Company awaits OK to build in Lordstown

May 18, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

LORDSTOWN

Trumbull County commissioners are expected to approve an enterprise-zone agreement today for Anderson- Dubose Inc., which will move to Lordstown and employ about 160 full-time employees.

Anderson Dubose, a major McDonald’s restaurant supplier, will build a 150,000-square-foot facility at Ohio Commerce Center on Tod Avenue.

The facility is expected to cost between $27.2 million and $34 million.

The company will receive a tax abatement of 75 percent for 10 years on all new real-property investments, saving between $300,000 and $400,000 a year, said Commissioner Paul Heltzel. Lordstown Village Council approved the incentive plan Monday.

The facility could bring as many as 100 new jobs and $8 million in additional annual income to the Mahoning Valley, depending on how many current employees decide to transfer from the two current Anderson Dubose locations in Solon and Carnegie, Pa.

“Things haven’t turned around completely,” said Arno Hill, Lordstown council member. “But things are looking up for the Mahoning Valley. One hundred more jobs — anywhere — is great.”

Hill said the abatement was necessary to cover some of the costs associated with closing its other locations.

Lordstown schools will receive 25 percent of property taxes, or about $80,000 a year, said Lordstown Mayor Michael Chaffee.

The school district will also receive about $40,000 a year from income tax.

The company had considered another location on Salt Springs Road, but it would have cost the company almost $750,000 more because it would need to alter the landscape for rail purposes.

Anderson Dubose supplies about 500 McDonald’s restaurants in eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia with food and supplies.

The company previously looked at consolidating its two locations to North Jackson in Mahoning County in 2009, but residents complained about a tax abatement and questioned whether the company would disturb its residential atmosphere.