On Tuesday, Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) attended the Behr Paint Company’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for their new manufacturing and distribution facility in Licking County.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning. Welcome all. My name is Phil Marks, COO at Bayer Paint Company. It's my
00:15great pleasure, on behalf of Bayer and Masco, to welcome you to the ribbon-cutting ceremony
00:20of our newest manufacturing and distribution center here in Heath, Ohio. This is a historic
00:34day in our company's history. We're excited to have all of you here with us today to celebrate
00:40this significant milestone. You know, we started our journey on this project and location selection
00:47process about two years ago, and when the leadership team stopped here in Heath, Ohio,
00:54the comment that resonated with me was, now this feels like a bare town. We eventually
01:02selected Heath, Ohio, for our new home, and as they say, the rest is history. We couldn't
01:08be happier with our community, local and state support, and our recently hired Ohio
01:15team. This team, operation, and investment are key to our strategy and committed to providing
01:23superior products and superior services to our customers. This new facility represents
01:30the work of many, and while so many contributions to be acknowledged here, I want to take the
01:38time to acknowledge a few of our major contributors. First, our project leadership team, including
01:45John DeJoy, David Lacey, Lauren Standish, and Kent Wittenauer and others. Thank you.
01:58Our Bayer cross-functional project teams, including team members that not only worked
02:03at this facility, but across the nation, various departments contributed greatly to
02:09this project in so many ways. We're grateful for your hard work and dedication.
02:16Masco Corporate Real Estate and Development, Jeff Horka and his team, Todd Griffin, project
02:23manager, Lindhout Architectural and Engineering, Mike Kennedy and your team, thank you.
02:35BCCG Construction Company, responsible for the site development and the construction
02:42of this building, Mark Tomasik and his team are here with us today. Thank you.
02:54Complete Mechanical Systems, responsible for all the inside equipment, design, and construction,
03:02appreciate everything you've done. Tom Blaha, Nick Mackey, and your team, thank you.
03:12I'd like to acknowledge Rick Platt and the Licking County Port Authority team, and Mayor
03:17Mark Johns, thank you for your support. And a special thanks to our Bayer team members
03:27that have relocated to the great state of Ohio. Welcome.
03:36Again a huge thanks to all that have been involved, just too many to mention. Please
03:41know how much we appreciate all your support and your efforts. During our ceremony, you'll
03:47be hearing from Bayer leadership, our parent company, Masco Corporation, and city and state
03:54dignitaries who we're honored to have in attendance with us today. We'll then proceed
04:00with our tours, and you'll get a chance to see the first gallons of product being manufactured
04:07in our new facility here. And we're hopeful you're going to stick around and have a little
04:11lunch with us too. Now let's continue with the celebration. I'd like to welcome our president
04:17of Bayer Paint Company, Megan Selby.
04:30Thank you, Phil, and good morning everyone. I am thrilled to be here today and to really
04:35give you the opportunity to see this brand new facility. As Phil mentioned, this has
04:41truly been a team effort. I am very grateful to the Bayer team and to our partners who
04:46have made this come to life. I also want to thank our parent company, Masco, for continuing
04:52to invest in Bayer and enabling us to grow. While our mission at Bayer is to make life
04:59more colorful through our most trusted brands and our quality products, it's our passionate
05:04people and their unique perspectives and diverse backgrounds that really make all of this come
05:10to life. From our R&D labs to our sales people in the store, you know, each team member has
05:18a unique role in doing the great work of Bayer, but it is our manufacturing and our distribution
05:24team that are at the center of all of this activity and a huge part of the success of
05:30Bayer. Creating and distributing Bayer's and Kihl's products for our DIY and our professional
05:38painters, ensuring safety of our team, quality and exceptional service is what we do every
05:45day. And this new facility will expand our capabilities to do that in many impactful
05:51ways. This building not only represents increased capacity and our ability to grow, it is also
05:58reflects our commitment to uphold the standards of minimizing risk for our team members. We
06:06have efficient and improved air quality systems to elaborate accident mitigation engineering
06:12and state-of-the-art building that we've produced here. It includes design elements
06:20that protect our team and the community. At full staff, we'll have about 100 people here,
06:28but we also have a lot of land, and our goal is to continue to expand and employ more people
06:34in the great state of Ohio.
