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WHEELING — After being headquartered in Wheeling for 42 years, Huffner Contracting is moving to Bellaire — but the company is not blaming the city of Wheeling for its decision to do so.

Owner Phil Huffner said Thursday the company is moving because of financial incentives available across the Ohio River. He said his company was offered 2.6 acres of free land on which to build its facility, low-interest financing for the building and a huge reduction in business operating expenses in the state of Ohio.

“About four months ago we were brainstorming on ways to reduce expenses,” Huffner said. “As a result of that, we found a welcome environment in Belmont County.”

He said construction manager Justin Burdick began investigating the possibilities by contacting the St. Clairsville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Burdick said, “I contacted the chamber and asked if there were any programs or incentives to help businesses locate in Ohio. They directed me to the Belmont County Port Authority. From there, we met Larry Merry and Bill Morgan who said their job is to encourage business growth in Belmont County.”

Huffner said Merry and Morgan visited the contractor’s 19th Street headquarters and the proposal progressed forward.

“We will still maintain a presence in Wheeling,” Huffner said. “But our offices and warehouse will be in Bellaire. We have a lot of customers in Wheeling and we intend to continue servicing them.”

Huffner said the city of Wheeling’s Business and Occupation Tax had no bearing on his decision to move.

“We will continue to pay the B&O tax on every job we do in Wheeling,” he said. “We do not have an issue with the city. This is simply what we believe is a sound business decision.”

Burdick said the company’s Wheeling customers will actually benefit from the move.

“Because of our lower operating costs, Wheeling area customers will be able to continue using us because we will be in a position to maintain reasonable prices to them,” he said.

Huffner agreed the move will have a negative economic impact in Wheeling because of the dollars spent in local restaurants, gas stations and other businesses.

“A lot of our people will be eating lunch and buying gas in Bellaire,” he said.

He said the company has 80 employees with an annual payroll of $1.9 million. Ohio is home to 26 of the employees while 40 live in West Virginia and six reside in Pennsylvania.

As part of the incentive package, Huffner said the company’s proposed $200,000 building must be built and occupied within three years.

For the past five years, the company has been headquartered in the 60,000-square-foot former T and L Building at 112 19th St. Prior to that, it worked out of a space on National Road in Elm Grove.

The company does general contracting and custom home building through its Welcome Home division. It also does electrical work, custom seamless gutters, masonry and heating, cooling and plumbing.

City of Wheeling Development Specialist Kurt Zende declined late Thursday to comment on Huffner’s plans.

Staff Writer Casey Junkins contributed to this report.

 

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