Local manufacturing business to acquire parcel on former Davey Drill site

Copen Machine, a manufacturing company in Kent, is planning to acquire three parcels of land located on 200 W. Williams St. 

The parcels, which border the Erie Railroad tracks along Mogadore Road, were the subject of a zoning debate a few months ago.

Extensive remediation is required due to the amount of environmental contaminants on the site, including lead and other hazardous materials. There is currently a $250,000 brownfield restoration grant being used to fund remediation on the site, with Kent City Council providing a grant match of $125,000. 

At the Feb. 4 regular council committee meeting, Kent City Council approved a $450,000 loan request from Copen Machine in order to purchase the property from the current owner, Hometown Bank. 

The loan would be paid back in seven to nine years, and remediation to industrial standards would take at least three years, according to Community Development Director Bridget Susel. 

The purchase of the parcels would allow Copen Machine to expand, employing more people in one of the few remaining industrial sectors in downtown Kent.  

“With the acquisition of the railyard, we will be able to satisfy not only our long-term business growth needs, but also many of the needs that the neighbors expressed concerns of in the South End. I know many of the neighbors and we care greatly about it,” CEO Travis Copen said at the meeting.

Copen Machine currently employs around four dozen employees, several of which are Kent Roosevelt graduates. Copen’s long-term goal is to develop the site into a state-of-the-art manufacturing campus.

Some council members expressed concern about increased traffic in the area once the building is up and running, but Copen said increased traffic would likely not be a problem.