YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Board of Control approved more than $380,000 in incentives Thursday to help Valley Foods Inc. with its expansion downtown – and received a small piece of land from the company.
Valley Foods, which packages prepared meals for customers including the military and disaster-relief agencies, is developing the former Weatherbee Coat building for additional storage and production space. The city received $657,396 from the state Clean Ohio program in 2010 for demolition and remediation work at the site, located on East Federal Street near the company's East Boardman Street headquarters.
The development agreement approved between the city and Valley Foods provides for a $233,000 float loan to be offered for 12 months at ¼% interest. It also includes a $150,000 grant to assist with installation, improvements, enhancements and upgrades to the plumbing, water or wastewater-related infrastructure, electrical upgrades, and reconstruction of an exterior wall at the Weatherbee site.
The total cost for the project, including demolition, is $1.475 million, according to the board of control agenda. City Council approved the float loan Feb. 15 and the grant Nov. 2.
The city is providing additional funding for the project due to unexpected issues that came up during the course of the partial demolition of the building which also caused delays in the project, said T. Sharon Woodberry, city economic development director. "But everything's on track now," she said.
In January, owner John Valley Sr. told The Business Journal he expected to be able to occupy the Weatherbee space this spring.
Under terms of its agreement with the city, Valley Foods has until October to complete the project. The company expects to retain 55 employees and add 20 full-time workers with the expansion.
Finance Director David Bozanich characterized the Valley Foods expansion as a "great project" located at one of the gateways into the downtown. "The old Weatherbee Coat building probably sat there for 25 years vacant and it's nice to see that somebody has taken an interest, and we applaud Mr. Valley for this investment and his commitment to the city, not only from an investment perspective [but] from an employment perspective," he remarked.
The city also provided assistance during the mid-1980s to Valley Foods when it developed its existing warehouse and packaging plant on East Boardman Street through a federal urban development action grant, one of the city's first UDAG projects, Bozanich recalled.
"He's expanded several times since," he said. "It's great that his business has done well and it's great that he's decided to expand in Youngstown."
At its meeting Thursday morning, the board also voted to accept a gift of approximately four-fifths of an acre at the East Federal Street project site from Valley Foods.
"It's excess property that they don't need," Woodberry said. "It actually sits between the existing location and where their project is." The city will use the property for parking until or unless another use develops for it.
Additionally, the board approved a lease agreement between the city and Bo Willie's Soul Food Restaurant for 640 square feet of space in the food court of 20 Federal Place, which the city owns. Santa Fe Southwestern Grill occupied the space previously.
Bo Willie's will pay $5 per square foot plus a $1.75 common area maintenance fee for the first year of the 36-month lease, said Sean McKinney, building and grounds commissioner. He said owner Willie Caldwell began moving in moving in Thursday and the restaurant should be up and running in early May.
Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.