Henry County approves loan for car builder
8/14/2009NAPOLEON, Ohio - Henry County officials have agreed to provide a $300,000 loan guarantee to a specialty car company in hopes of luring the small Decatur, Ind., firm to expand into the area.
Revenge Designs Inc., an automobile customizer that has plans to introduce production vehicles, must secure at least $450,000 in private funding and agree to build in Henry County for the revolving loan guarantee to come into play, county Commissioner Rich Myers said.
"There's multiple locations in the mix, and we're one of them. We're trying to do our best to entice him to come to Henry County," Mr. Myers said.
County officials are optimistic of bringing the firm to their area because of its ties to HP2G LLC, the Napoleon-based firm whose owner, Doug Pelmear, is developing an engine that reportedly gets the equivalent of 110 miles per gallon. Mr. Pelmear is in the process of securing his intellectual property rights and setting up a factory in Wauseon in which to build his engine.
Peter Collorafi, Revenge Design's chief executive officer and president, could not be reached for comment yesterday. However, the company's Web site has been detailing efforts to expand by building an assembly and endurance-testing facility on approximately 170 acres.
The Revenge Verde is to be the first production vehicle to feature Mr. Pelmear's engine, and Revenge Designs has agreed to be the exclusive after-market retailer of the HP2G engine.
"The continual meetings with numerous local and state government departments are finally coming to fruition and by the end of the month, we should have most business plans, contracts, and funding in place for the first of many new Revenge Designs Production, Training, and Testing facilities," company officials wrote on their Web site.
Mr. Myers said the Henry County commissioners have been working with state development officials to aid in the effort. Revenge said on its Web site it expected to announce a decision within the next several weeks.