MOUNT VERNON — The Area Development Foundation released on Monday its list of the top 25 “principal” employers in Knox County in 2022.
The ADF defines “principal” employers as those that serve as “economic base industries” in Knox County, meaning they contribute a large percentage of jobs and earnings to the community.
“These are businesses that export a product and import money, in addition to being some of the largest ones (in the county),” ADF President Jeff Gottke said.
“There are some at the bottom of this list that only employ a few dozen or so people, and if you throw in some of our larger retailers and service businesses, they’d make that top 25 list (by employee count) … but they’re not economic base industries.”
Gottke said the ADF’s top 25 list, which it compiles every year and sends to the county auditor’s office, “isn’t necessarily a list of our biggest employers (by employee count), it’s like our top 25 key employers.”
“We’re looking at specific kinds of businesses,” Gottke said.
Here were the top 25 “principal” employers in Knox County in 2022, according to the ADF:
ADF top 25 principal employers 2022
FAMILIAR FACES: The top four employers on this list – Ariel Corporation, Knox Community Hospital, Kenyon College and Knox County, respectively – remained the same from 2021 to 2022 (to view the 2021 list, click here).
Jeld-Wen is new at No. 5 after not appearing on last year’s list (“It could have been that we just didn’t have any data on them in 2021,” Gottke said). Mount Vernon City Schools and Mount Vernon Nazarene University moved from fifth and sixth, respectively, to sixth and seventh.
Kokosing Construction moved up two spots, from 10th to eighth, while Wal Mart dropped two spots, from seventh to ninth. Kroger dropped from eighth to 11th and FT Precision dropped from ninth to 10th.
The City of Mount Vernon, Mount Vernon Developmental Center, Park National Bank, AMG Industries, The Ohio Eastern Star Home, The Laurels of Mount Vernon, Schafer Driveline, Country Club Retirement, Mauser USA, Ver-Mac Industries and UMD Automated Systems all remained in the top 25.
New to the list this year were International Paper (14th), Heating & Cooling Products (18th) and Robertson Trucking Sales (25th). Whispering Hills Rehabilitation and Nursing Center (22nd last year), Owens Corning (23rd last year), Divelbiss Corporation (24th last year) and Central Ohio Fabricators (25th last year) did not make the cut in 2022.
WHAT IT SHOWS: Gottke said the list reflects Knox County’s trademark economic diversity – and, in turn, its stability.
“It shows the diversity of our key employers. For example, in the top five, you’ve got education, government, health care and manufacturing all represented. That’s a pretty diverse group,” said Gottke, adding that he uses the ADF’s annual list to pitch Knox County to prospective employers and developers.
“This can show the stability of the economy here.”
The list also shows areas of potential growth in Knox County – both in location and industry type.
“Take a look at the locations of these businesses and how many are in Mount Vernon (17),” Gottke noted. “So from a diversity standpoint, I’d like to see a few more Fredericktown and Gambier and Danville and Centerburg (businesses) on there, and fewer Mount Vernon ones. I would like to spread that impact out across our county. This list helps us to understand where all those jobs are.
“And then if you look within the industries themselves … What kind of jobs are in the manufacturing sector? A lot of machinists, welders, assemblers, etc. So maybe we’d like to keep those jobs, but also see more options for people that have different skill sets in manufacturing.
“And we can also begin talking about adding more opportunities for software engineers and people in entirely different industries, such as the financial sector and the biopharmaceutical sector, to work here.”
Gottke noted that the three fastest-growing manufacturing sectors in the Columbus region are semiconductor manufacturing, electric vehicle manufacturing and biopharmaceutical manufacturing (the manufacturing of vitamins and supplements).
“So this list helps us understand where we’re at there,” said Gottke, adding that most of Knox County’s manufacturing falls into four main categories: energy, construction/construction materials, automotive and packaging.
“We have room to grow if we want to attract EV or biopharmaceutical manufacturing companies as well.”
And this list isn’t just used to attract prospective employers and developers or identify potential areas of growth, Gottke said.
“It’s kind of a good barometer of how the ADF should spend its time,” Gottke said. “The easiest business to grow is one that’s already here – that’s already made an investment in the community. So this shows us who the key community investors are as well.”
The Area Development Foundation is the primary contact for economic development in Knox County. Its staff encourages the growth and prosperity of local industry by supporting local companies through tax-abatement services, resource connection, workforce solutions, and other various services. It is also the area representative for companies looking for new business locations in Knox County.
