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Why?
Simply because Canton is no stranger to Mexican economic
development. It is already home to Republic Engineered
Products, Inc., the largest Mexican owned company in Ohio.
Employing 500 people in its Canton operations, Republic
Engineered Products, Inc. was established in December 2003 with
the purchase of operating assets from Republic Engineered
Products, LLC. The company was acquired in July 2005 by
Industrias CH, S.A. de C.V. (ICH), a rapidly growing steel
producer and processor based in México City. Republic is a
subsidiary of Grupo Simec, Guadalajara, México, of which ICH is
the majority owner. It also has a production facility in Lorain,
Ohio.
México has long been a major participant in the annual World
Games held in Canton adjacent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
That helped make Mexican industrialists familiar with the city
and the region, explains Torres.
La Prensa
asked Torres why he decided to leave Toledo where he served as a
Development Specialist under Mayor Carty Finkbeiner.
“I made the decision with the understanding that Canton has a
very progressive mayor, William J. Healy II. He had
served in the state house of representatives with Gov. Ted
Strickland and served alongside our current United States
Representative John Boccieri. He is an individual with a
MBA in business and has international business expertise.
“In addition, he is a believer in regionalism, and we play a key
role with the Northwest Ohio Association of Mayors and City
Managers, and work closely with the Stark County Authority, The
Chamber of Commerce and the Canton Community Improvement
Corporation. Because of those factors, we have been very
fortunate and very aggressive with our development projects.
Although we have been working in economically challenged times,
we have brought more than one billion dollars in investments to
Canton,” says Torres.
The teamwork of Torres and Healy has been instrumental in key
annexation projects. “We received $178 million for downtown
redevelopment including the old Hercules Engine factory. That
was a project that developer Robert Timken spearheaded.
“We’ve received millions of dollars in stimulus money through
the state, and through it we have been reinventing downtown. It
has become an attraction for suburban communities to connect
with us through events such as our First Friday celebrations and
concentration upon the arts,” Torres adds.
“We sell our city…and we ignore the naysayers. Even in these
tough times, we are open for business,” says Torres.
Another gem in Canton’s economic development crown is the
Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems Center for global fuel-cell
research at Stark State College of Technology in North Canton.
And Torres has accomplished other impressive results. The city’s
previous administration had only five minority participants, now
there are 63. The city now works with numerous minority
contractors including those from Akron and Cleveland.
Torres and Healy also recently instituted the first Project
Labor Agreement in the state for civic projects including a
fire station and the city courtyard. The Project Labor Agreement
allows Canton to be able to use local labor in projects they
fund 100 percent. It has proven a boon in terms of supporting
local jobs.
Now Healy and Torres are taking their success story on the road.
“We were in Toledo three weeks ago to meet with the building
trades, the county commissioners, Joe McNamara and the school
board,” says Torres.
Although Mayor Healy personally knows President Barack Obama, it
is interesting to note that Canton’s stimulus funding is not
federal but comes through Columbus. As Torres points out, it was
the U.S. Conference of Mayors that instituted stimulus
requests and spearheaded the funding. It started with the big
city mayors, but there are major differences in the disbursement
depending upon whether the allocation is for a charter or rural
location.
La Prensa
asked Torres why he supported Mike Bell in Toledo’s
mayoral campaign. Torres replied that in supporting Bell, he was
not seeking a position with the city under the upcoming Bell
administration. He said he was not motivated by a desire to
return to Toledo despite his commuter marriage with Sonia
Troche, the Toledo-based executive director of Adelante,
Inc., and longtime community activist in both Toledo and
Cleveland.
“I
had absolutely no expectations of a job. I did it [supported
Bell] to benefit the city. I knew he would be a progressive
mayor. Remember, I served in city government with Mike for 13
years. I knew Mike was the person to do it. I talked to Mike
and told him I’d be happy to support you,” says Torres.
“Mike is a person with leadership. I think Mike is the right
person for the city at this time. Toledo needs someone to look
to and who will provide leadership. Mike believes in working
together with other communities. He knows that the success of
Northwest Ohio is the success of the City of Toledo and
especially its industries. Mike is a collaborative manager,”
adds Torres.
An economic development professional for over 20 years, Torres
specializes in the coordination of new business development
projects using loans and grants from public and private funding
sources.
Prior to joining the development team for the City of Toledo, he
served in the administration of then-Mayor Jack Ford as
Director of the Toledo Youth Commission. During this time
period, he also acted in a dual capacity as director of the
city’s office of latino affairs from 2003 to 2006 (called the
Hispanic Affairs Commission, or HAC—the HAC’s directorship
position was eliminated by soon-to-be retiring Mayor Carty
Finkbeiner).
In addition to his official duties for the City of Toledo,
Torres was elected to the Toledo Public Schools Board of
Education in 2005, and later went on to be that body's vice
president until he resigned in 2008 to accept Mayor Healy's
appointment.
Torres graduated from Bowling Green State University with
his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Public
Administration after serving in the United States Marine Corps
from 1986 to 1988 and again during the Desert Storm conflict
from 1989 to 1990. He is a member of the President’s Leadership
Academy Advisory Committee at BGSU, and is the first Chair of
Adelante, Inc.’s Board of Directors, which was founded by Jack
Ford.
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