WARREN Abatement approved for GM-related plant

The company, which will employ 47 people, hopes GM will be in Lordstown for a long time.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A Michigan company received a 10-year, 60-percent tax abatement to build a plant in Lordstown to supply the General Motors assembly plant there.
Oakley Industries of Detroit is "gambling that GM will stay," said the company's representative for the land acquisition.
The company plans to invest $8.5 million in the new plant, based on a three-year contract with GM, said Greg Baka of Curry-Hall Investment Co., who arranged the real estate end of the deal.
The contract is to end in 2004, when GM discontinues the line of cars built at the Lordstown plant, he said.
"They have a good relationship with GM and may be hoping GM will be here for the long term," Baka said.
About the plant: Trumbull County commissioners approved a tax abatement Wednesday for a 45,000-square-foot factory to be built in the Lordstown Industrial Park off Bailey Road.
Workers in the new plant will mount and balance tires for vehicles coming off the line at Lordstown, work which used to be done by GM workers inside the plant itself, Baka told commissioners. The work was moved out of the assembly plant to make room for a new paint shop, he added.
Abatement breakdown: The tax abatement approved by commissioners covered $2.4 million for building construction, $6 million for new machinery and equipment, and $100,000 for furniture. About $1.2 million of GM inventory to be stored at the facility is not covered by the abatement, says county planning commission paperwork.
The Oakley Industries plant is scheduled to employ 47 workers in three shifts, Baka said. All but one person will be hired locally. Jobs at the facility will pay about $30,000 a year with benefits, he added.
siff@vindy.com