City of Mentor, Ohio Partner To Help Local Business Grow

Grants from the city of Mentor and the state's JobsOhio program ensured that a local business not just stayed, but will expand, in Mentor.

was founded in 1980 and has a headquarters at 8620 Tyler Boulevard. The company offers construction services with specializations in general contracting, construction management, design-build and interior trades.

The company had received offers from other states to relocate its business so both the city and state took steps to make sure Cleveland Construction stayed where it was, Mentor's Director of Economic Development Ron Traub said.

"It's an aggressive package," Traub said of the grants offered to Cleveland Construction. "The reason is they're an important business in the city of Mentor and the state."

JobsOhio has offered to provide $246,704 to Cleveland Construction and Mentor City Council will vote tonight on an incentive grant that could be worth as much as $285,000 to the business over the next six years.

However, both grants come with some stipulations.

Cleveland Construction intends to convert part of its Mentor headquarters from a warehouse into two stories of office space.

The project will cost the business about $1.5 million -- $1.2 million for the renovations and another $300,000 for machinery and equipment.

Then the city will relocate its affiliated business, Telling Industries, to Mentor. This means, in addition to retaining Cleveland Construction's 59 existing jobs, the business will also add 15 more.

Additionally, Cleveland Construction has to maintain a certain payroll to receive its grants.

Its payroll was $3.5 million in 2011. It must grow to $4.3 million by 2013 to begin receiving its Mentor Incentive Grant. To get the JobsOhio grant, it must maintain a $4.5 million payroll.

Traub said the Ohio Rep. Ron Young helped organize this partnership.

"(Young) was instrumental in setting up appointments with the people at JobsOhio, as well as bringing the project to fruition," he said.

Council will vote on the grant during the meeting at 7 p.m. today in . The proposed legislation is attached to this story as a PDF.