06:43As many of you know who are a part of Bayer, we have a very unique culture, something that's
06:48been built for over 75 years, and something where we really strive every day to have our
06:55employees want to be employees at Bayer for life, not only here in Heath, but across all
07:02of our facilities. I'd like to thank the state of Ohio and the city of Heath for welcoming
07:09Bayer. We are proud to be a part of this state, and we are proud to be a part of this community,
07:15and it is our promise to be supportive stewards of this community. I would like to thank everybody
07:22for taking the time to join us today, for traveling here to be able to see our facility
07:27and to enjoy our kickoff. You know, this project would not be complete without the support
07:34and encouragement and guidance of many people that have helped us get to where we are today.
07:41And now it is my true honor to be able to introduce our next speaker, the governor of
07:46the great state of Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine.
07:58Thank you. Megan, thank you very much. We are very, very happy to have Bayer in the state of Ohio,
08:07and glad to hear about the plans to continue to grow. For those of you who came in who are not
08:15from Ohio, part of the Bayer team, we think you're going to love Ohio. We think you're going to love
08:21this part of the state. It's a great place to live. It's a great place to raise a family. And so we
08:27want to welcome, on behalf of all the people of Ohio, welcome all of you who are coming in from
08:33other places. I have written down here a $100 million investment, but Megan told me a moment
08:41ago it's $100 million plus investment. And we appreciate that. We appreciate also the
08:50contribution and the work that's been done by Jobs Ohio. I want to particularly talk for a moment
08:58about Rick Platt, who's the CEO of the Heath Newark Licking County Port Authority. He's also a
09:04member of the board at Jobs Ohio. He is here with us today. Rick, stand up. Give a little applause
09:10here. Rick has played a major role in this, in working with Bayer. And it reminded me, Rick and I were
09:24talking this morning, a little story which I'll share with you, one that I think is rewarding to
09:31those of us involved in Ohio's economic development. I often talk about economic development and other
09:38things. We are really planting a seed. And sometimes we will not see immediate results. It's going to take many,
09:45many, many years to see results. Sometimes we, you know, we're out of office, we're doing other things, and
09:52finally that comes true. But occasionally you plant a seed that you do get to see the outcome of. And the
09:59Bayer story is one of those success stories. Let me go back to 1992. I was serving under George
10:05Vornovich as lieutenant governor of the state of Ohio. And I had the opportunity to announce the
10:12state's acquisition of the Panhandle rail line, again, 30 years ago. We went from Columbus to
10:21Coshocton to make the announcement. Rick Platt, who was part of my team at that time, was on that
10:28particular trip. Again, what does that have to do with Bayer today? Well, it turned out that when
10:35Bayer was looking for a site for this project, one of their essential site selection requirements
10:41was rail. Had to have rail accessibility to bring in the raw products that go into the making of
10:48paint. Ultimately, that rail access, which actually stretches clear down to the Ohio River to Columbus,
10:57is really what enabled Bayer to be able to come here, enabled us to be able to get Bayer here. So
11:05we're thankful for those events back in 1992, when we actually acquired that rail. Without that
11:13acquisition of the rail, it wouldn't be there today, and we would not have the opportunity to
11:18have Bayer here. Just a little story about how we got, one of the ways we got here. We're thrilled
11:26that Bayer will be impacting Ohio's economy, Licking County's economy, by the new jobs and the
11:34investment that they are making. I think that this event further reinforces the fact that Ohio
11:41stands poised to continue our growth during this unprecedented era in really our state's history.
11:47I've talked about this and told people, look, this is the Midwest time, and this is really,
11:53really Ohio's time. And our goal is to lead the Midwest. And Bayer deciding to come to Ohio, we
12:01won't mention the other states they looked at, but we're just happy that they decided to be here.
12:05We look forward to continuing this relationship with Bayer. And one of the things that we tell
12:16companies when we're talking to them and asking them to come to Ohio is, it's not just doing the
12:21deal. It's not just the ribbon cutting. It's what happens after that, and that relationship. And so
12:29our commitment to you is a long, long relationship. And we are very proud that you are here, and we
12:36hope that we can continue to be very, very helpful to you. It's now my privilege to introduce the
12:41individual who's led Heath during a period of unmatched growth and expansion. Leader looks
12:47forward to continuing this track record of growth, welcoming new residents and businesses to this
12:54community. Please join me in welcoming the Heath Mayor, Mark Johns.
