Security drives new industry

By TIM PRESTON

WORTHINGTON — Everyone attending Monday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony at the former Ashland Inc. hangar in Worthington agreed: Bringing Portable Solutions Group and Price Solutions from a small location near Olive Hill to the massive manufacturing space at the Ashland Regional Airport will be a “win-win” scenario for all involved.

With 20 employees already at work, company spokesmen said they expect to add 30 additional workers including welders, carpenters and laborers to their workforce and soon expand operations to two shifts.

“This is regional growth. We will maintain jobs from Carter County and create new jobs here,” said Carter County Judge-Executive Charles Wallace as the crowd gathered and got a glimpse at the secured entry point units manufactured and marketed by the two companies.

Wallace explained the company had been doing business in the Soldier community of Carter County for many years but required much more space than was available to continue growing.

Greenup County Judge Executive Bobby Carpenter credited Wallace and many others including the Greenup County Fiscal Court and the airport board for their collaborative effort to keep the operations in Kentucky.

“I hope you stay here until you retire,” Carpenter said to the workers and company executives in the crowd. After the ceremony, Carpenter said he knew the combined companies would be “a great fit,” for the area, and that the former Ashland Inc. hangar would be an ideal place for them to do their jobs.

“This is really something that will help the airport board, the community and the county,” Carpenter said, explaining Ashland Inc. gave the county the large building 11 years ago and it has since been the financial responsibility of the regional airport board to maintain the site. “I’m just happy.”

State Sen. Robin Webb agreed the relocation and expansion will benefit the entire region, and added a vote of confidence regarding the work ethic the companies can expect of local employees.

What is good for the one is good for all, Webb said.

State Rep. Tonya Pullin said she is confident companies like Portable Solutions Group and Price Solutions will lead the way in helping the local economy rebound.

“I believe it’s going to be our strong small businesses that carry us out of our economic doldrums,” Pullin said. “Most big businesses started out as small businesses. We sometimes underestimate small businesses. As small businesses grow we will grow with them.”

Purchasing Agent Ronnie Cooley said the combined companies have manufactured and marketed units which are now in place at high-security spots worldwide. Cooley explained that Price Solutions manufactures secure-entry point units, with power plants as their primary customer, while Portable Solutions Group markets those units for a variety of applications.

The secure-entry units begin life as steel shipping containers or sea boxes, Cooley said, and are modified to meet the needs of the customer. Those needs can be as simple as turnstiles and time clocks or include components as advanced as hand and iris scanning technology.

“We’ve sent them all over the world,” Cooley said, citing a list of foreign lands including several nations in the Middle East where their units are already in place.

Speaking on behalf of his boss David Price, Cooley said it is a good company to work for.

“It’s a job you stay at. We don’t have any turnover,” Cooley said.

David Price, who arrived moments after Cooley complimented the company’s management, said they research and develop each unit in addition to manufacturing them “from conception to on-site delivery,” according to the needs of their clients, including the Marathon Refinery in Catlettsburg.

“It’s all in the name of ground-level security,” Price said, explaining their units have been designed for diverse uses including bathroom facilities.

Ashland Alliance President Jim Purgerson said the relocation and expansion represents the growth of an industry that did not exist a few years ago.

“No one would have thought of this years ago,” he said, citing the need for increased security in the days of homeland security and corporate interests.

Put simply, Purgerson said the secure-entry point units manufactured here are applicable “anywhere you have a great deal of fencing and it has to be secure,” and suitable for use in places ranging from football stadiums to nuclear power plants.

TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2651.

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