See the Youngstown developments thread for the good news.  Here is the bad news:

 

Vallourec Star reduces its workforce again

Published: Wed, October 21, 2015 @ 12:05 a.m.

Oil and gas downturn continues to take toll

 

By Kalea Hall

 

[email protected]

 

YOUNGSTOWN

 

Oil and gas producers must prepare for the worst and hope for the best during what has become a long-lasting downturn in the industry.

 

In turn, companies that supply the producers also must prepare for the worst.

 

Vallourec Star on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where pipe is produced for fracking, for example, has again decided to make a workforce reduction.

- See more at: http://www.vindy.com/news/2015/oct/21/vallourec-star-again-to-reduce-workforce/#sthash.lGz5vqMq.dpuf

 

Youngstown’s tax revenue will be lower than budgeted, its finance director says

Published: Thu, October 22, 2015 @ 12:05 a.m.

youngstown

 

Councilwoman suggests city should immediately institute hiring freeze

 

By David Skolnick

 

[email protected]

 

YOUNGSTOWN

 

This year’s Youngstown tax revenue, already expected to be less compared with 2014, will be even worse, said city Finance Director David Bozanich.

 

And it’s definitely not going to improve next year, he said.

 

“It’s a tough economic environment,” Bozanich said. “We’ll be lowering the projections for 2015 and 2016. Next year is going to be very challenging.”

- See more at: http://www.vindy.com/news/2015/oct/22/official-tax-revenue-worse-than-expected/#sthash.0VVerOmH.dpuf

Exterran to Close Youngstown Plant by March 31

https://t.co/6yCxloPuhZ

$20M ‘Chill-Can’ Plant, 250 Jobs Coming to City

By Dan O'Brien | October 15, 2016

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio –A high-tech, $20 million plant that will produce self-chilling beverage cans and employ 250 people is earmarked for property on the East Side, says the CEO of a company who has roots in the city.

 

More: http://businessjournaldaily.com/20m-chill-can-tech-plant-coming-to-city/?utm_content=35313086&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

Breaking: GM Lordstown to Cut 3rd Shift, 1250 Jobs

November 9, 2016

 

LORDSTOWN, Ohio – General Motors Corp. announced today that it is suspending third shift operations at two of its Midwestern plants, including the Lordstown Assembly.

 

The move will affect 1,202 hourly workers and 43 salaried workers at the plant, GM said in a release. The third shift will end Jan. 23, 2017.

 

More: http://businessjournaldaily.com/gm-to-cut-third-shift-at-lordstown-assembly/

Too many people buying SUVs and not coupes.

It's not even SUV's, but crossovers which are more fuel efficient than ever. The thing that hurts Lordstown is that it only manufactures the Chevrolet Cruze, rendering the plant vulnerable to changing tastes in automobiles and gas prices. The Cruze is highly rated, especially with its second generation, but its a niche market: it's a four-door small sedan. Certainly other lines could be added to make up for the loss but that requires billions in investments in the plant, which won't happen.

 

The Cruze does have a hatchback version, which I think will be imported. (It's basically a Holden.)

 

Compare that to other companies that stack as many vehicles into one plant as possible. Subaru of Indiana manufactures its Outback and Legacy vehicles in one plant, which is at capacity. It formerly made Toyota Camry until Subaru needed the space in 2016. Toyota of Georgetown (Kentucky) produces the Camry, Camry Hybrid, Avalon, Avalon Hybrid, Venza, and Lexus ES350. It's also in the middle of an expansion to build additional Lexus models. It is a highly efficient plant - the eighth most auto plant in the world. If GM wasn't so tied down in union contracts and legacy plants, it could become more lean and efficient.

Major company planning to use Austintown facility

 

Published: Fri, December 2, 2016 @ 12:10 a.m.

 

By Peter H. Milliken

 

[email protected]

 

YOUNGSTOWN

 

The Mahoning County commissioners soon will consider a 60 percent, 10-year real-estate tax abatement for the reuse of a former Austintown warehouse by a publicly traded Fortune 500 Ohio manufacturing company.

 

The company plans to transfer 106 Ohio jobs and create 143 jobs there, an economic development official told the commissioners.

 

- See more at: http://www.vindy.com/news/2016/dec/02/mahoning-commissioners-tax-break-mulled-/#sthash.6lQ1OCfp.dpuf

GM to cut second shift at Lordstown; 1,500 jobs affected

http://www.vindy.com/news/2018/apr/13/gm-cut-second-shift-lordstown/

We used to address worker shortages with more immigration, public transportation, job-proximate housing, higher wages and public-private-funded workforce development programs...

 

Local manufacturing companies struggling to fill open jobs

http://www.vindy.com/news/2018/oct/06/local-manufacturing-companies-struggling-fill-open/

Regional Chamber forecasts $2.1 billion investment in Valley next yearhttp://www.vindy.com/news/2018/nov/15/mahoning-valley-chamber-forecasts-b-busi/

Awful news for the valley...

 

Lordstown workers notified Cruze production ends March 1

 

LORDSTOWN — Sources confirm to The Vindicator that plant workers were called into a meeting this morning at which an announcement about the future of the plant was made.

