WARREN, Ohio – Trumbull County commissioners unanimously passed a tax abatement Wednesday, opening the way for a new aluminum extrusion plant in the city and potentially 70 new jobs.
Everest Aluminum LLC has proposed the purchase of parcels totaling nearly 50 acres in the Westlawn area from the current owner, West Warren Acquisition LLC, and an investment between $19 million and $33 million in the construction of a 152,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and equipment.
Through an agreement negotiated with the city, Everest Aluminum would receive a 75% enterprise zone tax abatement on improvements to the property for 10 years.
Bruce Sekanick, principal architect with Phillips Sekanick Architects in Warren, said Everest Aluminum primarily creates aluminum frames for window systems. The company, headquartered in Albania, has plants in Europe and ships products to warehouses in the United States, according to Sekanick. The Warren plant would be the company’s first production facility in the U.S., which could lead to expanded products.
The property being considered is part of an area slated for development at the West Warren Industrial Park on the site of the former Western Reserve High School.
Sekanick said the Warren location is not the only property Everest Aluminum has looked at, but others have been discarded for various reasons.
Everest Aluminum ownership has been working with Lake to River Economic Development, the city and others to put together an incentives package to place the project in Trumbull County, according to Nic Coggins, director of economic development at the Trumbull County Planning Commission. Coggins said if the site is selected, an announcement would probably be made within 90 days of approval. The jobs would garner an average salary of about $70,000.
The project would include between $8 million and $15 million for construction of the manufacturing facility and another $10 million to $15 million for machinery and equipment, according to information provided to the commissioners.
The commissioners’ approval was the final step in the tax abatement process, following the approval of the city and the research by the planning commission to determine that Everest Aluminum is meeting all the requirements to make it eligible.
In answering commissioners’ questions before approval, Coggins said Front Street and West Market Street, which both border the property, are designated truck routes, and the access routes onto the property would be determined by the city’s street department.
Commissioner Tony Bernard said there was no opposition to the project at a public hearing held prior to the commissioners meeting, although he and Commissioner Rick Hernandez indicated they would have liked a week between the public hearing and the matter being on the commissioners’ agenda to consider it.
“I know that abatements are not looked at very well with the public,” Hernandez said. “But we are open for business in Trumbull County. And I personally would believe that this is something we need to approve to stimulate business, more economic activity in Warren.”
Commissioner Denny Malloy said if there had been opposition, he felt that would qualify as a reason for there to be more time between the public hearing and the approval.
“The commissioners, a year or two ago, broke ground on this property, and it was a big joint effort between all the economic entities we have. The city of Warren and the chamber, the port authority – everybody was involved in this thing,” Malloy said. “There’s plenty more land there for neighbors, so we hope that that grows and flourishes in the city of Warren – and that becomes a booming economic hub again in the future.”
The West Warren Industrial Park property is also home to a 98,280-square-foot spec building located across from the site being considered by Everest Aluminum.