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Main Lite Electric to move, expand
By Karl Henkel
WARREN
Main Lite Electric Co. Inc., 1521 Niles Road SE, soon will move and expand to the Warren Commerce Park.
The Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp. passed a resolution Thursday authorizing the sale of about four acres to Sferra Avenue Properties LLC, executive director Mike Conway confirmed. Sferra will lease the property to Main Lite.
The move is contingent upon receiving a tax abatement of 75 percent for 10 years on property tax, similar to the terms Anderson-Dubose Inc. and Lordstown agreed to last week.
The deal would need to be approved by city council and Trumbull County commissioners.
“Anytime we can have a company expand or enlarge, we certainly have to be a partner to that,” said Bob Marchese, Warren city council president.
John Harnar, operations manager for Main Lite, said the company simply outgrew its current 6,000- to 8,000-square-foot facility and seriously had been considering a move the past three years.
The new site, which doesn’t yet have an address but is on Sferra Avenue NW, will house a new 13,000-square-foot facility that will cost between $600,000 and $800,000, Harnar said.
The company will pay for the project through a 20-year loan.
Harnar said the outside electrical-contract company, which maintains traffic signals for Mahoning and Trumbull counties, regularly employs eight but increases employment based on time of year. He said last year, employment peaked at 36, but he hopes that number will rise to 50 with the completion of the new facility, which could break ground this summer and be completed sometime next year.