Through its Victory For the Valley campaign, the Regional Chamber unveiled on Friday its life-sized, 3D-printed bobblehead of Donald Trump that will be on display in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention next week—situated inside of the secured zone just steps away from the Q and thousands of attendees and media. 

The Regional Chamber announced the bobblehead project last month and is utilizing the display to promote the Youngstown-Warren area as a hub of advanced manufacturing research and business in the center of the nation’s TechBelt, which stretches from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. Designed and produced by Freshmade 3D, with assistance from Youngstown State University and longtime manufacturer Humtown Products in Columbiana, the bobblehead was created by applying multiple 3D-printing techniques using sand, metal and plastic. In coming months, a life-sized, 3D-printed bobblehead of Hillary Clinton will also be created and unveiled, leading up to the debate between the two presidential candidates in Dayton in September.

“It has been exciting to watch the bobblehead project come to fruition, and we are eagerly anticipating branding our region to the world as the capital of 3D printing,” said Guy Coviello, vice president of Government Affairs at the Regional Chamber.

Updates all week from Cleveland about the Trump bobblehead may be found at 3Dprintedprez.com.

In addition to the mass media exposure the bobblehead is expected to bring—the project has already received international coverage from media in Asia and the Netherlands—the Valley will also receive great attention from the 13 site consultants who will be in town next week from all over the country to meet with the Chamber’s Economic Development team, as well as other business and community leaders. The group will learn more about Youngstown-Warren’s assets, tour various facilities in Mahoning and Trumbull counties and engage in additional activities in town on Monday and Wednesday and in Cleveland on Tuesday.

The familiarization, or “fam,” tour for the site selectors is the first the Regional Chamber has held, and the outcome is likely to lead to significant growth/development opportunities in the region down the road. 

Major sponsors of the Victory For the Valley campaign, which the Chamber launched in January this year after a year-and-a-half of planning, include Home Savings and Loan, Cafaro Co., Covelli Enterprises, Warren Fabricating and Machining, Trumbull County Tourism Bureau, JAC Management, m.s. consultants, Mercy Health, AIM Leasing and more.