Business Roundup: Two breweries announce plans for new locations

“This new site has a rich history in the Mason community and the building itself has such a unique story. We want to pay homage to that history while bringing some new life to the space,” said Nick Bowman, co-founder and vice president of sales and marketing. “We are excited to join the Mason community and be part of its growing brewery scene.”

The announcement comes just less than a year after Warped Wing opened its second location, The Warped Wing Barrel Room & Smokery, in Springboro.

The new facility will not only feature a small pilot brewing system, beers on tap, 6-pack cans and bottles to-go, but will also offer a full service dining experience similar to that of the Warped Wing Barrel Room & Smokery located in Springboro, according to the release.

Construction begins on Preble County brewery

Construction started last week on a new $2.4 million Preble County brewery called Lost Railroad Brewhaus at 450 Western Ave. in Lewisburg.

The brew pub is bringing to life a dream of father-son team, Richard and Adam Ewing. “Tapping into the German heritage held by Richard Ewing’s wife, the menu at Lost Railroad Brewhaus will have an ‘authentic in every way’ German flair, with a family-friendly atmosphere where guests can enjoy a meal with their favorite beverage,” according to a release from the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce.

“We’re thrilled to support the vision of these entrepreneurs who truly took their passion and ran with it. Adam and Richard have been working on this project for a long time, and it’s exciting to see it come to fruition,” said Holly Allen, vice president of marketing & communication, Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce. “Lost Railroad Brewhaus will be an asset to Lewisburg, and the Dayton region as a whole.”

Once completed, the 10,000-square-foot brewery will be furnished with wooden tables hand-made by the Ewings. About half of the facility’s space will be used for service, while the rest will be used for beer production.

“We visited some brew pubs and thought, ‘We can do this,’ so we started the journey,” said Richard Ewing.

People are encouraged to follow Lost Railroad’s progress at lostrailroadbrewhaus.com.

Chick-fil-A opens new Huber Heights location

The Dayton area’s latest Chick-fil-A restaurant welcomed its first customers last week.

Chick-fil-A opened Wednesday, Aug. 18, at 8120 Old Troy Pike in Huber Heights. The new location will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

“Kevin Weaver, the local franchise owner, is looking forward to welcoming and serving Dayton and the surrounding communities,” according to a statement from Chick-fil-A.

The restaurant will bring approximately 125 full-time and part-time jobs to the surrounding community.

Lebanon considers moratorium on pot dispensaries

A new rule by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy would increase the number of medical marijuana dispensary licenses from one to seven in the district that includes Warren, Clinton and Clermont counties.

The new rule has prompted Lebanon City Council to consider imposing a 180-day moratorium for further study and evaluation.

The state Board of Pharmacy approved adding 73 more dispensary licenses on April 19 to the 57 current licenses already created. That would bring the total of licenses that could be issued to 130 after the next application round is completed. According to the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program’s website, 55 of the original 57 licenses have already been awarded.

Warren, Clinton and Clermont counties are in one of the 31 dispensary zones in the state. There is one dispensary in the zone which is located in Lebanon, About Wellness Ohio, 1525 Genntown Drive, Suite B. The next closest dispensary would be Strawberry Fields, 300 N. Main St. in Monroe.

During a work session Monday, Lebanon City Council discussed imposing a 180-day moratorium on locating a dispensary in Lebanon pending further review. Council is expected to vote on the proposed moratorium at its Tuesday meeting.

It will not be the first time council has considered a moratorium. In 2017, council spent several months debating whether it should impose a moratorium. Council ended the debate by letting the proposed legislation die without a vote.

City Manager Scott Brunka said Lebanon’s zoning code allows medical marijuana dispensaries to be located anywhere a pharmacy can go. He said council could impose the moratorium for more time to study the issue.

Owner of Kettering card shop dies

A Kettering businessman who graduated from Centerville High School has died.

John T. DeClark, of Dayton, passed away after an extended illness Aug. 14 at Hospice of Butler and Warren Counties at the age 67, according to his obituary.

He was the owner and operator of DeClark’s Card and Gift Shop in the Town & Country Shopping Center in Kettering.

