LUCKEY — A fitness company is bringing 2,174 jobs to Troy Township.
Peloton Interactive Inc. will build its first U.S. factory in Wood County. The company expects to create 2,174 full-time positions, generating $138 million in new annual payroll. Ground breaking will be this summer and it should open in 2023.
The $400 million facility will be built just north of the Home Depot distribution site on Pemberville Road, according to Wade Gottschalk, director of Wood County Economic Development.
“A lot of things made this site attractive to them. The site was already zoned, all the utilities are there in substantial quantities,” he said.
The county has been working with the company and many partners since February, Gottschalk said. Peloton officials were also drawn to the “speed to market” of other projects in that area — Home Depot and NSG Glass of North America, he said.
“The labor force is obviously huge,” he said. “Wood County and Northwest Ohio have a long history of a great labor force.
“Just overall, the site’s just a great site.”
The Eastwood Local Schools Board of Education was expected to vote on a tax abatement agreement at a special meeting Monday.
The enterprise zone tax abatement deal would give $389,000 a year to Eastwood for 15 years and $43,000 to Penta Career Center in Perrysburg annually, Gottschalk said.
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved a 2.3%, 15-year job creation tax credit for the project.
“It’s a great win for us, but we hope it’s an equally great win for Peloton,” Gottschalk said. “And it’s a big one. We’re very happy with this.”
To get Peloton here took a team effort, he said, with the township, county, JobsOhio, Ohio Development Services Agency and Regional Growth Partnership.
The pandemic did not affect the deal.
“Honestly, it might be easier. We did a lot by Zoom, obviously, but that is somewhat more convenient, to some extent,” Gottschalk said, adding that teleconferences make the process quick and efficient.
The pandemic did throw labor force numbers “out of whack,” making it a challenge to evaluate, he said.
“I think the numbers are getting a little more accurate,” Gottschalk said.
Peloton is an interactive fitness platform and creates connected, technology-enabled fitness products and digital content.
The Peloton Output Park in Troy Township will be a state-of-the art factory dedicated to producing bikes, according to a Monday news release from the company.
“We are thrilled to bring a good portion of our manufacturing to United States soil and proud that it will be in the great state of Ohio,” said Peloton’s CEO and co-founder John Foley. “While we will continue to invest in our Asian manufacturing footprint as well as our existing facilities in the U.S. via our Precor sites, the new Peloton Output Park gives us a massive strategic lever to make sure we have capacity, quality, and economies of scale in our bike and tread product lines, to support our continued growth for years and years to come. We are incredibly excited to meet and welcome the Troy Township community into the Peloton family fold.”
Peloton Output Park is expected to sit on more than 200 acres and have more than 1 million square feet of manufacturing, office and amenities space, making it one of the largest connected fitness manufacturing plants in the world, the company said.
The facility will house the latest in industrial technology and automation. On campus, Peloton plans to incorporate renewable energy sources to power its operations.
“The pandemic has demonstrated the need to on-shore manufacturing and rebuild supply chains, and Peloton’s decision to build its first North American manufacturing facility in Ohio is a great example of an American company stepping up and leading that effort,” Gov. Mike DeWine said.
Over the next few years, Peloton expects to add over 2,000 jobs to the Troy Township area across executive, managerial and entry-level opportunities. Positions will span corporate, manufacturing, assembly and quality assurance functions.
In addition to the manufacturing floor, Peloton plans to build office space and a fitness center with the latest connected fitness equipment and a team lounge.
