Mentor City Council To Vote On Grant For New Business Tonight

Mentor City Council can vote for an economic development grant for a new business during its meeting Tuesday evening at .

The St. Louis-based brokerage firm Benjamin F. Edwards & Co. opened its Mentor location in 2011 and recently moved it offices to 7322 Center Street. The Mentor office is the firm's first location in Ohio.

The 12-person firm's estimated annual payroll is $1.3 million.

As part of their relocation to the Center Street site, a new sign will be added to the building. The sign costs about $15,000.

Council can approve an economic development grant for Edwards & Co. that will cover $2,500 of that expense.

Also at the City Council meeting, Council can approve the sale of a Mentor land bank lot to a pair of local businesses that want to move to the Heisley Road Commerce Park off Hamilton Drive.

Heron & Sons Decorative Concrete and O'Connor Plumbing have offered to purchase the lot for $35,000.

Both businesses rent property in the city but they would rather co-own the Hamilton Drive property.

"They see this as an opportunity to make an investment and solidify their roots in the community," said Ron Traub, the director of economic development for the city of Mentor.

The complete agenda and legislation for Tuesday's City Council meeting is attached to this story as a pair of PDFs.