A source with knowledge of the meeting said workers were informed that as of March 1, 2019, the Chevrolet Cruze production at Lordstown will end.

The source said no word was given on whether the plant will close or whether a new product will be allocated to the plant.

In at least one previous announcement about the end of a product, the announcement of a future product allocation was made before production of the previous vehicle ended.

 

9:48 a.m.

LORDSTOWN — The Vindicator has confirmed from multiple plant workers that they were informed in a meeting this morning that the plant will close its doors sometime after March 1, 2019.

 

http://www.vindy.com/news/2018/nov/26/gm-close-canadian-plant-s-just-beginning/

Whoa!

 

I also saw that GM is closing its plant in Oshawa, Ontario -- a plant that employed 20,000+ in the 1980s but employs only 2,500 today. GM is closing or temporarily idling more than a dozen plants worldwide.

 

EDIT -- I just opened the article and saw it mentioned Oshawa.

Edited November 26, 20186 yr by KJP

This is the worst news since the 70s.  Devastating.  Those bailouts 10 years ago should have come with more strings attached.

The situation, while sad, isn't as dire as some claim. It's nothing like the closing of six integrated steel mills in the Valley and the loss of 40,000+ jobs in just four years (1977-81):

 

A Shifting Jobs Picture in Lordstown as GM Cuts Back, HomeGoods Warehouse Looms
http://www.wksu.org/post/shifting-jobs-picture-lordstown-gm-cuts-back-homegoods-warehouse-looms#stream/0

 

Local manufacturing companies struggling to fill open jobs
http://www.vindy.com/news/2018/oct/06/local-manufacturing-companies-struggling-fill-open/

 

3 hours ago, 327 said:

This is the worst news since the 70s.  Devastating.  Those bailouts 10 years ago should have come with more strings attached.

 

This is an exaggeration.  It's bad, but certainly not devastating.  

3 hours ago, 327 said:

This is the worst news since the 70s.  Devastating.  Those bailouts 10 years ago should have come with more strings attached.

 

They were more interested in locking the UAW leadership into the coalition, and penalizing the heavily Republican dealer base, than leverage lasting beyond January, 2017.

 

By the way, I've heard some say that Oshawa proves this wasn't triggered by Annoying Orange and his dumb a.....errrr....ill advised tariffs.  Barbarastreisand.   Increasing raw material costs for US based suppliers increased their costs as well.

Although GM said the trade war has cost them $1 billion. I realize it's more complicated that that, but to say that Cheeto's trade war isn't a contributing factor at all isn't accurate.

I don't buy it. There's only 1,500 jobs left there. Sure, there's trucking and railroad jobs plus suppliers and subcontractors (many of which aren't local to the Valley), so the effect is probably more like 2,000-3,000 spin-off jobs affected. But the region's economy has been moving in another direction, away from the GM plant, for many years. The closing of Northside Hospital earlier this year and the loss of its 500 direct jobs is almost as painful because its facility was more directly integrated into its immediately surrounding neighborhood which depended on the hospital for restaurant, retail and supplier jobs.

 

Don't get me wrong. This is going to hurt. Unlike most other Ohio metro areas, Youngstown's economy is pretty stagnant (see link below). The only decent job growth is coming from the Mining, Logging, and Construction sector which is probably gaining from fracking businesses. That's not a very long-term, sustainable activity for a regional economy to rely on. It may have a decade or two left in it....

 

https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/oh_youngstown_msa.htm

As recently as last year there were over 4000 employees at Lordstown before they cut the third shift. That 38% stat might be lagging behind the loss of third and second shifts.

It's hard for a region which has relied for so long on employment in a specific sector to shift away from that sector.  It doesn't happen overnight- manufacturing in Cleveland was the largest sector in the local economy all the way up until the Great Recession when it was overtaken by Education and Health.  @KJP's article from November 15th showcased $2.1 billion in investment in the Youngstown-Warren region, largely in manufacturing, next year. I don't think that investment will create that many jobs, however, and the region will not turn away from manufacturing anytime soon unless more closures happen and it is literally forced to do so.  Then it may be too late. 

Youngstown also doesn't have the assets that a larger city like Cleveland has.  There's no Case, no Clinic, few corporate HQ jobs, little in the way of cultural/tourist destinations.  In short, little of the things that a new economy could be built around.  I honestly don't see where a sustained Youngstown revitalization can come from.

On 11/27/2018 at 9:21 AM, KJP said:

Although GM said the trade war has cost them $1 billion. I realize it's more complicated that that, but to say that Cheeto's trade war isn't a contributing factor at all isn't accurate.

 

And closing Lordstown will cost them another billion.  Just a month ago they completed a power upgrade at the factory that cost $900+ million. I can't believe they will walk away from that much money to save 1500 jobs. The Cruze may be finished, but closing Lordstown doesn't seem to make $$ sense. I (foolishly, maybe) expect to hear more.

