WARREN TOWNSHIP — Trustees at a special meeting Monday voted 3-0 to ratify an Ohio Enterprise Zone agreement for a 10-year, 60% property tax abatement for Kimberly-Clark.

Trustee Chairman Ryan Yoho said 25% of the property where Kimberly Clark will be located is in Warren Township and the remaining 75% is in Howland. The trustees there approved the tax abatement last week.

“This will mean a lot more jobs for the area and will benefit not only the township but the county,” Yoho said.

The Trumbull County commissioners are scheduled to have a public hearing at 10 a.m. Wednesday on the tax abatement agreement in the commissioners hearing room.

“Today’s approval by Warren Township trustees is yet another piece of the puzzle to secure a tremendous investment that can be the catalyst for long-term economic growth at this former steelmaking site in Trumbull County. Kimberly-Clark has said they felt welcome and impressed with our business-friendly climate, and that all starts with the Western Reserve Port Authority, Lake to River Economic Development, Warren Township and Howland Township trustees and others, each of which is working to give this project a real chance to succeed,” said Guy Coviello, president and CEO of the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber.

Kimberly-Clark, a Fortune 500 paper products producer based in Texas, is to construct a state-of-the-art $1.1 million-square foot industrial production facility on Pine Avenue at the site of the former RG Steel.

The Western Reserve Port Authority is the primary agent for the project.

The Ohio Controlling Board released $17.2 million from the Department of Development’s All Ohio Future Fund to prepare about 1,000 acres at the site to entice major new industries to locate there.

The Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber said it was thankful for the state’s investment to support transportation and infrastructure improvements, as well as brownfield remediation.

The project will feature a total investment between $680 million to $875 million through its new construction, installation of equipment and machinery. With that and approximately 491 new full-time and permanent jobs within five years expected to be created, the project will create $49 million in estimated additional payroll.

Chuck Smith, Kimberly-Clark’s director of strategic capital project management and network design, explained to Howland trustees last week the project was the product of several years of due diligence and working in a “low-key manner” with key local and state officials, as well as the Western Reserve Port Authority.

“We felt very welcome, very impressed with the community business climate, so we’re very pleased to be in front of the Howland Township trustees and request this incentive, which we expect will help the financial case for this proposed project,” Smith said. “On behalf of all employees of Kimberly-Clark and myself, we thank you for your consideration.”

The targeted property formerly housed the RG Steel site, which includes 560 acres of land that the company purchased. The company purchased the land for $9.9 million from the port authority in December 2023.