LORDSTOWN Workshops of Gerald Henn gets tax break for plant

The company promised to create 26 jobs when its new plant opens.
THE VINDICATOR
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
LORDSTOWN -- The Workshops of Gerald Henn's plan to build a new pottery decoration plant on state Route 45 got a boost from the Trumbull County commissioners in the form of a 75 percent, 10-year tax abatement.
Commissioners agreed Wednesday to reduce real and personal property tax for the $1 million project and construction will begin soon, said Alan Knapp, assistant director of the Trumbull County Planning Commission. He said Lordstown Village Council approved the abatement earlier this week.
New division
Henn Decorating, a new division for the Lordstown-based basket- and pottery-making business, will provide hand decoration and finishing of collectible plates and pottery. The company has promised to create at least 26 jobs at the plant.
The 25,000-square-foot facility will anchor the Henn family's new, 200-acre Lordstown Industrial Park near the General Motors Lordstown Assembly Plant.
Henn's project was originally set for completion this year, Knapp said, but delays were related to construction of the necessary infrastructure. Work on an $800,000 sanitary sewer is under way, with half the cost paid by a $400,000 state grant, and a state grant paid $70,000 toward building a new road into the industrial park.
Henn already employs about 100 at its Lordstown headquarters and 100 at a New Waterford pottery plant. It has more than 2,000 independent sales consultants around the United States and in U.S. military bases around the world.
vinarsky@vindy.com