JACKSON CENTER, OH (WLIO) - During the past couple of years, campers and camping have been a popular way for people to get outside and escape the pandemic. So one U.S. Senator wanted to see firsthand the success and the growth of the Shelby County based Airstream.
Rob Portman joined officials from Airstream, Shelby County, and the National Park Service to get a closer look at the new Airstream manufacturing plant. Portman has been an advocate for the parks, and believes parks and Airstream go hand in hand. Every Airstream trailer is built in Jackson Center, Ohio, and before the senator leaves office he wants to get one more bill passed to help with the continued success of Airstream and other Ohio businesses in the future.
"One of my passions is jobs in Ohio and worker retraining so that we have the workforce for companies like this," says Portman. "We talked about that today. Trying to get one more bill passed called the jobs act which will help even more, to provide Pell grants for training. Like to become a welder, or a machinist, or a coder, or a hospital tech. That's what we really need in Ohio."
And it was that local workforce that was the deciding factor for Airstream to build their new $60 million dollar plant in Jackson Center when they had options on the west coast and in Indiana.
"But I was not at all convinced that we could find or recreate the workforce that we have here in Shelby County," says Bob Wheeler, pres. and CEO of Airstream. "Airstreams are built by hand, and you need people that are dedicated to quality. You need that longevity and commitment to the job. We had that here and I didn't see that we could ever recreate that somewhere else. So, we decided to double down and build our $60 million plant here in Jackson Center and we are off on the races and this will sustain us for the next 70 years."
Portman calls Airstream a classic Ohio success story and he is glad that they picked Jackson Center for their expansion.
