New Elyria Sheetz opens doors, donates $5k to community organizations

Elyria welcomed a new Sheetz location Thursday to Chestnut Ridge Road's commercial corridor. The new 6,000-square-foot store will have a staff of 18 full-time workers in addition to 18 part-timers. The estimated annual payroll is around $720,000. The family-owned company headquartered in Altoona, Pennsylvania, has 700 locations in the United States. Mayor Frank Whitfield thanked the company for giving to the community on its first day. Sheetz presented $2,500 donations to Special Olympics Ohio in support of Elyria Schools Special Olympics programming and to Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio. Elyria Special Olympics athletes were on hand to accept the check. Company officials said it was one of the largest contingents of athletes to attend an opening. Shannon Meissner, director of development for Special Olympics Ohio, said her organization's partnership with Sheetz has enabled them to provide countless opportunities for young people to learn and grow through sports programming. "They not only support us with donations and with people power," Meissner said, "but with financial resources so that we're able to offer programming to the young people that you see here today.'' The area also will see a new Aldi grocery store that is under construction. Sheetz's addition to the area was not without concern. Council members questioned whether the area safely could handle the increased traffic. Whitfield thanked Council for allowing the project to move forward and said ways to address the traffic are being considered. "We'll be able to create more entry points into here to be able to support Sheetz and support the rest of our community," he said. Contact Kevin Martin at (440) 329-7121 or kmartin@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevinMartinCT.