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Wood County manufacturing plant expanding and hiring

NORTH BALTIMORE, OH (WTOL) – A manufacturing plant in Wood County is expanding and management said it means they are hiring. Officials from the D.S. Brown Company in North Baltimore said it expects to add about 25 new jobs in the upcoming months.

The Wood County Economic Development Commission said expansions like these are great for people who live in the area because a global company will be creating local jobs.

Richard Fenstermaker has been working at D.S. Brown for 30 years and said things have been going well.

"The progress here has been unbelievable. For the past 10, 12 years, it's really been good. And we've hired a lot of local people," said Fenstermaker.

In a few months, Fenstermaker will have more of those local people working with him as the expanding company plans to hire.

"A lot of those guys work with different avenues of the corporation, and some of them come out and work with me, so we're busy," explained Fenstermaker.

D.S. Brown, which manufactures bridge parts, is working on its fourth expansion in five years. Once the addition to the plant is complete, company managers said they will take on workers who can weld and operate machines. They hope those workers will come from the surrounding community.

Residents who live on the street said the D.S. Brown plant is practically in their backyards. However, many said they were skeptical about the company's promise to hire locally since past companies have fallen through on their promises.

Officials from D.S. Brown said not to worry.

"Well I think our track record is pretty strong. Our company has grown by about 50 or 60 people over the last five years and we're looking to add more. Most have come from the local area and we continue to look for that," said Jerry Wetzel, executive vice president of operations at D.S. Brown.

Wetzel said workers from the area will be a big help to workers who are already there.

"If you can weld, come work for D.S. Brown!" said Wetzel.

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