Staff photo / Patrick E. Litowitz Kimberly-Clark officials Trey Simpson, center, and Branch Sinkule, right, speak with Michael McGiffin on Wednesday at Lake to River Economic Development’s annual meeting at the Eastwood Event Centre in Niles. McGiffin is Lake to River’s vice president of engagement and investor relations.

NILES — A customer base of 117 million awaits Kimberly-Clark when its 1 million-square-foot manufacturing facility begins operations.

Representatives of the multinational personal care products company addressed an audience of approximately 350 during Wednesday’s Lake to River Economic Development annual meeting at the Eastwood Event Centre.

Branch Sinkule, the company’s senior director of government relations, and Trey Simpson, Warren plant manager, highlighted project developments.

Early in the process, Sinkule said, Kimberly-Clark opened one of its manufacturing plants for a tour.

“The community interviewed Kimberly-Clark,” Sinkule said. “Community leaders made the trip to South Carolina in 2022 to see our plant there, to see our technology, our people. …

“We thought it was fundamental for the community to know what they were signing up for with Kimberly-Clark and to be accessible and transparent about who we are as a company.”

Construction began on the 560-acre site in May 2025, with completion slated later in the year. Sinkule said 60% to 70% of the construction workers are from the Mahoning Valley.

When the plant starts operations in the next few years, close to 500 jobs will be filled with an annual payroll of $49.1 million.

Eight workers have been hired for the facility, with 150 more expected to be in place by year’s end.

“We’re on our second wave of interviewing,” Simpson said. “We’re looking for individuals who want to do more, that want to continue to grow.”

Sinkule was quick to stress the importance of government leaders along with state and local partners, such as JobsOhio, Lake to River and the Western Reserve Port Authority, to the project.

“Obviously a project of this scale would not have happened absent a lot of support …” he said. “So we see this as the beginning of this partnership.

“We would not acquire that amount of acreage if we didn’t think that this could be a long-term opportunity to grow our company here in this community.”