Tax break approved to keep Schroer Group in Stark

Oct. 18--CANTON The Schroer Group will be moving its headquarters and 327 employees out of North Canton, but it will be staying in Stark County.

The Stark County commissioners Wednesday approved a tax abatement for the company. It would provide a significant tax break as part of the move of the company's headquarters to a 9.44-acre site near the 7500 block of Wales Avenue NW near Strausser Street NW in Jackson Township by January 2020. The company has been a tenant in the Hoover District in North Canton since 2010, when it moved in with about 150 employees. Its 10-year lease ends in January 2020.

The company runs 29 nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Ohio and Michigan, many under the Altercare name. It owns a pharmacy, therapy company, home health care company, hospice, Medicare Advantage insurance plan provider and several other businesses. It has more than 3,200 employees.

Under the terms of the agreement backed by the Jackson Township trustees, Schroer would receive a 60 percent property tax break for 10 years on the 62,200-square-foot building it plans to construct on the site purchased from the township. The site is in a state-recognized enterprise zone after an extension of the zone earlier this year. The township has agreed to build a road to the entrance of the building from Wales. In return, the company agrees to spend at least $15.875 million on construction at the site but the maximum value of improvements for which it would receive the tax break would be $16.055 million unless the agreement is amended.

Schroer anticipates spending at least $2.4 million on machinery, equipment, furnishings and fixtures for the site. And hiring additional staff to fill at least 20 full-time positions and five part-time positions. The company could lose its tax break if it fails to create and then retain a number of jobs equal to 75 percent of those figures during any three-year period.

The Ohio Development Services Agency waived the restriction that a company can't normally get the abatement if it's moving within Ohio. Stark County Administrator Brant Luther said the state agency considered that the state risked losing Schroer to another state if it didn't grant the waiver.

The employer, which has hired an architect in Cleveland and general contractor in Columbus to work on the project, also has agreed to donate $5,000 a year to the Jackson Local Schools Foundation.

As part of the road work, the Ohio Department of Transportation is requesting a turn lane be constructed on Wales.

The company's CEO Jerry Schroer said The Schroer Group is 45 years old. He said the company would have found it difficult to stay in Stark County without the tax break, considering the costs of construction. A bank will provide financing for construction that will be repaid over 10 to 12 years, and the mortgage payments will be roughly the same as the lease payments Schroer Group is paying its landlord Maple Street Commerce.

"It allows our organization to be better positioned financially for the future for generations to come," he said. "It provides us an opportunity to own a building rather than leasing a building. ... It's going to be a great step forward for our company."

Schroer said the facility, for which he hopes construction will begin within a couple of months, will have a couple thousand square feet more than its current leased space, dietary services for employees and a walking trail.

He said the company is awaiting final permit approvals and regulatory approval of the wetland impact mitigation plan by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency that he said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has already approved.

North Canton Mayor David Held, who met with Stark County Commissioner Janet Weir Creighton in August to discuss the relocation, said the city stands to lose more than $200,000 a year in income tax revenue once the company leaves. But he said he's in conversations with at least two companies that he declined to name that he said have expressed interested in leasing the space vacated by The Schroer Group.

"Our goal is to keep jobs in the city of North Canton, but if they were going to move to a location, I'm glad they're staying in the county," Held said. "As businesses change and grow, they have to do what's best for their business."

Reach Repository writer Robert Wang at (330) 580-8327 or robert.wang@cantonrep.com. Twitter: @rwangREP.

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