WARREN — With two additional businesses announcing moves into the city, community leaders are feeling optimistic about the improved business climate that seems to be happening in Warren.

Mellace Family Brands, Johnvince Foods, is moving from a more than 40,000-square-foot facility at 1789 Ellsworth Bailey Road, to lease an approximately 143,000-square-foot space at 655 North River Road.

Rural King Supply, a Mattoon, Ill. -based, family-owned company, recently purchased Trumbull Plaza on Parkman Road for $1.8 million and and is expected to open one of its farm and home supply stores in it.

Mellace Family Brands, a Toronto, Canada-based, family-owned company that packages and distributes a variety of snack products, has experienced a 70 percent growth since opening a U.S. facility in Lordstown in 2014.

“We were already outgrowing our space nine months after moving into the Lordstown plant,” said Doug King, plant manager for the Ohio facilities.“The growth has been steady.”

The company began leasing two other storage facilities in Ohio and Pennsylvania before it was decided they wanted to consolidate into a single facility in Ohio. There are approximately 68 people working in Lordstown.

“Shortly after the new Warren plant opens in April , we expect that number of employees to grow to about 100,” King said.

Mellace Family Brands is a snack food innovator known for its product lines, including tree nuts, peanuts, snack mixes and chocolate covered items. It manufactures, packages and delivers items across the United States.

It chose the Lordstown facility in 2014 because it is within five-and-a-half hours from its Toronto, Canada, headquarters and nearly 60 percent of the nation can be reached from northeast Ohio within six hours.

“Location is very important,” he said.

Rural King Supply purchased Trumbull Plaza, 2553 Parkman Road, for $1.8 million.

“The company contacted us in August saying they were interested in the Trumbull Plaza property,” Community Development Director Michael Keys said. “They already had someone who had come down and looked at the property before contacting the city.”

Rural King Supply has more than 100 stores in a dozen states, including Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia and Ohio.

Although Trumbull Plaza may be the site of one of the company’s new stores, the city does not know whether that location will be one of first of the planned facilities or one of its last.

In the meantime, the company already is looking to lease some of the other empty storefront spaces in the outdoor mall that once held a Big Kmart store, as well as numerous local stores chains and restaurants.

Warren Mayor Doug Franklin said the investment on the city’s west side, as well as other economic activities in Warren is the result of years of hard work and planning.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the decision by Rural King,” Franklin said. “This is confirmation that Warren is and will continue to be a great place to do business.”

Franklin said the decisions of these two businesses, as well as eBay’s recent decision to sponsor approximately 16 Warren businesses, shows that business leaders view the city as a place they can grow.

“We always are looking at opportunities to attract businesses,” Franklin said. “We’re always at the plate trying to base hit. We might strike out a few times, but we will not have a chance to hit the home run without going to bat.”

rsmith@tribtoday.com