Tops $2.5 Billion Invested, More Than 12,000 Jobs Created
By Sarah Mayle
In 2025, for an unparalleled 11th time, Findlay was ranked the Top Micropolitan City in the U.S., a distinction placing it above 543 qualifying communities. A remarkable $2.5 billion of capital has been invested in 11 years.
“As we remember this past year, this is truly something to celebrate; this is a legacy,” said Chris Keller, executive director of Findlay-Hancock County Economic Development. “We have reached incredible numbers and statistics, and we hope to continue the remarkable success of this office into 2026.”
The Top Micropolitan distinction is awarded by Site Selection Magazine, an official publication of the Global Foreign Direct Investment Association and the Industrial Asset Management Council. To determine the Top Micro for 2025, Site Selection ranked 543 micropolitan statistical areas with a population of 10,000 to 50,000. Rankings are measured on projects meeting one or more of three criteria: $1 million or more invested, 20 or more jobs created, or 20,000 or more square feet constructed.
“I’ve been in economic development in different communities for many years, and it’s different for me to have people contact us verses only ever trying to get businesses to notice us,” said Matt Gilroy, director of strategic initiatives, who started with FHCED in March. “This is a major benefit for the community – the development of the past fosters the future. The word momentum means something here, years of momentum have turned into more momentum.”
For 2024, FHCED submitted 24 projects that amounted to about $415 million invested in the community, nearly 600,000 square feet constructed, and 269 jobs. All qualifying projects came from companies already doing business here. Over 11 years, there has been $2.5 billion invested, 316 projects, more than 5.5 million square feet constructed, and 12,270 jobs created.
The largest expansions included in 2024 data were projects by Ohio Logistics and Kreate. In 2025, Ohio Logistics – which provides transportation and logistics services – completed construction begun in 2024 on a new $15.8 million, 208,000 square foot warehouse facility. Kreate, a vertically integrated design, manufacturing, and distribution company, completed its new $13 million, 187,500 square foot facility in 2025, the first of three new facilities planned in the next two years. As a product development company, Kreate’s focus is to reimagine product categories for today’s consumers to bring the best of the best to the market.
“We want to continue to invest in Findlay and we see opportunity for it,” said Nick Reinhart, owner of Kreate. “This new facility and the two on the way reflect our continued investment in a community we call home, and we’re proud to play a role in Findlay’s great distinction as Top Micropolitan.”
FHCED held a celebration / annual meeting in March to commemorate this remarkable accomplishment, with Chuck Bills of Ohio Logistics and Dan Maiorino of Valgroup as the main speakers. Former Findlay Mayor Lydia Mihalik, now director of the Ohio Department of Development, and Consulate General of Japan in Detroit, Hajime Kishimori, were among notable guests who came to offer congratulations.
“The key to success is our commitment to the Findlay Formula – bringing all stakeholders to the table – to unite for a common goal,” Keller said. “And we place heavy importance on supporting the development and retention of our existing businesses. It is always exciting to attract new businesses, and we work toward that and celebrate that, but at our core we are only as strong as our legacy companies.”
Results from 2025 will be announced in March 2026.
