LEETONIA, Ohio — The term "rust belt” has been applied to several areas of Ohio over the past several decades.

• The business was formed in 2015 by three entrepreneurs as a portfolio company of the Youngstown Business Incubator and has recently added a factory space in nearby Leetonia
• Freshmade made a name for itself when it designed and created 3D bobbleheads of Donald trump and Hillary Clinton, which were on display outside the RNC three years ago
• Recently, they worked with Kent State University and their manufacturing partner to create a nine-foot replica statue of the “Liberty of Poetry”

In recent years, many areas in the state have looked to reinvent in the tech industry.

Freshmade 3D co-founders Rich Wetzel and Christopher Tomko say they've just scratched the surface on the endless possibilities of 3D-printed material. 

The business was formed in 2015 by three entrepreneurs as a portfolio company of the Youngstown Business Incubator, and has recently added a factory space in nearby Leetonia. 

For Wetzel, a Youngstown State graduate, it was a no-brainer to keep everyday operations in the Mahoning Valley.

“We've been considered the rust belt for so many years now, and YSU and the Youngstown Business and Incubator America Makes, which is the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, have brought all these assets to Youngstown that have allowed us to rebrand ourself as a tech belt,” said Wetzel. 

Freshmade uses a large-scale 3D printer and a process called binder jetting.

Their AmClad material can be 3D-printed onto solid objects with a smooth finish.

Anything from tooling, statues, bowling balls and signage, to small desk items — the process takes anywhere from a few hours to an entire day.

“There's a feeder that deposits an even layer of sand, from there, you have a printer head that selectively deposits a binder or a glue based on the design file that you send to the printer. This process is repeated layer by layer until the whole build box is filled up,” said Wetzel. 

Freshmade made a name for itself when it designed and created 3D bobbleheads of presidential contenders Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, which were on display outside the Republican National Convention three years ago. 

And just recently, Freshmade 3D worked with Kent State University and their manufacturing partner Humtown Products to create a nine-foot replica statue of the “Liberty of Poetry.”

The statue is over thirty pieces total — their biggest project to date and built to last.

“You only see about 12 on the outside and the rest are on the inside, that helped with the alignment of the bigger pieces, that helped with the structure that it could stand upright. And also, we anticipated people climbing on it to put it together, do the painting, so we reinforced the areas in the base,” said Freshmade 3D Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder, Christopher Tomko. 

The original piece is housed in a church in Florence, Italy, and is said to be the inspiration behind the Statue of Liberty.

Their work of art is now on display at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration in New York City.

“Really hoping that it leads to other projects like this and that museums, universities, architecture firms can see the value of using this technology for making replicas or preserving historical artifacts,” said Wetzel. 

As for the future, well, both men say the best is yet to come. 

“Traditionally the jobs haven't been here, and that's been the big focus, keeping that talent local, developing companies and opportunities for students and existing workforce personal to get caught up in this new technology. We're really excited about the feedback we've received from our customers and they're looking forward to what we can do with the technology from here,” said Wetzel. 

For more information on Freshmade 3D, check out their website.