The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Business headed to city
Heilind Electronics gets grant toward big investment in new building, equipment
Another international industrial company plans a move — and a major investment — in Mentor.
Heilind Electronics, a global wholesale distributor of electronic connectors and circuits, intends to build a 181,000-square-foot warehouse and office in which to relocate its Highland Heights operation.
The project is planned for about 14 acres at 6240 Tin Man Road, southwest of the Tyler Boulevard/Heisley Road intersection.
“Currently, we occupy a 100,000-square-foot facility, but we are landlocked and out of space,” Operations Manager Sam Kish said. “We’ve had capacity issues for several years, while our business continues to grow, which prompted us to explore our options. We had two options: find an existing building or to build new.”
Company officials looked “all over the Greater Cleveland area,” but couldn’t find any buildings that met their 40-foot ceiling height requirement, necessary for stacking items.
They switched to seeking suitable land, and Mentor was among the top three choices. A look at where employees live sealed the deal.
“As a company … when we decide to relocate any of our facilities, the most important piece we take into consideration is employee retention,” Kish said. “We have a fair amount of longterm employees, and we did not want to lose any of them due to a relocation of the facility. We did some mapping of where our staff lives, and it was clear that Mentor was the right location to pursue.”
Heilind, based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, brings more than 100 employees to the city and roughly $3 million in payroll. In addition, the business will invest an estimated $16.5 million in the building and equipment.
The building’s preliminary site plan received approval from the Planning Commission earlier this month, and the final plan is expected to be reviewed May 25.
“The project represents continued industrial investment in the city as well as new payroll,” said Ronald M. Traub, Mentor economic & community development director. “These 100-plus new employees will be buying goods and services within the city.”
Construction could start in July and be complete early next year.
On May 16, City Council awarded the company a 10-year Mentor Incentive Grant equal to 40 percent of payroll taxes paid the first three years and 50 percent for the following six years. Based on payroll estimates, the total grant during 10 years will be about $400,000, and total new payroll taxes paid will be $835,000.
The company was founded in 1974 and has more than 30 offices and locations in the United States, as well as operations in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Germany.
It is the second major project on Tin Man Road from an international company this year. Ground was broken this week for De Nora Tech’s 130,000-square-foot facility on 18.6 acres at 6300 Tin Man.
That company also was given a grant by the city, in January.
“Between the groundbreaking this afternoon of De Nora Tech and hopefully this soon-the-be ground-breaking of Heilind, I think we’ve accumulated maybe 300 new quality-of-life paying jobs in the city,” Councilman at large Ray Kirchner said at the May 16 meeting. “That’s great news.”
City Manager Ken Filipiak agreed.
“It’s a good day’s work,” he said.