Global manufacturer approved for tax abatement despite no public announcement of facility plans

A global manufacturing company has received approval for a tax abatement if they chose to build in the City of Warren. 

The Kimberly Clark Corporation will receive a 60 percent tax abatement exclusive to the manufacturer if they go through with a project on Pine Avenue. The Trumbull County Commissioners unanimously approved the tax reduction at their Wednesday meeting.

“This will be the biggest thing to happen to the Mahoning Valley since General Motors,” Commissioner Denny Malloy said about the idea of a facility. 

The corporation manufactures household items but has never publicly announced official plans for a facility on the old steel mill land that they’ve owned since 2024.

Commissioner Rick Hernandez said the board met with executives from the corporation and have knowledge of plans for a more than one million square foot facility that will bring in at least 500 new jobs. 

“This is going to be a major boom for our area here,” Hernandez said. “I feel very confident. I can't tell you 100 percent but I can tell you 99 percent.”

Commissioner Malloy said local officials have done their research and spoke with officials in South Carolina where the corporation has a similar facility.

“They did nothing but brag about what a great partner Kimberly Clark corporation is with their community and we see nothing here that shows it's  going to be any different,” Malloy said. 

The commissioners toured the Pine Avenue site in Warren after they approved the abatement. Commissioner Tony Bernard said the millions of dollars in work that they’ve already done to the site proves their dedication to him.

“Kimberly Clark, they're a Fortune 500 company and I trust them,” Bernard said. “This is going to put Trumbull County back on the map and it’s going to help us economically be where we want to be as a county.”

Howland Township and Warren Township have also approved tax abatements for the corporation.

The Western Reserve Port Authority recently secured a grant for $17 million to build access roads for trucks to have a more direct route to the site.

Representatives from Kimberly Clark and the Port Authority were at Wednesday's meeting but declined to go on camera to speak with 21 News about any details about the idea of a facility. 

The Kimberly Clark Corporation is still calling this a “possible investment.”

“If and when a project in Warren is approved, we will share that information with our community members,” part of a statement provided to 21 News from the corporation reads. 

The corporation's board of directors will make the final decision on if a facility is built in Warren.