Westerman Inc., an Ohio-based manufacturing company that works with nuclear and industrial businesses, is expanding operations to Hebron, bringing 135 new jobs to the county.
The jobs are expected to generate approximately $8.42 million in new annual payroll, with an additional investment from the company of approximately $39.4 million in new machinery, equipment and the redevelopment of the facility in Hebron.
The company will operate in an existing 100,000-square-foot facility at 470 John Alford Parkway. The facility has been vacant for about two years, but previously housed Ohio Metal Technologies.
“We’re really excited to have them come to Hebron and work with them,” said Cameron Garczyk, executive director of GROW Licking County. “I think they’ll be a great employer, good community partner. They’re local. They’re our neighbors in Fairfield County, so that’s always nice that you have a company that’s invested already in the region, and so they have strong connections, strong roots.”
Westerman is currently located in Bremen in Fairfield County, Ohio. It manufactures equipment used across the energy sector, serving oil and natural gas customers as well as nuclear manufacturing work.
Due to growing energy demand, Westerman is expanding both their existing location in Bremen and establishing a new site in Hebron.
Garczyk said the site in Hebron will support expansion of Centrus Energy’s American Centrifuge Plant, a Piketon facility that will help power a planned data center project that, once finished, is said to be the largest data center in the world.
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“It made sense from a geographic footprint and managerial oversight to be able to have two facilities closer in location,” said Nolan Lamar, general manager of Westerman. “The demographics, the population, the area in Hebron and the logistics with the highway there on [Interstate] 70, it made a lot of sense for us to put a new site there to be able to hire the folks that we needed in that population.”
With Hebron’s history of manufacturing, the village is able to rely on a solid tax revenue source beyond those who live in the village, Mayor Valerie Mockus explained.
“When we have a strong manufacturing base, that means that we have multiple businesses that are really contributing to the tax base for the village,” Mockus said. “I know our residents want us to stay small, so we’re trying to figure out ways to keep the small residential base, but still have a healthy business base so that we can stay in that sweet spot.”
This announcement comes just a few months after the closures of Freepoint Eco-Systems and Schwebel Baking Company, both major employers in Hebron.
Freepoint Eco-Systems, a plastic recycling facility, suspended operations at the site in Hebron, after just 18 months of operation, leaving about 100 employees in limbo in late May.
And Schwebel’s, a baking company based in Youngstown, closed their business after July 4, which included a closure of the Hebron location.
“I think they’ll be a great community partner, and I think they’ll certainly look to fill any voids that exist there in the job market for any kind of recent closures like Freepoint,” Garczyk said.
Lamar said that Westerman’s first products will be built in April 2027. The site is currently under construction and they hope to complete it by the end of March.
Ahead of completed construction, the site will be staffing and training to prepare, said Lamar.
According to Lamar, available jobs include typical manufacturing management positions such as operations manager, human resources manager, project manager, quality supervisor and safety manager, as well as specialized labor such as machinists, welders, assemblers, painters, blasters and quality inspectors.
“Westerman engaged early in the process with our folks in Licking County to share what skill sets they need, what type of jobs they’re looking for to get those postings out there to get to hire,” Garczyk said.
According to a September 9 press release from GROW Licking County, Licking County ranked No. 1 nationally for job growth.
New data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed a 3.6% increase from March 2025 to March 2026, adding about 2,700 jobs in Licking County, bringing total employment to 77,000. According to GROW Licking County, in the same time period, national employment grew only 0.1% and Ohio employment declined 0.2%
And, according to Garczyk, Licking County is the second-largest manufacturing county in the central Ohio region with the second-highest level of manufacturing employment after Franklin County. And, Licking County has a history of manufacturing.
“That’s a strength right there because manufacturers tend to want to be located around other manufacturers. You have the infrastructure, you have the workforce, you have the training programs, and those are all very vital,” Garczyk said.
Nuclear sector new to Hebron
The Westerman expansion, according to Garczyk, is part of a broader resurgence in nuclear-related manufacturing.
“I think it’s interesting to see this sector show up in Hebron. For me, I’m very interested in nuclear technology,” Mockus said. “I love this concept of finding some way for us to be able to provide energy at a cheaper cost to our residents, and if that could be done with less fracking, I would definitely be interested in that.
“We cannot rely on everything being in someone else’s backyard. Let’s have a serious conversation about what we are actually willing to have in our backyard, and if that is something like nuclear energy, or something that has lower stakes and impact, I think we need to seriously entertain these things,” she said.
When House Bill 15 passed in the Ohio General Assembly in 2025, this allowed for behind the meter generation, meaning companies can install energy generation on site to power their facility. The idea is to not contribute to increased energy costs, as Garczyk explained.
“Nuclear is definitely top of mind for a lot of people as of late,” said Garczyk.
Keeping Hebron in “sweet spot”
In response to community concerns about increased traffic and growth that may come with the new company, Mockus said she sees the stress village residents feel.
“Everybody’s stressed about how much things cost. Everybody’s stressed that their jobs aren’t paying as much more as their costs are going up. So every little thing just feels like a death by a thousand paper cuts,” Mockus said. “My hope is that it means that we can continue to grow our tax base and have relief for the residents for other types of things that get more expensive.”
She is not concerned about negative impacts the company will have on the village. She notes that the vacant building is not new, it used to have employees but she reiterates that she hears her residents.
The decision to move to Hebron was a rather quick one, Garczyk said. He explained, because of the quickness of energy and data center growth, the company likely wanted to find a facility to start production as soon as possible.
“Everyone’s been great to work with at the company and it was just a nice summary partnership between the state, JobsOhio, our region partners, One Columbus, and then locally us at GROW Licking County and the village of Hebron, I think worked very well together to make it happen,” Garczyk said.
Ella Diehl writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.