Pride In Progress Community Development Report
Pride in Progress is the Regional Chamber's 5-year (2004-2008) community development program. The four components are designed to bolster the Valley's ability ot retain, grow and attract employers, while creating an environment that encourages and nurtures long-term growth and development. This
Investor Report sumarizes the results achieved to date.
Click here for the top 10 Economic Development Stories of 2008, and the Economic Development Forecast video.
Objective: Retain, Attract and Grow Employers
Metric |
PIP 5-Year Objective |
Return to Date (2004-2008) |
2008 |
Entities Assisted |
125 |
100 |
16 |
New Jobs |
6,000 |
6,404 |
2,004 |
Cumulative New Payroll |
$480,000,000 |
$375,810,862 |
$63,796,840 |
New Fixed Asset Investment |
$875,000,000 |
$960,980,599 |
$432,195,665 |
Building Space Constructed or Absorbed (sq.ft) |
5,000,000 |
9,419,394 |
3,064,706 |
Other Notable 2008 Activity - Attracted Republic Special Metals to the Valley. The company is now constructing a $64 million, 205,000 square-foot speciality steel production facility.
- Helped General Motors secure tax incentives required to invest $350 million to build the new Chevrolet Cruze in Lordstown.
- Made 291 one-on-one business retention calls to retain and grow local firms.
- Managed 97 inquiries from non-local entities concerning locating a business in the Valley, resulting in 33 site tours.
- Completed second Mahoning Valley economic development 'Community Report Card' showing the impact of 10 local development entities.
- Promoted available buildings and sites on FastFacility.com and OhioSites.com.
- Traveled to seven trade shows/events, agressively touting that our region is an outstanding place to locate a business.
Objective: Public Policy
| Metric |
PIP 5-Year Objective |
Return to Date |
| New State and Federal Funds |
$50,000,000 |
$46,102,957* |
| Valley Reps on Important Boards |
20 Appointments |
17 Appointments |
Public Policy Appointments from 2004-2008
The Regional Chamber supported the appoinment of the following community leaders to state boards...
- NEOCHE: Paul Dutton and Ruth Wilkes
- Student Access & Success Coordinating Council of Ohio at the Board of Regents: Tom Humphries
- Small Business Advisory Council: John Burgan
- YSU Board of Trustees: Bill Bresnahan, Don Cagigas, Scott Shulick
- Ohio Economic Development Association: Walt Good
- Ohio Tax Credit Authority: Reid Dulberger
- Team Ohio: Walt Good
- All Ohio Task Force To Save Defense Jobs: Reid Dulberger
- State Surveyors Board: Bert Dawson
- Ohio Partnership for Continued Learning: Tom Humphries
- Ohio Department of Education, Region 5 Advisory Council for Education Service Center: Harry Christman
- Ohio Board of Regents, Vice Chair: Bruce Beeghly
- Ohio Departmet of Development Strategic Plan Statewide Advisory Committee: Reid Dulberger (replaced by Walt Good in 2008)
- Ohio Credit Union Council: Gary Soukenik
Objective: Education and Workforce Development
| Metric |
PIP 5-Year Objective |
Return to Date |
| Steel to Scholars Program* |
Continue and Expand regional education and awareness program |
Sixth Awards Program Held on Oct. 22, 2008 |
*Steel to Scholars Highlights - The Regional Chamber honored 20 public school districts and the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown at the awards luncheon for their "Excellent" ratings on Ohio's Report Card.
- In 2007/2008, 40 of the 45 districts in the Valley, or 89%, ranked "Excellent or Effective," a record-breaking performance for Mahoning Valley Schools.
- 42 of the 45 districts had an attendance rate of 93% (the State standard) or higher, and 42 had graduation rates of 90% (the state standard) or higher.
Other Notable 2008 Activity
- Assisted One Stop with education seminars for those who were part of the mass layoffs at General Motors Lordstown and its suppliers as a result of the third shift elimination.
- Participated in the launch of the Business Resource Network. This partnership of Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana county economic development and workforce organizations connects businesses to local, state, federal and private incentives, technical assistance, workforce training and other support services via one access point.
Objective: Community Image
| Metric |
PIP 5-Year Objective |
Return to Date |
| Positive Regional/National Stories |
250 Placements |
300 |
2008 Community Image Highlights - General Motors and its decision to build a new generation of cars at the Lordstown Assembly Plant received widespread coverage from the Wall Street Journal to the New York Times. The announcement of the productio of the Chevrolet Cruze in 2010 and the addtion of a third shift was made in July, with GM's CEO Rick Wagoner coming to the Mahoning Valley to make it official. More than 600 stories were tracked relating to the GM announcment.
- Presidential politics was front and center in the Valley from early in the primary season right up to the general election, with candidates making the area a priority as they sought the support of voters here. News organizations from as far away as the United Kingdom, France and Australia visited the area to cover the candidates and voting trends. The Mahoning Valley was targeted as the region that would ultimately decide the Ohio vote, and the importance of the Valley was highlighted in ABC's Good Morning America broadcast from two locations in 2008, including a farm in Trumbull County and Youngstown State University.
- Sports figures and coaches claiming Youngstown roots figured prominently in national news stories. Boxing champion Kelly Pavlik's prowess in the ring continued to be a positive image for the Mahoning Valley. Cardinal Mooney graduates Bob Stoops, football coach for the University of Oklahoma, and Bo Pelini, who took the helm at the University of Nebraska, were praised by the media for their respective successes. And late in the year, 27-year old Valley native Jed York was named president of the San Francisco 49ers, owned by the Debartolo-York family.
- The Youngstown 2010 program and its "Shrinking City" concept continued to receive high marks for innovation in newspapers and editorials around the nation, including Detroit, Michigan and Buffalo, New York.
- Business Week reported that according to the National Association of Homebuilders, the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman region was listed as second on its list of most affordable housing markets.
For questions, comments or suggestions, please contact:
Walt Good, Vice President, Economic Development, Retention and Expansion
Phone: 330.392.6140, ext. 22
