Plans to hire 67 new positions in Chapel Hill Business Park
Driverge Vehicle Innovations, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MobilityWorks, announced plans to operate a new manufacturing facility at Chapel Hill Business Park, a redevelopment of the former Chapel Hill Mall in Akron. The company, a leader in retrofitting vehicles for smarter accessibility solutions adapted to moving people more safely, comfortably and efficiently, will occupy 150,000 square feet of the business park and plans to add an additional 67 new positions to their current staff of 165. The company received a $300,000 economic development grant from JobsOhio.
“Driverge Vehicle Innovations had been operating out of three facilities in the Akron area and will gain efficiencies with this new, state-of-the-art facility that will streamline production space and provide additional production capacity. The new facility will also serve as the company’s headquarters,” commented Chris Paczak, chief marketing officer, Driverge Vehicle Innovations / MobilityWorks.
Driverge Vehicle Innovations considered other expansion options, including locations where the company currently operates out-of-region facilities. However, an economic development team of the city of Akron, Summit County, Greater Akron Chamber, JobsOhio, and Team NEO worked with executive leadership to ensure Driverge Vehicle Innovations’ continued investment in the Northeast Ohio Region.
Members of the cross-organizational team share their insights:
“We are thrilled to see Driverge Vehicle Innovations, a fast-growing company serving multiple business sectors, stay in Summit County. Through collaboration with the City of Akron, OhioMeansJobs Summit and Team NEO, this national manufacturer is now operating in the transformed Chapel Hill business park and creating new jobs for our residents. We look forward to Driverge’s future growth in our community.”
–Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro
“I’m excited to see Driverge Vehicle Innovations expand in Akron. This expansion is a success for not only the Driverge team but also for the Chapel Hill Business Park. Being able to retain a high-performing business in a space that was previously in decline is a huge win for Akron and its residents and will bring dozens of quality new jobs to our city. I’m looking forward to Driverge’s continued success in Akron.“
–Mayor Dan Horrigan, City of Akron
“The consolidation of Driverge Vehicle Innovations’ operations into the newly established Chapel Hill Business Park is yet another vote of confidence in regional manufacturing and our world-class workforce. Ultimately, 225+ good paying jobs will be operating simultaneously out of the new facility in the City of Akron.”
– Gregg P. Cramer, Vice President of Economic Development at the Greater Akron Chamber
“We are grateful that Driverge Vehicle Innovations is able to remain and grow in the Akron area, bringing new life to a former retail location. Driverge Vehicle Innovations has called Akron home for the last 25 years and, along with our local partners and JobsOhio, we look forward to working with them to ensure their continued success here as part of our region’s thriving automotive industry.”
–Bill Koehler, Chief Executive Officer, Team NEO
About Driverge Vehicle Innovations
Driverge is the country’s leading builder of commercial accessible vans, shuttles, transporters, work vans and recreational vehicles. It is a Ford Qualified Vehicle Modifier (QVM), Mercedes-Benz MasterSolutions® Upfitter, and Ram Commercial Q-Pro supplier. With manufacturing facilities in Ohio, Kansas, South Carolina and California, Driverge provides vehicle conversions to numerous industries and government agencies including healthcare, fleet management, hospitality, wheelchair transport services, rideshare and other vocational markets. Driverge Vehicle Innovations and MobilityWorks together make up WMK, LLC which has been recognized on the Inc. 500|5000 list of Inc. Magazine’s fastest growing privately held companies for the past fifteen years.
About Team NEO
Team NEO is a private, nonprofit economic development organization accelerating business growth and job creation throughout the 18 counties of the Northeast Ohio Region. As the designated JobsOhio Network Partner, we align and amplify local economic development efforts in the region’s 18-counties; we conduct research and data analysis to inform local conversations and influence solutions; we market the Northeast Ohio Region; and we work to increase access to jobs, education and training for the region’s 4.3 million people. We do this to build a more vibrant regional economy; one that is more talented, equitable, competitive, innovative, resilient and prosperous. For more information, visit teamneo.org.
About JobsOhio
JobsOhio is a private nonprofit economic development corporation designed to drive job creation and new capital investment in Ohio through business attraction, retention and expansion. The organization also works to seed talent production in its targeted industries and to attract talent to Ohio through Find Your Ohio. JobsOhio works with six regional partners across Ohio: Dayton Development Coalition, Ohio Southeast Economic Development, One Columbus, REDI Cincinnati, Regional Growth Partnership and Team NEO. Learn more at www.jobsohio.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.