Latrobe Specialty Steel was awarded a Contingency Grant from the Ohio Department of Development for creating 31 new full-time jobs and retaining existing jobs at its Wauseon plant. The company will use the grant to purchase new equipment for its growing precision wire manufacturing business at Wauseon. According to Latrobe Specialty Steel, the company will further expand capacity this summer with the installation of technologically advanced hydrogen atmosphere furnaces. The expansion will cost approximately $3 million. At Wauseon, Latrobe makes two product groups: Edgewire and precision stainless steel wire.

The industrial bimetal saw market buys Edgewire, an enhanced value-added, small-diameter, rectangular, high-speed-steel wire. The market, previously served by European producers, includes manufacturers of band saws, hacksaws, reciprocating saws, hole saws and utility knives. Latrobe sources the high-speed steel from its Pennsylvania steel mill. For precision stainless steel wire, Latrobe melts the stainless steel in Pennsylvania, ships it to Wauseon and then draws the wire to the exact standards demanded by its customers in the market for implantable medical devices.