The Mirror Newspapers Reflecting Life Along The Maumee River
BY KRISTI FISH | MIRROR REPORTER — For more than 150 years, Ransom & Randolph has been a staple in the Northwest Ohio community, putting down roots in Maumee more than 70 years ago. Now, those roots are growing even bigger with a major expansion of the business at 520 Illinois Ave.
To celebrate the impending expansion, Ransom & Randolph hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on July 11, which was attended by workers and Maumee city officials.
The business has grown significantly over the years, stated president Daniel Nixon, so an expansion at the Illinois Avenue location was deemed necessary to help streamline the business.
“We have a lot of materials that are stored off-site, so this will allow us to bring them on-site, instead of using a third party to manage that,” Nixon said. “I think it will also create a nice aesthetic look. This facility dates back to 1954, so in front of it you will now have a nice modern building.”
The expansion will increase capacity at the Maumee plant by approximately 50 percent, adding on 24,000 square feet to the facility.
“We’re constantly having opportunities to grow, and we’re limited by space. This additional space will allow us to seize those opportunities going forward,” Nixon said.
Maumee City Council president Jim MacDonald noted the importance of working with businesses that like Ransom & Randolph want to focus their growth within Maumee.
“We’ve been in a drive to improve our infrastructure in the city and make things better to attract new businesses, but what’s equally important is for businesses that have been a foundation for our community to stay here,” MacDonald explained.
To expand the space on Illinois Avenue, the business needed guidance for the project, Nixon said.
“The city of Maumee as well has been wonderful to work with,” Nixon said. “As a company, we don’t do these types of expansions every day, so we needed guidance and advice, and everybody we’ve been able to work with has really helped us on this vision,” Nixon said.
The expansion will have to meet certain requirements from the city of Maumee that will help increase curb appeal, Nixon noted.
“It is important that we work with them and give them the tools that are needed to make their project successful, and we have a city administrator, Patrick Burtch, who is committed to that,” added MacDonald. “He’s been working with them to get them to this point, and he will continue to work with them so they have a successful expansion.”
According to Burtch, the city is working closely throughout the entire area to continue with the revitalization and improvement of Maumee. Burtch said that city staff members are working with new and existing businesses to help them create a smooth and successful business plan for expansion and growth.
“We need to make sure we’re bettering our community one project at a time,” Burtch added.
In addition to getting help from the city, Ransom & Randolph has worked closely with IPS on the construction of the project.
“IPS has been a great partner to work with. They stood out and you could tell they really wanted to do the project with us,” Nixon said.
Nixon also credited Ransom & Randolph’s parent company, PMC, for its participation in the project.
“I would like to acknowledge the hard work of R&R’s Chad Hutson, who has dedicated attention to this project, along with the assistance of PMC’s Chris Hite that has brought us to this point,” Nixon added.
The company, he said, looks forward to spending another 150 years creating much-needed products for its partners.
“What we do here and what we’ve done for over 100 years, our core business has been investment casting. It’s a very unique form of metal casting that starts typically with a wax pattern,” Nixon explained.
The wax is then covered and melted, leaving the pattern behind. Molten metal can then be poured in to create the final product.
“It started off in the dental industry, so we were a dental company from our origins and we’re still in dental, but it has evolved from that,” Nixon said. “A big portion of our market is jewelry.”
Now, the company employs people from all over Northwest Ohio and places a priority on supporting them, Nixon added.
“I really think this is a business that needs to be nurtured and appreciated, and I believe our company does that and we’re proud to do that here,” Nixon said.
