The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber—the leading business advocacy organization in the Valley—has announced its public policy advocacy priorities for the state’s 2025-26 legislative and budget cycle.
The areas of focus, meant to condition the region for economic prosperity, are higher education and workforce, energy, military affairs, technology and innovation, infrastructure, effective government and diversity, equity and inclusion.
Key policy initiatives within the seven categories include:
- Support and encourage policies that remove childcare and transportation barriers to employment to help grow the local workforce, create new opportunities for business expansion and enhance the quality of life for residents.
- Work with legislators on permit reform, as well as modernizing zoning codes and development processes to stimulate commercial development and residential growth to create suitable, affordable and safe housing for the region’s expanding workforce.
- Promote policies for an all-inclusive energy strategy, from expanding energy resources in the region’s oil and natural gas industry to the electric vehicle industry, including EV batteries.
- Maintain and grow investment at the region’s two military installations, the Youngstown Air Reserve Station and Camp James A. Garfield Joint Military Training Center, as well as supporting organizations like the Eastern Ohio Military Affairs Council that work to preserve and promote the missions at these two valuable military assets.
- Work with partners that include Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, Western Reserve Port Authority and Lake to River Economic Development to promote literacy programs to bridge the digital divide, as well as internet affordability, site readiness, broadband access and other critical infrastructure projects.
- Advocate policies that promote the type of public-private work in additive manufacturing happening at America Makes and the Youngstown Business Incubator, continue to support and promote the growth of investment programs in the state like Third Frontier and position the Mahoning Valley as a hub for talent development and technological advancement.
- Partner with the region’s Minority Business Assistance Center to promote growth of and investment in minority-owned businesses and policies and programs that incentivize job creation in marginalized neighborhoods.
“These are the most important and pressing issues we’ve heard from our members and reflect the needs of employers across the Valley,” said Lyle Huffman, the Regional Chamber’s Executive Vice President of Government Affairs & Community Impact. “The region has experienced strong economic growth in the past five years, and our two-year Public Policy Agenda promotes policies and programs to sustain that growth as well as address workforce and other barriers to success.”
The Regional Chamber assembles its public policy priorities at the start of each Ohio legislative session. The priorities, driven by members and vetted by the Chamber’s Government Affairs Council, Executive Committee and Board of Directors, reflect the needs of employers in the Valley and align with the Chamber’s mission to promote the growth of the organization’s nearly 3,000 members and their 150,000 employees across the region.