Company breaks ground on new factory in Warren

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — Mayor Michael O’Brien hopes Warren native and 1983 Warren G. Harding High graduate Mark Marvin’s belief that Warren is a good place to start a business spreads to others.

Marvin, owner of Reinforcement Systems of Ohio, broke ground on a 60,000-square-foot factory Thursday at the southwest corner of West Market Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard. Construction will begin immediately and be complete around the fall of 2010.

“This is a company that is based out of New Mexico, and [Marvin] has chosen Warren to be its new headquarters. When asked why, his answer was ‘Why not Warren?’ It’s that type of attitude I feel would permeate to other businesses,” O’Brien said.

“I think this is the start of a great story to be told, that I believe will be retold and retold as the years go on,” O’Brien said, adding that Warren is a good place to start a business because of the low cost of living, low cost of land and the skilled work force here.

“For the city of Warren, which has been the recipient of news of plant closings to massive layoffs throughout the city, this is obviously welcome news,” O’Brien said. “It is a fantastic project that we hope will spur development in the West Market Street corridor.”

The new factory, which will produce custom-engineered, welded wire reinforcements used in concrete products, is “one of the largest private-sector investments in the city of Warren in a long time,” said Walter Good, vice president for economic-development expansion and retention for the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.

The plant represents a $25 million investment that will eventually employ up to 65 workers within four years, O’Brien said.

While applying for a 75 percent, 10-year property-tax abatement approved by Trumbull County commissioners earlier this year, Marvin pledged to employ 25 workers the first year, 40 by its second year and 65 by the third year, said Michael Keys, Warren’s community development director.

Last summer, the company said its investment included $4 million to $6 million for building construction, $6 million to $8 million for machinery and equipment, $150,000 to $300,000 for fixtures and furniture, and $10 million to $14 million for inventory.

About 55 of the jobs will be manufacturing positions, with about 10 others being management, clerical and administrative, officials have said.

After three years in business, the company expects to have a payroll of about $2.9 million annually, Good said, adding that the average pay will be around $40,000 per year.

The city rezoned the 16.5 acres of land industrial to accommodate the company. The land has never been used before. The company was attracted by the virgin land, close access to the Ohio Turnpike and the area’s well-developed but uncongested interstate highway system, Good said.