Wellsville Terminals Gets $300K for Expansion

LISBON, Ohio — A Wellsville business on the banks of the Ohio River will be able to increase its cargo capacity with $300,000 in grant funding secured by the Columbiana County Port Authority through the Maritime Assistance Grant Program.

Port Authority Executive Director Penny Traina advised the board of directors at their meeting Monday that Wellsville Terminals Company is required to commit a 50% match, or another $300,000 toward the total $600,000 cost of the project, which entails constructing a new 100-by-100 bulk storage warehouse.

In addition, the project will include purchasing transloading equipment, one for transloading large capacity and bulk items and the other for transloading granular materials. 

According to Traina, the new building and equipment will increase the terminal’s capacity for offloading materials from the river.

The Maritime Assistance grant is part of $23 million allocated by the Ohio General Assembly for water-based freight infrastructure for ports on the Ohio River and Lake Erie.

The Columbiana County Port Authority previously was awarded two grants from the funding, one for S.H. Bell and the other for Parsons, both in East Liverpool.

Traina received word Friday that Wellsville Terminals had received the grant, which the port authority will administer, serving as the pass-through for the funding.

Traina told the board her team, which includes Robert Ritchey and Brittany Smith, has been “doing an excellent job supporting our county by actively seeking grants to continue to invest and strengthen our local economy.”

She reported the port authority is administering and disbursing 21 grants totaling $3,745,095 for a variety of projects.

Her team is waiting to hear the outcome of applications for three grants totaling $1,383,550 and is working on applications for three additional grants totaling $2,059,000.

“We are small but mighty, and we all work collectively as a team,” Traina said.

There is so much activity, she added, a 48-by-96 inch white board was purchased on which her team logs the various grant information so those who are not in the office each day can stop in and keep track of the constantly changing information. 

The port authority was not successful in securing a 2020 Brownfield Assistance Grant for which it applied, but Traina said it would reapply for the 2021 grant, requesting up to $600,000. Three potential Brownfields have been identified in Wellsville and seven in East Liverpool, and the grant funding would allow for the identification and assessment of such sites as well as planning for their redevelopment.

Also during Monday’s meeting, one-year leases were renewed for three manufacturers who lease space in the Port Authority’s Cherry Fork Industrial Park in Leetonia. 

Base rent leases were renewed at $3 per square foot for Freshmade 3D, which encompasses 1,780 square feet, and Mitsubishi, which encompasses 11,820 square feet, while base rent leases for Humtown Pattern were renewed at $3 per square foot for 50,762 square feet and for $2 per square foot for 11,488 and 13,857 square feet. A $1,000 monthly lease was approved with Cimbar Performance Materials Ohio LLC at the Wellsville Intermodal for a “lay-down area” where materials lie when offloaded.

Pictured at top: Wellsville Terminals Company site in Wellsville. Image from the company’s website.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.