Company building bridges to add jobs

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - The sign outside Composite Advantage's new facility isn't much to look at because it's still not finished yet, but nowhere will you find a better sign of an expanding business.

"We got to the point where we were out growing our facility on Kaiser Street so we needed more space," says owner Scott Reeve.

The sign could wait, the work couldn't.

Already Composite Advantage is using its new Troy Street facility.

The company is hiring 30 workers, many from the nearby neighborhood.

"That works out real well," Reeve says. "Some of them can walk to work."

Among other things that it does, Composite Advantage helps build bridges.

The bridge-building is appropriate considering the way Composite Advantage ended up with its added facility was city officials helping it bridge the gap with a $75,000 grant and a $30,000 zero interest loan.

The money will help fix up the building that used to belong to ABC Supply.

"It needs a new roof," Reeve says. "We need new heating in there. We need electrical upgrades to run our equipment."

And of course there's the matter of that sign.

But for now it remains a sign that the economy, like the business, maybe in the process of growing.

"Things have been picking up," Reeve says. "Everybody's still cautious."

The company will repay the loan over the next five years.