Port Authority approves measure to aid Trailstar expansion

WARREN

The Western Reserve Port Authority has authorized its economic development director to finalize a capital lease that will help Trailstar International, a Mahoning County trailer manufacturer, build a $9.3 million, 66,300-square foot manufacturing facility expansion at its state Route 62 facilities.

The expansion is expected to add 40 to 50 workers at the business, which is located in Smith Township near Alliance. Trailstar builds trailers mostly used in farming, roadwork and construction.

A capital lease is a tool available to the port authority’s Northeast Ohio Development and Finance Authority in which the authority takes temporary ownership of the property, eliminating the cost of sales taxes on construction materials.

Economic development director Anthony Trevena said about half of the cost of a typical construction project is for building materials, so Trailstar will save sales taxes of about $337,000.

“This is what a community does to incentivize a company to be here,” Trevena said of a capital lease. “We are excited they are choosing to grow in Mahoning County.”

Trevena and Meghan Reed, director of the Trumbull County Historical Society, also talked about a building on Warren’s “Millionaire’s Row” that the historical society is acquiring with help from the port authority.

Read more about the matters in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.