CoRP (Community Revitalizing Paulding) hosted a press conference, Dave Burtch, chairman, presented, on Jan. 14. Attending city offcials were Paulding Village Mayor Greg White and Paulding County Commissioner Clint Vance. Also in attendance were media outlets: West Bend News, FOX 55 and The Paulding County Progress.

The press conference was held in the old Masonic lodge building on the southeast side of the courthouse square. The old Masonic building will be home to Union State Bank, presently in the Small Business Innovation Center. Down the block, Grounded, a coffee shop is preparing to open this summer.

Ashley and Mitch Maibach, Paulding, presented their plans for a new coffee shop. Ashley and Mitch share a passion for coffee. They spent a significant amount of time in Fort Wayne and want to bring their coffee experiences to Paulding so that local residents can share their decadent coffee experiences. Ashley was asked what brought she and her husband to Paulding. She responded, “I grew up down the road. [The] properties around here were coming up on the market…God planted us here for a reason.”

Mitch spoke briefly about what additional plans they had in store for the coffee shop. “[The] patio is an amazing space. We would love to have live music and food trucks.” He went onto explain that he is a musician and has connections locally and Fort Wayne.

They discussed the menu. The menu will not only have coffee, lattes, cappuccinos but there will also be baked goods. Ashley stated that she has had an in home baking business for years and will be selling those goods in the shop. Until she gets a solid feel for what will sell she will do a lot of testing products. Priscilla Kadolph, editor, asked, “what is your niche? There are already a handful of coffee shops in the county. What separates you from the rest?” She responded that their focus will be on how the coffee is made; they are bringing techniques such as pour over and micro brewing to the community.”

Brian Young, President of Union Bank, spoke next. He stated, “you know you are successful when the youth want to come back.” He is proud to be part of Paulding county. He stated that the one building he never thought could serve them, the Masonic lodge, is exactly where they ended up. He talked a little bit about his background. He started in Putnam County, moved out to the west coast and ended back up in the mid-west once he started a family. He was excited to come to Paulding county and once he solidified his team, Abbey Hornish, Stacy Reinbolt and Leslie Townley, he knew it would be perfect fit.

He spoke about the future plans of the old Masonic building. He stated that they intend to keep original architecture and be mindful what is truly representative to Paulding County. Kadolph asked what are the logistic for a drive-thru. Young responded, “drivers will turn into the bank from US 127 and would exit South Wayne Street.” He further elaborated that there is a drive through service on the north side of town. It’s similar to an ATM, but techonolgy offers the ability to communicate with a teller, which expands the services available when driving up.

Young and Hornish were asked if there would be a mural on the outside wall of the building (that faces southwest). She stated, “it’s definitely something we will entertain.”

Mayor White spoke next. He expressed his excitement for both businesses. He stated that what is most exciting, though, “a year and a half ago this was just a dream; how that dream has come true. What I find exciting about it – the young people [are coming back to start businesses]. Thank you Mitch and Brian.”

Tim Copsey, Paulding County Economic Development Director, spoke next. He started his speech by emphasizing the importance of working together. He stated that “collaboration is how we get things done.” He stated that each village and township doing things independently is not how anything moves forward; but, working together as a county things will get done.

Lastly, Burtch spoke again. He announced that soon there will be water and sewage out on the farm property on the west side of town – out by North American Stamping Group. Having water and sewage access to that property will give investors the opportunity to invest in Paulding and contribute to the economy.

Paulding County residents keep your eyes and ears peeled for more news as our county economy continues to grow. It seems the future looks quite bright.

PAULDING, OH – The Dandelion Boutique retail store opened at 101 West Perry Street in Paulding, OH on August 1, 2020. Business owner Suzanna Hasch is offering a women’s and children’s clothing line. The store will carry many items Made in the USA. In addition, there will be several local crafters with items for sale as well as the ability for customers to place and pick up custom orders from participating crafters, providing a unique local shopping experience for both women and men.

The Dandelion Boutique already has an online shopping presence. Suzanna hopes to grow the business by opening the retail space and offering a customer loyalty program with discounts for continued purchases to returning customers.

