Portage County had a big year economically in 2025, and 2026 looks as though it also will have lots of highlights.
“2025 was a really strong year,” said Brad Ehrhart, president of the Portage Development Board.
Ehrhart said the development board was involved in 16 successful projects in 2025 that brought in 828 new jobs and saved 817 more. Those jobs provide nearly $110 million in annual payroll, with an average hourly wage of $31.89.
Ehrhart said the county’s largest project in 2025 was the beginning of construction of an expansion of LayerZero Power Systems’ building on Philipp Parkway in Streetsboro.
LayerZero came to the development board in 2023 looking for a property so it could expand. Ehrhart said a trucking company was about to close, and a deal was made.
Streetsboro Economic Development Director Patrick O’Malia said once it is completed, hopefully by Fall 2026, the nearly 120,000-square-foot expansion is expected to be followed by the addition of 535 jobs, bringing the company’s employee total to about 750.
“The expansion is underway. The dirt has been cleared away, and they’re in the process of pouring footers,” O’Malia said. “It’s clearly a major boost in the arm.”
LayerZero’s Aurora facility also has been active this year. Ehrhart said it has 278 employees at the Danner Drive property, which is bought in 2012, when 14 were on staff.
Aurora Mayor Ann Womer Benjamin said that this year, the company invested $4.75 million to expand the building by 48,000 square feet, with 79 jobs added.
But Womer Benjamin said as significant as that was for Aurora, it was not the the only business expansion in 2025.
“That’s really been our economic focus in 2025,” she said.
Business growing in Aurora
Womer Benjamin said other businesses in Aurora Industrial Park also have expanded, including:
Benjamin said that in addition to the expansions of existing businesses, the industrial parkway also has a new business, Solon Collision, which she described as “a full-service car and truck repair company.”
She said that there is also activity in other parts of the city, including new businesses like Goddard School, an early childhood education facility on North Chillicothe Road; Good Nature Therapy Services, a provider of pediatric speech therapy and occupational therapy on East Garfield Road; Lu Cha Bubble Tea on Aurora Commons Circle; Vitalan Health medical offices on North Chillicothe Road; and Home Instead and Homewatch Care Givers, both of which provide at-home senior care services, with locations on West Garfield Road and Xanadu way respectively.
“I’ve been to a lot of ribbon cuttings. More than usual,” said Womer Benjamin with a laugh.
Other developments, she said, include:
Finally, she said that recent developments of additional recreational amenities are expected to act as an “economic driver.”
This includes the development of a 100-acre park on city-owned land at Geauga Lake, including the 53-acre lake and 47 acres of adjacent land. A groundbreaking was in October.
“There are going to be a lot of people, I think, using it,” said Womer Benjamin. “The whole area, in Bainbridge as well, is bringing more people to the area, which gets commercial entities interested in building things that will serve people coming to the area.”
In fact, she said, there are plans by a private company to develop 21 acres near the park for a Tulum Mexican Restaurant and other businesses.
In addition, Womer Benjamin said, the city completed construction in 2025 of a 2.84-mile bike-and-hike trail along a former railroad right of way from State Route 82 in Aurora to Chamberlain Road in Mantua Township. Design of a second phase to Treat Road, near the new park, is expected to be done in 2026.
“The area around the trail is completely ripe for trail-related business,” said Womer Benjamin.
Finally, she said, Aurora is partnering with Solon to construct an additional trail from Aurora into Solon. Although that project is “down the road a bit,” said Womer Benjamin, City Council approved the $670,000 purchase of 6.38 acres on Dec. 15 for Aurora’s portion of the trail.
“We have every reason to believe that 2026 will be another great economic development year for Aurora with all the positive things going on,” she said.
Projects bring benefits to Kent
Kent Economic Development Director Eric Helmstedter said in an email that there have been a number of economic development highlights in the city in 2025.
This includes Davey Tree’s SEED (Science, Employee Education, and Development) Campus opening in the summer. The nearly 200-acre campus near Davey Tree’s North Mantua Street administration building includes a 70,000-square-foot indoor training facility that features a 10,700-square-foot climbing center, classrooms and laboratories for diagnostics and research.
Also included are a climate-controlled archival space for the company’s historical records, a reconstructed historic barn for events, greenhouses, an arboretum, bogs and non-energized utility lines for training. In addition, there is a a 2-acre solar array to provide electricity to the campus and several electric vehicle chargers in a parking lot.
