social media, if you do search engine queries, if you use artificial intelligence, all of those things float through data centers,” adds Husted.
The new factory has already become a destination spot for football enthusiasts.
“We just had some folks from Madison, Wisconsin, here. They made it part of their vacation to come here, get a tour, buy something, and on their way. So, it’s going to be great going forward,” adds Wentling.
From the factory to the sidelines, you can see the Ada pride in each football that they make.
