Ohio tax agencies awarded loans and tax breaks to several Northeast Ohio companies on Monday. Recipients are LineStream Technologies, Parker Hannifin, Republic Steel, Viking Forge and Selas Heat Technology Co.
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View full sizeGrinders finish steel beams at Republic Steel's plant in Lorain in 2011. Ohio approved $4.6 million in tax breaks to help fund Republic's planned $85.2 million expansion of its plant.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The state on Monday awarded Northeast Ohio companies nearly $6 million in tax breaks and loans intended to create about 600 jobs over the next few years.
The biggest new project was for industrial software company LineStream Technologies, a Cleveland company that hopes to add 50 new people over the next three years.
"The timing is perfect for us because we're just launching our recruiting process," LineStream President Dave Neundorfer said in a telephone interview from California. Neundorfer said the new workers would work at the company's headquarters at 9th Street and Superior Avenue.
LineStream earlier this month raised $5 million in venture capital funding, and the company plans to use that cash and its $1 million loan from the Ohio Department of Development to expand rapidly. Neundorfer said he hopes to open a West Coast sales office by year's end. The company makes software that can cut power usage and improve the performance of industrial robots and home appliances.
Last year, it signed a distribution deal with electronics giant Texas Instruments. Neundorfer said that deal helped establish the company.
"We've only had one customer, Texas Instruments. Now we're putting the pieces in place to go out and reach out to new partners," Neundorfer said.
The biggest incentive awarded was $4.6 million for Republic Steel in Lorain. Last year, the steel company said it would build an electric arc furnace at its Lorain mill, in part to feed growing demand for oil and gas pipelines.
The state tax breaks will help support the company's $85.2 million expansion of the plant. Adding the electric furnace will add 450 new workers in Lorain, about doubling the company's work force there.
The city and county of Lorain have also pledged tax credits for that project.
Ohio's Tax Credit Authority also approved three projects in Portage County including two in Streetsboro.
Viking Forge, a Streetsboro company that was founded in 1988, makes parts for cars, motorcycles and airplanes. The state approved about $17,500 in tax breaks for the company that plans to add 40 workers as it expands.
Streetsboro City Councilman Chuck Kocisko said the city has already approved a larger incentive package for Viking's proposed $8 million expansion.
"It's great to see the possibility that they'll expand," Kocisko said. "Hopefully, this will be a major benefit to them."
The other Streetsboro project was a proposed headquarters for Selas Heat Technology Co., a Philadelphia-area company that makes industrial burners for steel mills and other industries. Private company Lionheart Ventures owns Selas and Warrensville Heights-based Pyronics Inc.
In its incentives request, Selas said it wants to consolidate headquarters and manufacturing offices from Warrensville Heights and locations in Pennsylvania to Streetsboro. The state approved $68,000 in tax breaks to support that move. In its request, the company said the new headquarters would create 22 new jobs.
Lionheart Chief Executive David Bovenizer said his company is considering offers from several states, calling the headquarters site selection a "competitive process."
"We're contemplating various options right now," Bovenizer said. He declined to discuss the future of Pyronics or the Warrensville Heights office.
The final tax breaks to Northeast Ohio companies went to Parker Hannifin. The state approved $108,000 in incentives to encourage the company to expand its Parflex division in Ravenna.
Earlier this month, Ohio's Third Frontier fund agreed to invest $2.3 million in Parker to fund that expansion. Parker plans to spend $15 million on the new lab, which will develop new plastic hoses and tubes for use in everything from industrial equipment to medical devices.