Smithville, Ohio-Tyler Grain & Fertilizer Co. is about to put a new $1.5 million fertilizer storage facility into service, and the owners and employees proudly proclaim it has been entirely self-financed with no government help. In fact, there’s a sign on the project proclaiming “This Project Funded by Hard Working Americans. NO County or State Abatements, NO STIMULUS MONEY.” For its feisty owner and company president Walter Tyler, not accepting any help is the “old-fashioned way of doing business; the way it’s supposed to be done.” Tyler was off deer hunting and unavailable to talk about the specifics, but one of his long-time employees, Norm Troyer, told Green Markets the new dry fertilizer storage, which has 91,000-square-feet of space, is 43-feet high and will hold nearly 7,000 tons, is complete and ready for use. “We’re just waiting for the final building inspection before starting it up,” Troyer reported. He said it’s one of the many expansions the business has gone through in the last 12 years to keep up with growth of the agriculture community. “I get sick and tired of these companies that won’t do anything unless someone pays them to do it,” Tyler told the local press recently. “I don’t believe in it [loans or stimulus funding]. I think that people that get it get it at an unfair advantage.” Actually, Walter Tyler is semi-retired and shifting the responsibilities for the business to son William, company vice president, who noted that the expansion has moved along smoothly since it was started in June with removal of the old small storage facility behind the main building. His goal was getting everything up and closed-in before winter.
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