YOUNGSTOWN Paving operations' sale is expected to yield jobs

The first tax abatement under a new small-business initiative is up for approval.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The sale of a paving company's operations could mean the addition of close to 80 new jobs.
Hardrives Paving is selling its operations off Center Street to Shelly & amp; Sands, a major regional paving and construction materials company, said Jeffrey L. Chagnot, city development director.
Hardrives has 40 or so employees working from the Center Street location at peak business times. Shelly & amp; Sands projects up to 116 workers in comparison, Chagnot said.
The company: Shelly & amp; Sands does business in the area under the name McCourt Paving in Girard. The company will move its operations to Youngstown and expand, including building an asphalt plant, Chagnot said.
City council must approve transferring the property, about 25 acres of old LTV Steel land, from Hardrives to Shelly & amp; Sands. The city gave Hardrives the property for $1.
The company's expansion also will increase competition in the area for paving contracts, Chagnot said, lowering prices for consumers.
Abatement: The development department also is seeking council approval for the first tax abatement under the Youngstown-Small Business Initiative.
Besides an abatement, A B Crane & amp; Steel Service would get a $30,000 city grant and a waiver of permit fees so it could buy land it leases now on Wilson Avenue.
The company -- which handles mobile cranes and sells steel beams -- would invest about $200,000 to improve its site through work such as putting a new roof on one building and demolishing another.
The city gives out its incentives through the program after local lenders commit to loans and the U.S. SBA commits to backing them.