HEATH, Ohio — A high-tech laundry service company based in California is buying a 68,000 square foot warehouse in Heath to be closer to the future site of Intel.
Prudential Cleanroom Services will employ as many as 80 people with salaries reaching as high as $100,000.
PCS provides ultra-clean laundry services to the high-tech industry with 28,000 customers across the United States. When Intel announced in January it was coming to Licking County, the PCS said it was the catalyst to move quickly to set up shop.
"We are co-established in every market they are in," said President Chris Welch.
Heath is a city of just over 10,000 people, but Mayor Mark Johns sees the city growing larger because of Intel.
"The announcement in January has sort of put this on steroids," Mayor Johns said.
Johns is talking about the number of businesses looking to move here as well as home builders. The mayor added he sees the city annexing more property for housing and attracting more businesses.
The warehouse came with a 100% 15-year tax abatement, something the company says it didn't ask for.
The Mayor says deals like that are critical to attracting businesses to this industrial park
"Without that abatement, it's unlikely that we would see the growth that we have in the past 10 years or so," says Mayor Johns.
PCS will be about 20 minutes from the Intel site.
The trick now, the company says, is finding enough workers in a tight labor market.
"We are really looking for all types if you have a high school diploma or no high school diploma," Welch said.
Southgate Development built the warehouse.
The Heath-Newark-Licking County Port Authority said it now has more than 18,00 employees in the business park which is a 25% net increase from 2021. It says it has 98 acres of buildable land space to add more warehouses with another 65 acres in Hebron and 200 acres in Heath.
Intel is expected to begin construction sometime this year, with operations to begin in 2025.