$51.7M Menards Project in Ravenna Gets Rail Grant

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Ohio Rail Development Commission this week chipped in $175,000 to support the $51.7 million project that Menards plans to build in Ravenna near Route 88 in Portage County.

The company says it will build a truss plant, concrete plant, bagging plant, transload operation and a crossdock distribution facility to support its expansion in the Midwest.

The ORDC grant to Menard Inc. will help fund ”necessary rail infrastructure to support their distribution and manufacturing processes,” said ORDC executive director Matthew Dietrich in a prepared statement.

“This project will service our northeast Ohio/western Pennsylvania retail stores,” added Nick Brenner, Menard Inc. real estate representative. “The 65-acre site requires rail and involves a little more than a mile of track rehab that we are working on with the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway. ORDC funding is important to us to help with the extra costs associated with this project.”

Menard Inc. has secured various economic development incentives, among them a 15-year, 100% tax abatement from the city and Portage County, according to the Ravenna Record-Courier.

The project still needs clearance on certain permits, the newspaper reported.

Among the sites Menards considered for the project is 90 acres in Mahoning County’s Jackson Township. The site in Ravenna is 62 acres.

About 90 people would be employed once the manufacturing and distribution center opens. Construction is expected to start next year.

Menard Inc. is a family-owned home improvement retain chain based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It operates 300 home improvement stores across 15 states including an outlet at 2015 WalMart Drive NE in Warren.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.