Mosier Industrial Services became the new tenant of the South Street Commerce Center in April. Since then, Mosier has transformed the building into an industrial powerhouse. There are banks of heavy rigging equipment, tow motors, and industrial cranes in the three bays it uses, and two subtenants have rented other areas of the building.

The City of Galion owns the property. “It takes an innovative company like Mosier to envision how a building like this can be re-used,” Mayor Tom O’Leary said while taking a tour of the facility on Thursday. “We’re hopeful they will make Galion their permanent home.”

Mosier is headquartered in Crestline and has been a family-owned and operated company for more than 30 years. A Mosier representative, who asked to be unnamed, explained Mosier is not a traditional business. Main operations are heavy rigging for loading and unloading large material, and industrial service work which includes setting up and decommissioning factories.

“We do any work in an industrial setting. We’re a unique business,” the Mosier representative said. They work across the country in steel mills, power plants, and other industrial facilities. Some employees are currently at a steel mill in Lima getting it back into operation.

At the Commerce Center, there are currently 12 positions and Mosier intends to hire at least 25 more. A CDL license is preferred and candidates must be able to travel. Visit www.mosierindustrial.com for more information.

While not on a project site, employees at the Galion location unload large equipment for storage in the building’s vast bays, such as 70,000-pound containers of electrical switching gears. They also focus on repurposing old industrial equipment, including an 800-horse power motor from a steel mill.

Mosier’s eventual goal is to have 100 percent of its rigging equipment housed at the Commerce Center and sell repurposed materials out of it. Mosier has also outgrown its current machining and fabricating facility. The Commerce Center building is 284,731 square feet but Mosier requires higher ceilings for those operations; the surrounding 28 acres of ground would offer space to build a facility to meet its requirements.

The Commerce Center was gifted to the city in late 2015, after HTI closed. Next Generation Films, based in Lexington, then signed a one-year lease for warehousing operations while it constructed a new facility. “We were able to get a client right out of the shoot. Then as Next Gen was moving out, Mosier was moving equipment in,” O’Leary said.

Crawford County Economic Development Director Gary Frankhouse assisted the city in showing the building and recruiting Mosier last spring. Mosier signed a lease on April 7 for a two-year term with an option to purchase the property. The company pays $10,500 per month in rent and pays all utilities and property taxes. The City made critical building repairs and installed new lighting in one bay. Mosier has installed new lighting in two additional bays.

Under the lease agreement, Mosier is also able to have subtenants. Independence Excavating is renting space while working on a project for First Energy. Another subtenant is Flashover Maintenance, a commercial landscaper that will employ 12 people. There is space for two to three more subtenants, which Frankhouse He is continuing to recruit additional subtenants.