When it comes to economic development, attracting new businesses to a community is a highly desirable goal. After all, when a new business comes to town, it often means that a building will be constructed or a vacant structure will be occupied again. New businesses also bring additional jobs to a community, which puts more people to work and helps to strengthen an area’s economy in various ways. However, amid all the excitement that accompanies the arrival of new commercial enterprises, the contributions that existing businesses make to their communities shouldn’t be overlooked. For example, Avery Dennison recently expanded its Chester Street campus in Painesville, adding jobs and capacity to its Performance Tapes division. Production in the approximately 32,000-square-foot space began in August, said David Collins, vice president and general manager for Avery Dennison Performance Tapes North America. He expects that the new space will add about 36 jobs, The News-Herald’s Bryson Durst reported. “We wanted to grow, first and foremost, and we wanted to basically increase our capabilities with a state-of-the-art asset,” Collins said. The expanded facility will mainly work on “pressure-sensitive specialty tapes” for clients in North America, he said. The tapes that it manufactures are used for items like cars, industrial packaging, building and construction. “You typically would find these if you took apart, I would say, different things that you might buy out there where a tape is holding things together or providing some sort of additional benefits in terms of noise dampening, vibration dampening,” Collins said. “Sometimes, electrical, dielectric strength, flame retardancy.” The company first announced the new facility expansion in 2021. It said in a news release that it had received support from Painesville, JobsOhio and regional economic development organization TeamNEO. Collins described recent improvements to Chester Street as “a perfect example” of how the city supported the company with infrastructure improvements. “It was a little bit like an off-road course before and now we have a nice new road and improved infrastructure, as well, to support the needs of that,” he said. The company held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new facility at the end of September. According to Collins, the company has a long history in the city. “Our business is in Painesville, and it just made sense to leverage that and all the skill sets that we have in Painesville from a people standpoint, relationship with the city and the county standpoint,” he said. “And obviously the partnership we have made it, I wouldn’t say a no-brainer, but made it an easy decision.” He said that the company has already filled 25 of the expected 36 jobs at the new site. “We still have 10-plus open positions that we are continuing to look to fill, with a great opportunity for people to learn and develop a skill set associated with it,” Collins said. “These are not easy things to work on,” he added. “Usually, our training program can be anywhere from three to six months in order for somebody to properly run the equipment with a team, and this equipment takes a team of people to run. It’s valuable skills for both us but also for the individual, as they progress with a career.” Avery Dennison Senior Human Resources Manager Erica Schleicher said that people looking to apply for a job at the company can visit its website, averydennison.com, and view the career page. Applicants can also request to receive job notifications when a position tied to their interests becomes open. “We’re extremely excited about having this. We’re extremely excited about the opportunities it provides us, and really look forward to continuing to create more jobs in the area as we grow,” Collins said. “These type of things, you build them, they don’t fill themselves automatically on day one, so there’s a nice runway here for us to continue to grow and be part of the city of Painesville,” he added. The News-Herald congratulates Avery Dennison on expanding its operations and adding more jobs at its Painesville campus. The company’s achievement clearly illustrates how existing businesses can play a vital role in strengthening a community’s economy.