DAYTON, Ohio — A new manufacturer is coming to Ohio. The big announcement is bringing nearly 100 jobs and a $10 million investment. The company shares why they chose the Dayton-area to expand and why they think they’ll have a big at impact here.

United Alloy, a metal fabrication and coating manufacturer out of Wisconsin, announced Monday that it is expanding to the Dayton area later this winter. They said they like the fact that the city is a heavy transportation corridor, is in a tax friendly area and there was a space to move into.

But ultimately, they said the decision came down to the people. 

“We believe that Dayton is home to hard-working, dedicated, roll up your sleeves, go to work, get some stuff done, kind of people. And that’s who we are,” Ben Lodahl, the Vice President of HR for United Alloy, said.

The company’s new location in Union will focus on manufacturing data center fuel tanks and will hire mostly welders, with the promise to hire at least 60 employees right away, but the hope is to hire 100.

“We agreed, and we believe that we’ll absolutely be able to come through on the agreement of hitting a minimum of 60 jobs in the Dayton area,” Lodahl said. “Our goals are past that.”

The $10 million investment has the support of the Dayton Development Coalition, JobsOhio and the City of Union. And while changes in the steel industry are looming, United Alloy has worked to get ahead of large tariffs headed their way.

The manufacturer has gotten ahead of the steel tariffs by purchasing extra in advance. (Courtesy of United Alloy)

“We’ve been able to be ahead of it a little bit,” Lodahl said. “And have gone out and been able to hedge our steel purchasing and we have all of that, available to us.”

Plans to hire are already underway, with job positions already posted on United Alloy’s website. A hiring event will also take place on March 21 specifically for welders.