ALLIANCE ? Salco Machine plans to leave Louisville for more space in Alliance.
To help, City Council on Nov. 3 approved a "sizeable investment" with Crucible Industries Alliance LLC, which owns Salco.
The company is getting a $840,550 loan from the city's Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) Revolving Loan Fund. The term of the loan is 15 years with an annual interest rate of 2%.
The decision to approve the loan followed a short executive session.
Jeff Zucal and his business partner Che Shreve bought Salco in August. The small shop was founded in 1982.
It currently has seven employees.
Zucal said they have outgrown the 8,000-square-foot facility on Victory Avenue in Louisville. The business will move into a 28,000-square-foot warehouse in the 1400 block of West Main Street around March 2026.
Zucal said the company will add 20 to 25 jobs, all high-paying positions, within three years at the new facility.
Rick Baxter, president of Alliance Area Chamber of Commerce, said the city loan will help Salco pay for renovations at the warehouse, to convert it into the space needed for the small company's services.
Salco provides precision machining and inspection equipment for several industries, including automative and energy.
Mayor Grove: The city might consider a donation to local food pantries
The Trump administration announced on Nov. 3 that it would partially fund monthly payments in food benefits for millions of Americans. The situation impacts nearly 50,000 Stark County residents.
No Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits were issued Nov. 1 amid a federal government shutdown. A federal judge ruled the Trump administration had to provide full benefits by Nov. 4 or partial benefits by Nov. 5.
Also, on Oct. 30, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed an order to provide $25 million to cover funding gaps in SNAP benefits. About $7 million went to Ohio food banks, and the other $18 million was for 63,000 low-income Ohioans.
Locally, Alliance Mayor Andy Grove said Stark County officials are taking a "wait and see" approach to the SNAP situation, hoping the federal government resolve issues and restore all funds.
He told City Council that his administration would consider a financial donation to food pantries in the city, if the situation worsens and supplies at the pantries or Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank were depleted.
Grove added that he would seek City Council's support for the donation, which would be non-refundable.
Reach Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or [email protected]. On X (formerly Twitter): @bduerREP.