McHenry officials seek abatement from county

January 15, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN — Officials from McHenry Industries are to appear today before the Mahoning County commissioners to ask for a tax abatement for their proposed move to Austintown.

The company says its plant on Industrial Road is too small and wants to build a new building on Victoria Road so it can add 15 workers to its 52-person staff over the next three years. The company produces commercial business signs.

Austintown Township trustees approved the tax abatement Monday for the company’s $4 million investment. Based on the county’s formula, McHenry is eligible for a 60 percent tax abatement over 10 years.

Cedar Fair: Attendance up

SANDUSKY — Ohio-based Cedar Fair says its attendance at its 18 amusement parks in North America was up 3 percent over 2007. A total of 22.7 million people passed through the gates last year.

Cedar Fair chief executive Richard Kinzel says high gas prices and a troubled economy kept people closer to home, boosting attendance at the regional parks. Two of Cedar Fair’s biggest amusement parks brought in more than half of its overall guests. Officials say Canada’s Wonderland near Toronto and Cedar Point in the company’s hometown of Sandusky drew in 12.8 million people last year.

Vindicator staff/wire reports