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Our region received some good news Monday when Cleveland-Cliffs announced plans to bring a new electrical distribution transformer production facility to Weirton.
Set to begin operations sometime in the first half of 2026, the facility has a goal of employing 600 workers, with an investment of $150 million - including $50 million from the state.
This will be an opportunity for many -- but not all -- of the 900 USW employees who lost their jobs with the idling of Weirton's tin mill earlier this year to potentially return to work if they would so choose.
That's important, community leaders and industry officials indicated during Monday's announcement about the project.
"As a result, good-paying steelworker jobs will be back where they belong -- in the Ohio Valley," Mike Vitello, a representative of USW Local 2911, said.
It also means the repurposing of a currently unused facility in the Half Moon Industrial Park, bringing more activity to that area of the city.
The idling of the tin mill was a huge step backward for the Tri-State Area at a time when it appeared things were finally moving forward. This announcement takes the area a little closer to being on even ground, with the hope that future development will lead to continued growth, something the region definitely needs.
It's also a win for Cleveland-Cliffs, as the company has noted grain oriented electrical steel from its Butler Works in Pennsylvania, as well as stainless and carbon steel produced at its facilities in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, will be used in the manufacturing of these transformers.
None of this will happen over night, of course. Production equipment will need to be purchased and installed.
Processes will be need to be put in place to cover the hiring -- or rehiring -- and training of workers, who will need to become accustomed to the differences between manufacturing tinplate and fabricating transformers.
On a related note, questions remain about the fate of the tin mill itself. The focus for the new operation appears to be in Half Moon, which means the facility in the northern part of the city will, for now, continue to sit empty.
Those concerns will be addressed in the future, but for now, it's good to see Cleveland-Cliffs investing in the community a move that will help bring jobs back and will help to fuel additional growth.