WARREN, Ohio – A decision on a proposed enterprise zone agreement with Charles Manufacturing Co., a sheet metal fabricating company, will have to wait until at least next week.
After a lengthy discussion Wednesday morning, Trumbull County commissioners voted to table the enterprise zone agreement, which would give the company a 75%, 10-year tax abatement on the proposed improvements to its building at 3021 Sferra Ave.
Although there was no opposition at the public meeting and no discussion during the commissioners’ work session Tuesday, Commissioner Denny Malloy started the discussion before Wednesday’s vote by indicating he would not vote “yes” at this time.
Dawn Inc., a general contractor company on the same street as Charles Manufacturing Co., was denied a similar request in early 2024 when it wanted to purchase warehouse space and renovate it.
The commissioners at the time voted 1-1. Malloy said he voted “yes” but noted that he would not vote for an enterprise zone agreement again without standards to determine if an established company creating four jobs should get the same 75% enterprise zone tax abatement for 10 years as a new company bringing in 100 jobs.
“We need to have some standards instead of just willy-nilly,” Malloy said, adding he does not want commissioners accused of giving an abatement to someone they know and not to someone they don’t know. “There’s got to be some type of a rubric standard that we follow.”
Malloy questioned if giving Charles Manufacturing the abatement when Dawn was denied was setting a precedent. He also noted the company had tax abatements before, is already established here, not relocating and the proposed 1,300-square-feet expansion project is only bringing in four more jobs.
“I see this more as a tool that the state provides, and if you look at it in the definition and in the ORC and in the state guidelines, [it] is to attract businesses to your area. You have that tool in the toolbox,” Malloy said. “This isn’t doing that.”
Malloy said commissioners had discussed getting together with the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, the Warren mayor, the planning commission and others two years ago to develop those standards, but it didn’t happen because of changes in leadership and the establishment of Lake to River Economic Development.
Neither of the other two commissioners, Rick Hernandez and Chairman Tony Bernard, were on the board two years ago, and both indicated they were caught off guard by Malloy’s stance.
Hernandez said he respectfully disagrees with Malloy. He said offering these incentives lets other companies considering coming to the area know that Trumbull County is open for their business.
Mayor Doug Franklin attended the commissioners meeting and informed them City Council already did its part and passed the enterprise zone abatement for Charles Manufacturing. Franklin said it is more than a $250,000 investment the company is planning to make in the community. He also said he agrees with Hernandez.
“We want to always be sending a message of being open for business and making sure that we’re using every single license in our economic development toolbox to assist these businesses,” Franklin said. “I don’t care how small they are. One of the ways that you do create jobs is by taking care of those existing businesses who have made the investment over the years.”
Franklin said that with Dawn Inc., there was vocal opposition from organized labor and the school board, but in this case, everyone agrees.
Nick Coggins, assistant director of the planning commission, said when the enterprise zone was established in 1994, it delegated all the negotiating powers to the locally affected communities, and Warren City Council has already passed the enterprise zone agreement with Charles Manufacturing unanimously. He also noted enterprise zones are not just for attracting new businesses, but also for expansion and renovations. The Charles Manufacturing project, he said, meets the definition of expansion by increasing the property value by more than 10%.
Bernard requested the matter be tabled for another week to give commissioners time to meet with those impacted by the abatement and invite them to the commissioners’ work session Tuesday before placing it back on the agenda next Wednesday.
“Let’s bring everybody together with this and get everybody’s opinion on it and let’s do some really hard research. … And let’s see if we can’t come together with this and do what’s in the best interest for not only the city of Warren but also for Trumbull County,” he said.
After the meeting, Hernandez said he is not against setting up a rubric for the future, but he did not want to hold up this project while they do so.