The campus includes the sites of the former Oak Knolls Golf Club and Franklin Elementary School.
Other developments in Kent in 2025 include:
New restaurant and retail openings include Maddalena’s, BIBIBOP, Main Street Memorabilia, Krazy Bins and Always Indie.
“These projects positively impact the city in a variety of ways, including new job creation, increases income tax, and new dining and retail offerings for residents and visitors alike,” said Helmstedter.
Anticipated projects in 2026 include:
Bringing attention to Ravenna
Ravenna Economic Development Director Dennis West said the city has been busy filling empty industrial spaces with smaller companies in recent years.
“There is a traction happening in Ravenna, and we’re kind of seeing a shift from old manufacturing to more technology-type research where we have several businesses in Ravenna that do research and testing,” he said.
In addition, the Boston Group, a manufacturer of displays, fixtures and other items for stores, is shifting a division from Youngstown to its Ravenna location on Loomis Parkway.
West said that the city will continue doing what it can to find available space for companies interested in coming into Ravenna. He said the city has a low vacancy rate, about 4.5%, with much of it retail space in the downtown area.
The city is working with property owners to find funding for any necessary renovations to attract tenants. West cited a new bookstore, Books A Go Go, as a success.
He said he expects filling empty spaces will be a focus for 2026.
“It’s just reaching out right now to try to make Ravenna known, make people know Ravenna’s here,” he said. “One of the challenges we face is that Ravenna never really had marketing. We’re trying to get Ravenna out there so that people are aware of what’s going on.”
Jobs come to Streetsboro
Patrick O’Malia, the economic development director in Streetsboro, said LayerZero’s expansion is hardly the only moved in his town.
“We’re over 1,200 (new jobs) this year alone, so it’s been a pretty good year,” he said.
Home Genius Exteriors purchased a property at 525 Frost Road that includes two office buildings and a storage warehouse. O’Malia said the company is using the site for its corporate marketing headquarters, with the addition of 225 jobs.
Piping Rock is adding about 85,000 square feet to its Mondial Parkway facility, with a planned increase of 80 to 120 manufacturing jobs.
On Aurora Hudson Road, Gebhardt Intralogistics is adding 40,000 square feet in order to keep 50 manufacturing jobs and add 20.
Boulder Crossing Health and Rehabilitation, a nursing home coming to the city with a $22 million building, will open at State Route 43 and Market Square Drive. It will add about 150 jobs.
Other developments include:
“There’s a lot of projects currently underway,” said O’Malia. “When you look at the pipeline, we already have three major manufacturing projects going on at once, as well as the conversion of some of these retail spaces.”
He said one that is particularly pleasing is redevelopment of a long-vacant former leather shop at state routes 303 and 14.
“That place had been abandoned for many, many, many years and there is currently a new [marijuana] dispensary opening out of it called The Mother Ship,” O’Malia said. “Originally, when Ohioans passed the constitutional amendment allowing for the legalization of marijuana, we were supposed to get much more tax revenue from that endeavor than we probably will end up getting, but it’s still very nice to see that eyesore redeveloped into a very attractive building.”
Within the joint economic development district Streetsboro shares with Shalersville Township, Piping Rock has leased for warehousing about 400,000 square feet of a 1 million-square-foot building constructed off State Route 44 near the Ohio Turnpike.
Close by, Viega, a copper plumbing products manufacturer, opened in 2025 a new $178 million, 244,000-square-foot factory.
“They anticipated creating 68 jobs within two years and they are already at or above that,” said O’Malia.
Other developments
Ehrhart said a notable development in Brimfield Township in 2025 is the $21.2 million Village of St. Edward’s senior living community on Brimfield Ridge Circle, near Tallmadge Road.
It has been reported that groundbreaking was in July and the project is expected to be completed in early 2027. The project is expected to have 107 apartments, including units for assisted living and memory care.
In addition, Mantua is continuing a years-long effort to revitalize the village’s downtown area and fill vacant spaces. The non-profit, volunteer-run Downtown Mantua Revitalization Corp. announced in September that the latest step in this was completion of the $300,000 restoration of three historic Main Street buildings to their original appearance.
Ehrhart said he could not share specifics, but expects 2026 to be another good year.
“I can tell you, we’re working on 34 active projects right now,” he said.
Reporters April Helms and Diane Smith contributed to this story.
Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Portage County boasts development success in 2025, aims for big 2026
Reporting by Jeff Saunders, Ravenna Record-Courier / Record-Courier
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