Suzanna was born and raised in Paulding. Suzanna remembers what the courthouse square looked like as a child. “I loved riding my bike or walking uptown when I was younger, going to the Ben Franklin dime store for penny candy or to the Village Apothecary for fountain drinks. It saddens me to see it so empty now, not only for my kids, but for all area kids. They don’t get to feel that same sense of “community” or “belonging” that was around when I was younger. I’ve been talking with my family about opening a store for several years. Since ALCO closed there hasn’t been anything local to buy clothing items. I finally decided to take the leap this year which is how the Dandelion Boutique came to
be,” stated Hasch.

Suzanna and her husband James have been married about a year. They have three children; James Jr., Ashlyn and Liam, two dogs and numerous cats. Her Grandfather Leo McGrath was also a Paulding County Commissioner and a local farmer. The family still farms the property today. The store will be open Monday through Friday 8am-8pm and Saturday 10am-2pm to try and provide open hours for customers regardless of what shift you work. The Dandelion Boutique hopes to be an exciting destination for any customer from anywhere in Paulding County and beyond. You can find the store online now at www.dandelionboutique.net; on Facebook at Dandelion Boutique or #MyDandelionBoutiqueOH, Instagram DandelionBoutique2020 or email customerservice@dandelionboutique.net

The store will be located at 103 W. Perry Street in Paulding. They will be open Monday through Friday 1-5 pm for computer equipment drop-offs and purchases to local Paulding residents. Microtronix will review business and add hours and staff as the location grows.

Microtronix offers many different services through three divisions: IT, Hosting, and Website Design/Development. Through the IT Division, they do offer equipment sales including; PC’s, MAC’s, computer parts, upgrades, printers and more. They also offer computer and system repair. They provide business and industrial networking and cabling, along with enterprise-level networking equipment and installs. Microtronix offers IT support services for both business and personal use. They currently provide business to business remote support for customers as far away as Toledo!

From their Hosting Division, they provide dedicated servers for hospitals, banks, and other businesses to run off-site replication services, website hosting, business email hosting, virtual servers, and domain registrations. They are an accredited ICANN Registrar. Future plans include opening a data center in 2020 at a site yet to be determined!

From the Website and Development Division, Microtronix offers website design and e-commerce stores. They also provide custom software development for businesses. They work to help you with mobile app development for Android and iOS, logo design, search engine optimization, and online marketing, in addition to Google and Facebook Ad Management.

Starting the business in February 2001, they moved to their main Ottoville, Ohio offices in 2017, owner Joel DeVenney has built the business through dedication to both large and small customers, adjusting to their individual technology needs as necessary. Joel and his team have developed a large network of providers for each of the aforementioned divisions of service. With this network, if a customer’s IT service is not able to be internally fulfilled, one of their network providers can assist. The goal of Microtronix is to grow into a one-stop-shop for all IT needs, using all sources available to make this happen.

The Ottoville store will continue to carry the 8 am-5 pm hours with all services available by phone or in person, business services are available at their main offices during the hours stated.

Check out their corporate website at microtronixesolutions.com or their IT division at microtronix-tech.com. You can reach Joel and his team locally by phone at 419-458-2880 during the main office regular business hours, or you can contact them by email sales@microtronix-tech.com.

Paulding, Ohio welcomes Mighty Cube, LLC, a new business owned by Chad Manz and Klint Manz.  Chad and Klint believe that everyone should have their own personal garage and have an opportunity to organize and enjoy your home to the fullest.  They look forward to serving Paulding County and surrounding areas as a portable storage business that will deliver storage solutions to your doorstep.  Your Mighty Cube is a convenient and efficiently sized portable storage container measuring 20 feet long by 8 feet wide by 8 feet tall.  Mighty Cube on-site storage will give you convenient access to your belongings while you remodel your home, move to another home, spring clean or reorganize, or just need additional space.   With state of the art delivery equipment, your portable storage cube can be placed wherever you would like, whether in your driveway or your backyard.  You can fill up your storage cube and store it at your site or Mighty Cube can pick it up, store it for you at their location, and deliver it at a later date when you are ready for it.  Both short and long term rental solutions are available and, if you find that you can no longer live without your personal garage space, purchase options are also available.  You can visit Mighty Cube’s website at www.mightycubestorage.com or contact them by email at info@mightycubestorage.com and by phone at 419-771-9220 to reserve your storage cube today.