Center to ‘lead way to more sustainable future’

Research and development facility coming to Austintown

AUSTINTOWN -- Xaloy, an Austintown-based company that produces machinery components and equipment for the plastics industry, plans a new $7.4 million research and development center in the township.

The project will be funded, in part, with a research and development grant from the state -- the first of its kind given to a company in the Mahoning Valley.

The facility will help the company "expand production capacity and increase efficiency" for polymer processing with the goal of "creating new technologies and advancing sustainability," according to a news release.

The Innovation Center will have state-of-the-art facilities and equipment for research, product and process development.

It will enable Xaloy to continue to provide solutions to customers to reduce scrap, increase output, and promote the reuse and recycling of polymers and utilization of newly engineered resins and bio polymers, the release states.

Additionally, it will be a hub for developing advanced manufacturing capabilities that reduce energy utilization, material consumption and carbon footprint.

"Xaloy has been a key enabler of technological and engineering advances in the polymer processing industry for over nine decades," Cheryl Sayer, Xaloy's chief technology officer and vice president of engineering, said.

"The industry is undergoing rapid change driven by social awareness, environmental responsibility and government legislation. The Xaloy Innovation Center will allow us to lead the way to a more sustainable future."

Xaloy will receive a $2.2 million JobsOhio R&D Center Grant for the project.

The grant program was created to facilitate new strategic corporate research and development centers in Ohio, with the goal of supporting the development and commercialization of emerging technologies and / or products that align with one or more of JobsOhio's targeted industries.

It is the first R&D Center Grant awarded in the Mahoning Valley.

Company leadership worked with state, regional and local partners, including JobsOhio, the state's private nonprofit economic development corporation; Team NEO, an economic development organization that serves 18 northeast Ohio counties, collaborated with Progressive Pipe Fabricators on the project; and the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber to secure the project.

Guy Coviello, chamber president / CEO, called the investment a "major win" for the region.

"A project of this scope allows cutting-edge technology to be developed in our backyard and ensures that Xaloy's presence in Austintown is firmly planted and competitive for many years to come," he said.

The company's headquarters is on Victoria Road, but it has regional sales offices in more than 30 countries across the world, according to Xaloy's website.