12:57Good morning, everyone. I just wanted to take a couple of minutes to make a few comments. First
13:15of all, Governor, thank you for those kind words, and thank you for being back in Licking County. And
13:22as we keep giving him good reasons to be here, we're glad to welcome you. That's right. I want
13:31to echo the governor's comments as it relates to some support that we got from the state of Ohio
13:37that helped land this project. In particular, Bear had noticed the condition of James Parkway
13:48and the fact that it needed to be repaved, hadn't been repaved for quite some time. But at the time,
13:56the city was a little short on those funds. And I remember saying, look, if you, I said to Bear,
14:03if you will commit to landing here, we'll commit to getting it paved. Well, it was through the
14:09state's 629 program that funds were made available to the city of Heath to reimburse the city for a
14:17significant portion of the costs to repave James Parkway. And as I understood it, that was a key
14:24factor also in Bear Paint deciding to locate here. So to our state representatives that represent
14:33Licking County and to Tim Schafer, our state senator, thank you for your support, your continuing
14:40support to have the state help to fill the gaps when needed so that we at the local level can make
14:47projects like this happen. I also want to take a second to particularly thank Jeff Horka and the
14:54team at MASCO. As the governor alluded to, and as your eyes will tell you when you drive through this
15:01industrial park, over the past 15 years or so, the city of Heath has seen quite a bit of success in
15:08landing projects. But I want to tell you, there's no project that I've been involved with that has been
15:15as pleasurable to work with, as smooth to work with as this project. And when you consider the amount of
15:22land, the size of the facility, the dollar amount of the investment, that's pretty significant. Jeff, thank
15:30you. I appreciate everything that you and your team at MASCO did. There was great communication between us
15:38all throughout this project. It made a huge difference. And as Heath looks to continue to win and succeed, bring
15:47projects to our community, I hope you'll be an advocate to those prospects as to why they should locate here in the
15:54city of Heath. And finally, I want to mention this. As the mayor of a city, you always hope that your economic
16:09development projects don't just bring jobs to your community. That's important. But you also hope that the
16:15company will be a good corporate citizen in your community. And in Bear's very young life so far here in the city of Heath,
16:27I'm really pleased with what I've seen. And I'll give you just one small, but I believe significant example. It was about a
16:35year ago right now, one of our city councilmen has a daughter that plays softball in the local little league baseball and
16:44softball program over at Hoback Park. And he mentioned to me, you know, there's a number of teams that are sponsored by
16:53Bear. How are they, you know, how's their operation going? And I said, well, I don't even think they're quite open yet. However,
17:05you know, it was noticeable to him, to me and to others in this community that Bear Paint is making an investment in this community. You may
17:16think it's insignificant to sponsor little league teams. It's not. We see it and we appreciate what Bear Paint has already begun to do in
17:27this community. And we look forward to what will be coming in the future. With that, I want to introduce. Oh, thank you. And with that, I'd
17:42like to welcome to the podium one of our representatives in Columbus that, again, support our development efforts here and help to make it
17:50happen. That's Senator Tim Schafer.
18:01Wow. Thank you, Mayor Johns. And what a great day in Licking County. This is a great day in Ohio. And, you know, Governor, thanks to you,
18:09we've had a lot of great days in the last few years, last several years in Ohio with announcements of jobs, company openings, plan openings,
18:17lots of construction, lots of good things happening. And I tell you, there's no place better than Licking County, Ohio, right? That's right. I had a
18:26chance to meet some of your workers, some of your employees in the back here, the men and women that are going to make this place go. What an
18:32honor it is to speak with all of you. I'd love a chance to get a talk with each and every one of you. And to everybody, Megan and all of the crew
18:41from Bayer and your parent company, you are going to love Ohio. You're going to love Central Ohio especially. One thing that I have said for many,
18:51many years is the work ethic here is phenomenal. You'll find people come early and they leave late, and they don't do that because of any other
19:00reason that they're very mission driven. People of Ohio are very mission driven. I think you're going to be very pleased with what you have here in
19:06Ohio. So Megan, if you would join me on stage, I have a resolution from the Ohio State Senate for you to celebrate the opening, the construction of the
19:15opening and the hiring of Bayer and the Bayer employees. Honoring the Bayer Paint Company on its ribbon cutting and grand opening. On behalf of the
19:27members of the Senate of the 135th General Assembly of Ohio, we're pleased to commend the Bayer Paint Company on the ribbon cutting for its new plant in
19:35Heath, Ohio. The Bayer Paint Company has attained a praise worthy record of service to its customers, and it has achieved great progress and success as
19:43exemplified by this groundbreaking for this new Ohio based plant. Considerable care and resources have been invested in this endeavor, and it is certain that its
19:53manufacturing facility will continue to contribute to the growth of this world class venture in many, many years to come. So congratulations everybody. Let's go
20:03workers. Let's go employees. I'm so hopeful for you. You've got the world ahead of you with this company, and I'm so proud to have you here in Ohio and
20:12Licking County and Heath, Ohio especially. So congratulations, Mayor, Governor, and all of you. Megan, thank you so much, Megan.
