Trumbull to seek business incubator grant

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

The plans could be under way by late summer.

WARREN — Trumbull County officials want to take vacant space owned by Delphi Packard and again make it a viable place where people earn a paycheck.

County commissioners gave their blessing Wednesday to efforts by the county planning commission to apply for a federal grant that will go toward establishing a small business incubator on vacant property owned by Delphi Packard on Dana Street.

The Dana Street facility has been vacant for more than two years.

Alan J. Knapp, Trumbull County Planning Commission director, said the total amount of grant money being requested through the Ohio Job Ready Sites Program is $4 million.

There are matching funds needed to acquire the federal dollars. Knapp, in information supplied to commissioners, said the value of the Dana Street property could be used to meet those matching obligations.

Knapp said the county has not taken ownership of the Dana Street property, but he hopes to do so before the grant is awarded so the cleanup of the property can then begin.

“What we are hoping to do is get the buildings at little to no cost and use the grant to cover the cost of making the improvements, about $4 million in high priority improvements to those buildings,” he said.

Knapp said the goal is to prioritize the upgrades and make those improvements most conducive to opening a small business. He said the facility would likely be most suitable for small or upstart manufacturing businesses and those working in renewable energy.

“We have an idea how much space is needed for these types of businesses and we plan to go that route in setting this up,” said Knapp.

Whatever the size or number of the businesses to fill the now-vacant space, Knapp said it will be an overall improvement to the city of Warren and county as a whole.

“This should definitely improve the image of this area,” said Knapp. “It’s going to help to have those buildings occupied. We have lost 17,000 manufacturing jobs in the county and it’s hard to make up for that. What we are trying to do is something positive and turn this around.”

Before there is any opportunity to turn the job loss here around, the grant must be approved. Knapp said there are key steps in the process to seeing that approval take place.

Knapp said the grant application must first be reviewed by the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments’ Public Works Integrating committee. The committee, he said, will prioritize the application with several other request from the immediate area.

The application will then be considered by the Ohio Department of Development. Knapp said a decision to award or deny the application will be made by July.

“We would like to get started by early August if we are approved,” said Knapp.

jgoodwin@vindy.com