He was born on Aug. 12, 1954 in Dayton to the late Lawrence and Ruth DeClark.

DeClark was a 1972 graduate of CHS. He pursued a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Cincinnati, according to his obituary.

He then became a sales representative for Pfaltzgraff, covering southern Ohio, Kentucky and southern Indiana.

DeClark joined the family business at Town & Country in 1985 and — at his passing — he was the owner and operator of the store, his obituary states.

Kroger/Google partnering on project

Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. and Google Maps have announced an app integration partnership they say will “streamline” grocery shopping.

It works this way: When you order groceries from participating Kroger Dayton locations via the Google Map app, you can add your order and destination store to Google Maps.

When it’s time to leave, Google Maps will send you a notification and let you share your arrival time with the store.

Your estimated time of arrival will be continuously shared with the store, “helping the store prioritize your order so that it’s ready as soon as you get there,” as Google put it in a release. “There’s no need to call, wait times are shorter, and your groceries are kept refrigerated (if needed) right until they’re placed into your car.”

These Kroger locations in Dayton, Huber Heights and Kettering are participating, according to Google:

· 2921 W. Alex Bell Road.

· 3520 W. Siebenthaler Ave.

· 4506 Brandt Pike.

· 7747 Troy Pike.

· 530 E. Stroop Road.

· 2115 E. Dorothy Lane.

In all, the functionality is being offered at nearly 100 stores in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, the company said.

Demand for no-contact, curbside pickup exploded during the pandemic and continues to be popular, even with pandemic restrictions lifted, Google said.

Stats from March 2020 show that Americans were using Google Maps to search for “curbside pickup” nearly 9,000% more than they were a year prior.

AES Ohio requesting rate increase

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has set a hearing date in what could be AES Ohio’s first rate increase since 2015 — and PUCO staff has recommended granting the electric utility a rate boost far smaller than it originally sought.

A PUCO staff report has recommended reducing the annual revenue requested by AES Ohio by nearly half — from $120,771,561 to a range between $61,115,418 to $66,665,151, said Matt Schilling, a spokesman for PUCO.

If the commission passes what PUCO staff has recommended, a customer using 750 kilowatt-hours a month would see a 5.47% increase.

The increase sought by AES Ohio — formerly Dayton Power & Light (DP&L) — would have amounted to a 14.3% increase.

One kilowatt-hour is enough to watch TV for 10 hours or run a vacuum cleaner for an hour.

The case has been scheduled for an evidentiary hearing at PUCO’s Columbus offices beginning Oct. 4 . A pretrial hearing is set for Sept. 16.

A PUCO staff report is not final. The commission is expected to make a ruling after the hearing.

DP&L’s last distribution rate case was in 2015.

Miami County companies expanding

A pair of Miami County employers are planning substantial expansions.

Auto parts producer F&P America, on Corporate Drive in Troy, with Bellefontaine-based Humble Construction, have applied for a 36,109-square-foot expansion, one valued at $3 million, recent Miami County records indicate.

And Piqua Materials, a producer of construction aggregates and industrial mineral fillers, have applied to build a new mill, an addition to an existing operation, at 6025 Piqua Troy Road, a 3,600-square-foot project valued at $3.8 million, records also show. The mill will process limestone.

The contractor in that project is Aggregate Processing, out of Brooks, Kentucky.

F&P America Manufacturing makes suspension parts for General Motors, Honda, Toyota and original equipment manufacturers in the auto industry.

Seven years ago, when GM was turning to lighter, but stronger, steels for its vehicles, F&P invested $26 million into two new servo metal-stamping presses — a 3,000-ton press and a 1,000-ton press — at the company’s 2101 Corporate Drive plant.

Joseph Graves, president of the Troy Area Chamber of Commerce, said F&P America has signed up to be part of the Miami County job fair.

The hiring event is rapidly approaching capacity limit of 74 businesses, Graves said. The event will be 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 26 at Hobart Arena in Troy. Job-seekers are invited to simply “show up and attend,” he said.

Hobart Arena is at 255 Adams St., Troy.