An artist's rendering of Gemini Machine Group's new 25,000-square-foot facility that's being built in the Tuscarawas Regional Technology Park in New Philadelphia. (Submitted photo)

New Philadelphia, Ohio - A Dover-based company will be the first to build in the 170-acre Tuscarawas Regional Technology Park. 

Gemini Industrial Machine Group recently announced plans to build a new, 25,000-square-foot facility at the Regional Technology Park. 

Gemini President and CEO Jason Johnson explains that the company has been in existence for about three years and develops and services automated equipment for manufacturing operations.

“It’s basically all the stuff in area manufacturing plants. We either build new or service them. We do work for pretty much all the area manufacturers and help them out with their specialized needs,” he explains. 

Johnson says the company has outgrown its existing 7,500-square-foot facility on Crown Road in Dover Township, which prompted a search for a suitable property on which to build.

Johnson says the Community Improvement Corporation of Tuscarawas County (CIC) and the City of New Philadelphia were instrumental in the company’s decision to build in the local tech park.

“We looked around at different buildings and different opportunities and the City of New Phila and the CIC were instrumental in bringing us out there. They had the space that we needed. We bought seven acres of land out there, and that gave us plenty of room to build and also have room to expand later on,” he explains.

Site work has already begun at the property, and an official groundbreaking has been set for this Friday at 10 a.m. The event is free to attend and open to the public.

CIC Interim Executive Director Bill Harding will be among the individuals speaking during the upcoming groundbreaking ceremony.

He notes that the development will mark the first new construction at the Regional Technology Park since the development of the Tolloty Technology Incubator. 

“We developed the Tolloty Technology Incubator and the 170-acre Regional Technology Park just as the country was going into the last recession, and so nobody was buying and nobody was building,” he explains.

He adds that the CIC is excited to welcome Johnson and his team as the tech park’s first tenants.

“I think the other thing we’re really excited about is the fact that Jason is a Claymont grad, a Buckeye Career Center grad and a Kent Tusc. grad, so it’s kind of like local person makes good, and it’s just exciting to see the success he’s having and the plans for growth that he’s going to be getting into,” he shares.

New Philadelphia Mayor Joel Day says the groundbreaking will be a historic moment for the area and one that also marks the fulfillment of the CIC’s vision for creating opportunities for technology-based businesses at the Regional Technology Park. 

Johnson says construction is expected to be completed by April. He adds that the company plans to hire 25 to 30 electrical, mechanical and computer engineers in the next two years.

Stacey Carmany, Tusco TV