Peloton pulls production plans from NW Ohio
By Terry Troy
As a part of an overall restructuring, Peloton Interactive is abandoning its plans to build a state-of-the-art production facility in Troy Township, which is in Wood County in Northwest Ohio.
In May of last year, the provider of the leading interactive fitness platform with a community of more than 6.6 million subscribers, announced plans to build a $400 million facility on more than 200 acres, a facility which would bring more than 2,000 jobs to the region.
While the company saw explosive growth at the beginning of the pandemic, it started to lose revenues and fitness subscribers as things started to open back up. Its stock surged more than 400% in 2020, but started to slide in 2021 as the distribution of vaccines allowed people to get off the couch and back into gyms.
However, construction on the new facility had already started. According to all sources, that construction will continue until the building is completed. Peloton will then sell the facility, which is still a prime location for a large company wishing to make a home in Northwest Ohio.
“We are disappointed to hear of Peloton’s announcement to wind down operations in Ohio. We are committed to working with Peloton and JobsOhio’s partners in northwest Ohio to ensure that we create a bright future for this site and the incredible community that surrounds it,” said J.P. Nauseef, JobsOhio president and CEO in a prepared statement. “JobsOhio and the state of Ohio had committed performance-based incentives for the project, and with fiscal safeguards in place, no assistance has been drawn by the company. In the very near future, Wood County, Ohio, will boast a tremendous site that is ready for development and that will empower a company to move quickly to set up successful operations and create jobs for the dedicated and skilled workforce of Northwest Ohio. Ohio is experiencing once in a generation opportunity, and while we are disappointed in today’s news, we are optimistic that Ohio’s momentum is strong moving forward!”
Apparently, the new facility was not the only thing to get the ax. The company also announced that John Foley, former CEO of Peloton, will be stepping down and into a new position as a part of a larger restructuring of its business and upper level management. The company also plans to eliminate 2,800 jobs.
In a letter sent to the Peloton team last week, Foley stated that the company will “driving strategic initiatives across our global team that will help us focus on areas that are in need of adjustment, including implementing a comprehensive restructuring program.
“As part of this program, we’ve made the difficult decision to reduce the size of the Peloton team by approximately 2,800 positions globally. We are making changes at every level of the organization, including within our leadership team.”
While Foley moves into a new role as executive chair, Barry McCarthy is joining Peloton as president and CEO, among other management changes.
Foley also addressed the company’s Ohio’s manufacturing initiative in the letter: “We have decided to wind down our Peloton Output Park (POP) plan. Rather than develop this new plant, we believe Tonic and our third party manufacturing partners can support our growth over the next few years.”
Tonic is a Taiwanese cycle manufacturer Peloton acquired in 2019.