The giant machine might be anchored to the floor, but program everything right and it can fool a super-sized bearing into believing it’s 300 feet in the air.

The equipment occupies one-half of a bay in the Stark State College and Timken Co. Technology and Test Center. Timken researchers can run tests to find out how bearings will stand up under a variety of conditions that the machinery can simulate.

Many of those tests will simulate the high winds and other extreme conditions bearings endure perched on a tower supporting a wind turbine generator.

Stark State and Timken officials formally dedicated the building housing the test equipment during a ceremony Monday afternoon.

The testing machinery served as the backdrop for speakers during the program. Timken Chairman Ward J. “Tim” Timken Jr. said visitors have asked what the machinery does. He has a simple answer for them: “We torture big metal.

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There’s no question that Stark State College’s expanded presence in downtown Canton will be good for the city. Location of the Jackson Township school’s Satellite Center and Energy Institute to Third Street SE is expected to bring more than 1,000 students downtown.

As city officials note, this will be good for the restaurant scene and may spur new retail development.

Beyond that specific benefit, a substantial higher-education presence will change one of downtown’s two big minuses to a plus (the other is plentiful middle-income and upscale housing, though that, too, is showing signs of improvement).

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CANTON – A regional training hub for the oil and gas industry, set to land in the heart of the so-called “Utica Capital,” will bring at least 1,100 students downtown.

Stark State College is moving ahead with plans to buy the Cornerstone II building, 400 Third St. SE, for $4.9 million for its Downtown Canton Satellite Center and Energy Institute. The Ohio Controlling Board signed off on the purchase of the 18-year-old building and 1.32-acre site last week. AREF Canton LP bought the building in 2007 for $6.13 million.

While the building will house classrooms and computer labs, more land will be needed for field equipment, according to documents submitted to the Ohio Controlling Board.

Gas tank batteries, pump jacks, natural gas collections and distribution systems and other “industrial service equipment” will be part of the project once additional land is acquired. The size, cost and specific location for the field equipment has not yet been determined, said Stark State Marketing and Communications Director Irene Lewis Motts, but the land will be as close to the downtown campus as possible.

“We’re looking at several possibilities right now,” she said.

The campus could begin offering classes in late 2014 or early 2015.

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Stirling Ultracold Ultra-Low Freezer Wins 2013 Outstanding New Product Award at International Biorepository Conference

(Sydney, Australia; Athens, Ohio USA, May 14, 2013) The Stirling Ultracold Model SU780U ultra-low temperature freezer won the Outstanding New Product of the Year Award presented on May 8, 2013 by the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) at their annual meeting in Sydney, Australia. The award, given to one product annually, recognizes the company’s development and introduction of the world’s most energy efficient ultra-low temperature freezer, the Stirling Ultracold SU780U. The award was presented to Global Cooling’s CEO Neill Lane by ISBER President Katheryn E. Shea and Executive Officer Mark E. Sobel.

The award underscores the immediate impact on the $500 million ultra-low freezer industry associated with long-term storage of biologicals and other life forms in support of medical research, stem cell therapy, pharmaceutical development, drug discovery, environmental, life sciences, and biotechnology research. Ultra-low temperature storage requirements are increasing exponentially and an opportunity to dramatically reduce high energy and operating costs associated with this storage is now available. This 780 liter (27.5 cu. ft.) -80⁰C freezer offers users an array of new benefits while increasing safety, reliability, temperature performance and future viability of critical archived materials.

The Stirling Ultracold freezer is based on the industry’s first reliable ultra-low temperature cooling technology. The new freezer uses the Stirling Ultracold free-piston Stirling engine as an alternative to inefficient cascade refrigeration systems used in all competing products and offers unique sustainability benefits, using less than 20% of the refrigerant required by cascade systems. Unlike oil lubricated compressors, the Stirling engine operates with gas bearings which eliminate all wear. Independent customer tests confirm the value proposition and sustainability benefits assuring users that the Stirling Ultracold freezer offers unmatched temperature stability, better pull down from ambient, faster recovery following door openings, with lower operating and total life-cycle costs. This combination of energy efficiency and minimal use of refrigerants reduces the Stirling Ultracold carbon footprint to less than half that of any competing product.

The freezer and Stirling cooling engine are both manufactured in the United States at Global Cooling’s Athens, Ohio facility. In addition to the award-winning Model SU780U, Stirling Ultracold offers a range of unique Stirling cooled ultra-low temperature freezers including easily transportable Shuttle™ Model ULT-25N and the compact undercounter or benchtop SU105U freezer for small-volume storage.

For more information contact Neill Lane, CEO, nlane@stirlingultracold.com or call 740-274-7900.

COLUMBUS (May 15, 2013) – Emily D. Turner has been promoted to Vice President of Hicks Partners, LLC.  Turner has worked as an economic development project manager at the firm since 2008.

As a vice president, Turner will continue to lead economic development efforts by helping clients secure capital and to develop strategically as their business expands.  She has consulted on projects throughout Ohio and in multiple states and is an expert on state, local, and federal financial incentives, tax credits, grants and other assistance programs.