20:33Thank you, Senator. And now it is my honor to introduce our leader, our CEO of Masco, Keith Altman.
20:51Thank you, Megan. I appreciate it. Good morning, and thank you for joining us on this great occasion, and thank you personally for the warm welcome that we've
21:11received from Masco this morning. I live in a state north of here in a town that has a little university, and I find myself down here about every other year in the shoe, and I can tell you I'm not treated this well when I'm down there. So I do really appreciate that. Very nice. I'm honored to represent the collective pride shared by over 18,000 team members at Masco across the globe as we witness today the continued growth of
21:40Behr Paint Company, one of Masco's largest and most successful companies. As part of the Masco family of companies, I am immensely proud of the quality and innovative products that Behr delivers, and I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am to be here today at this official grand opening. The new facility is a celebration of the history of Behr and the vision of its founder, Otto Behr, who envisioned his
22:10business growing across the country. A huge congratulation is in order to each of you for your role in guiding Behr to this memorable occasion. First, I want to thank Imran Ahmed, Masco's group president, who has oversight for Behr and our decorative architectural platform for his dedication and support of this project. Without the resilient leadership of both Imran and Megan, we just simply would not be here today. So thank you very much, folks.
22:40As we all know, a building of this size takes hard work and a lot of collaboration. I thank each and every one of our partners for the role you played and the expertise you brought to bringing this beautiful building to life. Through your passion and hard work, you have given us a state-of-the-art building that we are proud to have the Behr name on. We have enjoyed working with you, and you have delivered. Thank you.
23:10Thank you very much.
23:11From humble beginnings of wood-stained batches being made in a family garage in a 55-gallon drum stirred by a canoe paddle to becoming an industry-leading coatings and applicator manufacturer, Behr wouldn't be where it is today without the passion of its team members and without its culture.
23:39And in true Behr fashion, many of our employees worked tirelessly on this huge undertaking.
23:45On behalf of myself and the entire Masco executive management team, I salute you and I thank you for your extra effort, your energy, your steadfast commitment to this project. I know many of you have relocated. Many of the contractors I talked to today have spent time away from their families, have had to commute back and forth to Cincinnati, had to live here, had to do what it took to make this happen, and I really appreciate that.
24:11Without you, this celebration would not be possible. Your teamwork exemplifies the values that have been the foundation of Behr for over 75 years. I hope we can all agree that all the hard work was worth it.
24:25Today is a significant milestone as another chapter begins at Behr. As we dedicate this beautiful new facility, I can't help but think about Behr's commitment to excellence. The concept of aspiring to create world-class products and being the most trusted brand in the industry has been a part of the Behr story since its founding in 1947.
24:47With each new manufacturing or distribution center that Behr has built over the years, they never stop providing employees with a great place to work and never stop providing customers with the very best service and product. That foundation is what brings us here to Heath today, a place where Behr can continue its legacy.
25:11We believe that this new environment will continue to make Behr and Masco a preferred place to work as it creates a dynamic and collaborative space for our workforce. It will provide Behr with a space to fuel its growth and the resources to continue to serve its customers. It will be a place to continue to foster innovative ideas and reach even greater heights as a company.
25:36Even more important than the building is its location. We are excited to be a part of the strong, vibrant community of Heath. And like all of our Behr locations across the country, we look forward to and we will become a pillar of your community.
25:55Thank you again for joining us as we officially dedicate this new building and for being part of this important moment in Behr's history. I'm thrilled and excited about what's next for Behr and sincerely believe that the possibilities are unlimited. Thank you and congratulations. This new building is indeed a great new chapter in Behr's exciting future.
26:18At this time, I would like to invite back Megan Imran, Phil Marks, Governor DeWine and Mayor Johns to join me for the official ribbon cutting.