Businessman Jerry Alcott prepares to cut the ribbon to open the new Alcott Industrial Parkway and Alcott Drive in Mount Sterling. Business representatives and local, county and state officials were on hand for the June 12 ceremony.
(Posted June 19, 2015)
By Sandi Latimer, Staff Writer
Business representatives and local, county and state officials cut a green ribbon June 12 to recognize the opening of Alcott Industrial Parkway and Alcott Drive in Mount Sterling.
The roads, located off O’Day Harrison Road, are named for Jerry Alcott, a leading force in business development in the area. Alcott is chief executive officer of the trucking company BST and president of Mount Sterling Holdings LLC.
Through the latter, Alcott built a 100,000 square-foot addition to the facility he leases to Keihin Thermal Technology, which ships air conditioning parts for the automotive industry. The facility is located on what is now known as Alcott Drive. The addition, completed last year, cost $5 million.
“Of all the projects I’ve worked on, this by far was the easiest,” Alcott said.
The expansion allowed Keihin to bring its operations in Indiana to Ohio, resulting in 90 new jobs and the retention of 249 jobs, according to David Kell, executive director of Madison Future Inc., the economic development arm of the Madison County Chamber of Commerce.
Keihin arrived in Mount Sterling in 2001 with one warehouse, said company president Scott Mortimer. It expanded last October.
“This road is dedicated to Jerry who foresaw the future for Keihin,” said State Rep. Bob Hackett who opened the dedication ceremony by reading proclamations from both chambers of the Ohio Legislature.
Construction of Alcott Industrial Parkway was a joint venture between the state and village of Mount Sterling. Jobs Ohio put up $80,000 of the cost; the village added the remaining $40,000.
Lowell Anderson, village council president, called the road, which currently measures about three-quarters of a mile long, a dream that began decades ago.
“Maybe the rest won’t be as long (to come to fruition),” he said.
Anderson was referring to the plan to extend the road to U.S. Route 62 to serve as a truck bypass.
“We’ll have to get the land and get financing,” he said.
Business and government leaders said a bypass would help to ease traffic problems plaguing the community.
Mayor Charlie Neff said a bypass “would keep the trucks off the sidewalk.” When making the sharp turns in the downtown area, trucks have been known to cut over sidewalks, take out storefront awnings and run over large flowerpots,
