City Council To Vote On Business Grants For Lincoln Electric, OurPet's

Mentor City Council can vote on a pair of grants for businesses in the city -- Lincoln Electric and OurPet's -- during its meeting 7 p.m. today at .

already receives an incentive grant from the city, dating back six years.

In 2006, Lincoln Electric began a multimillion-dollar upgrade to its facilities at 6500 Heisley Road, which included a 100,000-square-foot addition to their building.

As part of the project, Lincoln Electric received a grant that was initially slated to last 10 years. Depending on its payroll, the company could receive up to $50,000 per year from the city in tax breaks.

However, Lincoln Electric is beginning a new $7 million project to retool one of its manufacturing lines by purchasing or relocating machinery.

Once again, the city can encourage this project by extending its already existing grant. Originally the grant was going to end in 2017; but, if City Council approves the amended grant, it will last until 2022.

That means Lincoln Electric could receive as much as $750,000 (as opposed to $500,000) in tax breaks from the city during a 15-year span.

As part of the grant, Lincoln Electric must maintain a monthy payroll of $1.37 million.

If the amendment is approved, Lincoln Electric will give two percent of its annual grant to the city's Mentor Economic Development Fund.

Meanwhile, Council can also approve a one-time $7,000 grant for OurPet's, which develops, designs, produces and markets pet products.

Two years ago, OurPet's (which is headquarted in Fairport Harbor) purchased Cosmic Pet Products, a maker of catnip products.

It recently leased a property on Twinbrook Road in Mentor to house its Cosmic Pet division.

This will create 10 new jobs in Mentor. Initially, OurPet's hopes to have a payroll of about $250,000 in the city but that number will increase to $315,000 by 2015.

The entire project, including leasing the building and relocating operations, is costing OurPet's about $1.22 million.

The legislation for tonight's City Council meeting is attached to this story as a pair of PDFs.