MOUNT VERNON — The owner of a new car lot on Sandusky Street plans to offer his customers a way to counter rising gas costs by offering a variety of fuel-efficient cars, as well as mopeds and scooters.
Jim Fox of Centerburg said he will open his new — as yet unnamed — car lot at 657 N. Sandusky St. (formerly Vernon Motors) the first week of June. He said he hopes to keep an inventory of about 25 vehicles at any given time and to specialize in smaller, medium-priced cars, mopeds, scooters and off-road vehicles like go-karts and dune buggies.
“Scooters can get 85 to 100 miles a gallon,” he said. “With the price of gas, more and more people are riding them.”
Fox said he has been in the automobile business all his life. He also plans to do vehicle detailing. The lot will be a traditional car lot, not a buy-here, pay-here business as Vernon Motors was.
Vernon Motors closed last year; the owner of the property could not be reached for more information on the closing.
In other local business, the Ohio Department of Development announced last week that Rolls-Royce Energy Systems Inc. in Mount Vernon will receive a $1 million Rapid Outreach grant for costs relating to the expansion of its gas turbine and compressor manufacturing, assembly and test facilities. The investment includes putting into full production a pilot product assembly flow line that was introduced in 2007, the addition of a second product assembly flow line, significantly expanded gas turbine test facilities, and reconfiguration of the overall site production flow to increase throughout while decreasing costs and product production cycle times.
The project also includes working with local utilities to expand natural gas delivery to the site to meet increased fuel requirements of the new product test capabilities. The $1 million grant is part of a significant capital investment by Rolls-Royce at the site, which is expected to create 100 manufacturing-related roles in Assembly, Test and Engineering in addition to the site’s current 800-member work force.
