YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Members of City Council will consider a pair of grants for two businesses when they meet Wednesday, including a request to provide $350,000 to a grocery store to maintain its presence in the city. 

If the authorizing ordinance is approved, the city would enter into an economic stabilization grant agreement with Village Plaza Sparkle Market, 3623 S. Meridian Road, in Cornersburg. The store’s closing would create a food desert in the surrounding neighborhood, according to the ordinance.

City officials have been gathering data since Councilman Patrick Kelly, 5th Ward, approached them about assisting the store, said DeMaine Kitchen, the city’s director of community planning and economic development. That included getting information about the average income of people near the store, reach of the store and the percentage of people who have access to transportation, compared with those who do not.   

“We’re trying to stabilize the neighborhood and the community,” he said. “This isn’t about saving Sparkle from a business owner perspective. We’re not saving the business and the business owners. 

The five-year agreement includes clawback provisions and provides the city with a second lien position in the event of an attempt to sell the building. 

The agreement calls for operating the property as a grocery store, maintaining inventory levels “reasonably consistent with continued grocery operations” and using “commercially reasonable efforts to preserve employment opportunities.”  

Provisions of the agreement prohibit the grant funds from being used for any purpose other than stocking inventory for the property. That includes the funds not being available to use for payroll, executive compensation, paying dividends or shareholder distributions, debt service, expenses for other locations owned by the operator, capital improvements or taxes. 

The store is “worth attempting to save,” Kitchen said. 

Council members also will consider a job creation grant agreement with BBM Railway Equipment Inc., 5211 Mahoning Ave., Austintown, to incentivise its relocation to 101 Andrews Ave., where its parent company, Brilex Group, is based. The company manufactures equipment for the rail industry, including single- and double-cylinder wheel-set presses, car and truck hoist systems, single axle and full truck drop tables and turntable and transfer table systems. 

Under the terms of the agreement, Brilex would relocate approximately 13 permanent full-time employees to the city by 2027 and add an employee each year in 2028 and 2029. The city would rebate 75% of the income tax paid to the city for 2027 the following year, for an estimated $23,719 return to the company. During 2028, the company would qualify for a 50% rebate, payable in 2029, followed by a 25% rebate in 2029, payable in 2030. 

In addition, City Council will take up an ordinance authorizing the city to approve the sale of the former Bottom Dollar Food building, 2649 Glenwood Ave., to Potential Development School for Students with Autism for $350,000. The school, which operates a preschool, elementary/middle school and high school in Youngstown, plans to redevelop the building as a dedicated elementary campus serving students in kindergarten through third grade, according to the ordinance.  

Potential Development was the sole respondent when the city issued its most recent request for proposals for the property, Kitchen said. He noted the school typically has a waiting list of 50 to 75 students.

“This is a win for the families, the school and the city to have that facility there,” he added. Its presence also could provide an economic stimulus for businesses in the South Side neighborhood, he said. 

In other business, based on the recommendations of the Youngtown Tax Incentive Review Council at its meeting last month, could members will consider whether to renew existing tax abatement agreements with Fireline Inc.; Youngstown Campus Associates LLC, which operates The Enclave and an affiliated commercial plaza near Youngstown State University; Youngstown Stambaugh Hotel LLC, which operates the DoubleTree by Hilton Downtown Youngstown hotel; Youngstown Edison Incubator Corp., parent of YBI; and Valley Foods Inc.