Turner is a Certified Economic Development Finance Professional.  She is a member of Bexley’s Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) and served on Bexley’s Alternative Revenue Task Force to develop concepts for alternative, non-tax, non-traditional revenue to help ensure the long-term financial stability of the City. Turner was heavily involved with organizing the Task Force’s recommended Statewide Alternative Revenue Summit held in October 2012.

Brian K. Hicks, President & CEO, said, “Emily Turner has been a indispensable member of our team for many years. Her economic development expertise has been extraordinarily valuable to our clients, and I am confident it will continue to be as our firm expands.”

Hicks Partners, LLC is a multidisciplinary business consulting firm providing public relations, government affairs, business and economic development services to corporate and nonprofit clients.

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Contact: Brian K. Hicks, President & CEO, (614) 221-2800

The Cornerstone II Building has been selected as the site for Stark State College’s new Satellite Center and Energy Institute. The board of trustees approved the $4.9 million purchase at its meeting Wednesday night.

Cornerstone’s location at 400 Third St. SE in downtown Canton was a prime selling point, according to Stark State President Para M. Jones.

The building will serve as a regional training hub for workers in the oil and gas industry.

“We’re so excited. It’s a beautiful building, an excellent choice,” said spokeswoman Irene Motts. “It’s central, so convenient for our students. We hope, like the name says, it will become a cornerstone for Canton.”

Funding for the purchase comes from a $10 million capital appropriation from the state. The remaining $5.1 million will be used for renovations and improvements, as well as equipment purchases.

“The board of trustees carefully evaluated numerous downtown locations, taking into consideration the needs of our students and academic programs, room for possible future growth, interstate access and the impact of our satellite center on downtown revitalization,” said Jones in a release.

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Another link in an industrial chain Ohio hopes to see growing around the Utica Shale play was added Tuesday with the opening of a factory in Youngstown that builds natural gas processing equipment.

Houston-based Exterran Holdings Inc. said it built the 65,000-square-foot plant in northeast Ohio to be close to the Appalachian shale gas and oil plays. It has been supplying the region’s gas and oil operators from its Texas and Oklahoma plants.

“Our customers are actively participating in the development and production of oil and gas in this region, including the Marcellus and Utica shale plays, making this a natural geographic fit for us,” said Exterran President and CEO Brad Childers. The $13 million plant will ship its first completed units in about three weeks and will have 100 employees at full capacity, the company said.

Low prices for natural gas and gas liquids products, and a lack of infrastructure links to downstream processing and markets, have slowed drilling in the Marcellus and Utica plays. The latest well data from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources recorded 639 Utica wells permitted, 311 drilled but only 89 producing.

But the initial construction of gathering networks, processing and pipelines continues, as has expansion in a wide variety of supply and service industries, Ohio officials said.

“Exterran was the first win we had,” said Jacob Duritsky, managing director for research at Team Northeast Ohio, a nonprofit economic development firm that is trying to coax Gulf Coast companies to open in Ohio.

Direct employment in shale gas and oil production is still a fraction of the state’s total workforce. But investment and job growth related to the hydrocarbon development continue to climb. Cleveland Plus, another state economic promotion nonprofit, cites the $650 million expansion of V&M Star’s pipe production plant in Youngstown, a $310 million modernization at Timken Co.’s Canton plant and a $64 million Baker Hughes Inc. well drilling services plant in Massillon as examples.

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CANTON —

Steel is what drilling companies use to cut through a mile of dirt and rock to reach oil and natural gas deposits.

Often the steel doing the cutting was made in a Timken Co. mill.

Drill bits, steerable mud motors, stabilizers, tool joints and heavy wall pipe are among the products used by drilling companies that are made from Timken’s alloy steel.

Oil and gas drilling is only one energy business that uses a variety of Timken products.

The company is involved in most segments of the energy business, said Hans Landin, Timken’s vice president for business advancement. For many years Timken has provided bearings for the coal business, as well as steel and bearings for oil and gas drilling. Now the company is working with the wind turbine industry, developing bearings that help create renewable energy.

“With everything that’s moving, turning, you’re going to find a Timken product,” said Amanda Montgomery, director for marketing and product management.

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Gov. John Kasich announced yesterday the approval of $2.27 million in funding to further develop medical research as an economic engine for Ohio.

The money was approved on Wednesday by the Industrial Technology and Enterprise Advisory Council, which is part of the state’s Development Services Agency.

Case Western Reserve University will receive nearly $2 million to lead the Ohio Clinical Trials Collaborative, which also includes Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati, according to a news release.

University officials have expressed interest in launching a statewide clinical-trials platform that could give patients quicker access to innovative treatments and give Ohio an edge in attracting clinical studies.

The council also approved:

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HOUSTON, April 15, 2013– Spectra Energy Corp has been named to Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s prestigious “100 Best Corporate Citizens List” for 2013, ranking 13th overall and highest among energy companies included on the list.

“We’re honored to be recognized as a Best Corporate Citizen for the third consecutive year,” said Greg Ebel, president and chief executive officer, Spectra Energy Corp. “With their commitment to the company’s sustainability goals, our employees help Spectra Energy achieve the right balance among economic, environmental and social considerations that are critical to our stakeholders.”

The “100 Best Corporate Citizens List,” which rates large-cap Russell 1000 companies, documents 298 data points of disclosure in seven categories: environment, climate change, employee relations, human rights, governance, finance and philanthropy.

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