WARREN, Ohio (From news reports) -- Plans for a paper manufacturing plant in Trumbull County are moving along, and an announcement could come as soon as May, according to Howland Township Trustee James LaPolla.

Howland Township Trustees approved a 60%, 10-year tax abatement Wednesday for Kimberly-Clark Company to operate a facility off of Pine Avenue. The property purchased by the global retailer spans Warren and Howland townships. Warren would provide the utilities and infrastructure for the plant.

LaPolla said they now need to have Trumbull County commissioners and Warren Township trustees approve their own similar abatements.

LaPolla said the project is moving along quickly, and Kimberly-Clark has been in contact with all the players in the project, including through the creation of a Joint Economic District (JED).

"Everything is going well. Everyone is working well together," LaPolla said. "A timeline is not final, but Kimberly-Clark could be making an announcement in early May."

On Dec. 28, 2023, the Western Reserve Port Authority announced the sale of 560 acres of former steel mill property in Warren Township and Howland to the Kimberly-Clark Company, which is known for products such as Cottenelle, Depends, Huggies, Kleenex and Scott paper towels.

The land bought by Kimberly-Clark was used for 100 years to make steel. The mill closed in 2012. It was demolished, and the land was later bought and cleaned up by the port authority.

Just this week, the Ohio Controlling Board approved $17 million to build an access road for the property and complete other Brownfield cleanup work there. The land is earmarked for economic development, but an access road is needed to avert truck traffic from traveling through the city of Warren, planners said at the Board of Control meeting Monday.

"The biggest issue with this area of land that we saw is that it didn't have easy truck access, even though it's a large plot of land that could be used for some kind of facility or some kind of future economic development," planners said while addressing the Board.