 

https://www.power-eng.com/articles/2018/10/lordstown-940-mw-ccgt-plant-opens-operations-in-ohio.html

On 10/7/2008 at 2:10 PM, UrbanSurfin said:

I don't like the property tax break for greenfield development. Nor should there be state money without strings to put a plant in the city. Ohio has had decades of policies that are biased against cities and in favor of destructive greenfield development (see the Brookings Institution/Greater Ohio study and conference on Restoring Ohio's Prosperity).

 

http://www.brookings.edu/events/2008/0910_restoring_prosperity.aspx

 

Youngstown's mayor, Jay Williams, was at the Sept. 10 conference in Columbus and was one of the highlights as he offered several specific examples of how cities in general and Youngstown in particular are left behind by state funding.

 

Can't they just sell the power to grid? It can operate on its own. 

But that power plant wasn't built by GM and it's not for the GM plant. It's for the general grid and fills the void of a recently demolished coal-fired power plant in nearby McDonald.

On 11/27/2018 at 9:22 AM, Icarus86 said:

 

They had a man on NPR this morning that said 38% of the Mahoning Valley's economy is at least someway dependent on the Lordstown Plant. That's devastating.

 

Goes beyond there.  As of a few years ago two of Alcoa wheel's bigger jobs were the Chevy Cruze Eco and the GM Volt.

32 minutes ago, KJP said:

But that power plant wasn't built by GM and it's not for the GM plant. It's for the general grid and fills the void of a recently demolished coal-fired power plant in nearby McDonald.

 

Oh ... mea culpa; I read too fast.  Turns out the Lordstown Energy Center is ultimately owned through a shell called Clean Energy Future by Next Era Energy,  the new name for Florida Power and Light.

It isn’t a totally done deal.  This is the opening salvo from GM.  Lordstown is usually on the chopping block every 5 years.  I think there is enough political will and push to save Lordstown this go around whether by Federal and/state subsidies. There are definitely going to be some plants that are closing this time around.  Lordstown’s issue is that it is set up for smaller vehicles.  Which wouldn’t be a huge deal except the profit margin for US-built vehicles is way higher for bigger vehicles.   

   I personally feel that GM could still do very well with smaller cars that are plug in hybrid electric vehicles or phevs.  There is a middle point that Americans need to have option of either electric or gas driven vehicles before moving straight to electric in the future. 

  They could probably crush it with a small crossover phev built at Lordstown. 

1 hour ago, audidave said:

It isn’t a totally done deal.  This is the opening salvo from GM.  Lordstown is usually on the chopping block every 5 years.  I think there is enough political will and push to save Lordstown this go around whether by Federal and/state subsidies. There are definitely going to be some plants that are closing this time around.  Lordstown’s issue is that it is set up for smaller vehicles.  Which wouldn’t be a huge deal except the profit margin for US-built vehicles is way higher for bigger vehicles.   

   I personally feel that GM could still do very well with smaller cars that are plug in hybrid electric vehicles or phevs.  There is a middle point that Americans need to have option of either electric or gas driven vehicles before moving straight to electric in the future. 

  They could probably crush it with a small crossover phev built at Lordstown. 

 

They are planning to close the plant where the Volt is made too.

 

Smaller cars isn't the future.   If gas prices stay low Americans prefer larger vehicles and will find a way to get them.. If they get too high, alternative fuel vehicles kick in.  If you want to get people to transition into those earlier, they need to be larger too....at least internally.

2 hours ago, E Rocc said:

 

They are planning to close the plant where the Volt is made too.

 

Smaller cars isn't the future.   If gas prices stay low Americans prefer larger vehicles and will find a way to get them.. If they get too high, alternative fuel vehicles kick in.  If you want to get people to transition into those earlier, they need to be larger too....at least internally.

 

Which is why cars are smaller (and safer) than they used to be. 

I hate how Youngstown is in such a rut. Things like this GM closing screw us even more. However, this area totally deserves it because they are so hostile to new development (for example, TJ Maxx wanted to bring 3000 jobs to Lordstown and almost got blocked by NIMBY's). Cities like Akron and even Canton can benefit from being close to Cleveland or other big cities. While Youngstown is a good distance from both Cleveland and Pittsburgh, it is just far enough away from both to not be worth it. Therefore Youngstown is essentially on its own.

 

 

 

The only good thing we have going for us is Youngstown State University which is expanding a lot. Downtown is revitalizing and a lot of new jobs have been created from that, but I still worry things could stop improving Downtown with the shape the local economy is in. The rest of the city is a disaster except for a couple neighborhoods on the edges of the city. The suburbs are likewise stuck in the past and hostile to new business.

Edited November 29, 20186 yr by Dblcut3

5 hours ago, KJP said:

 

Which is why cars are smaller (and safer) than they used to be. 

 

They are smaller because of CAFE,  and only if you do not consider SUVs and vans to be cars.

People still buy/lease them, if they can afford them. Many have bought into the myth that bigger vehicles are safer because smaller vehicles get destroyed in crashes. They get destroyed so the vehicle absorbs the impact, not the occupants. 

Edited November 29, 20186 yr by KJP

-1500 jobs lost not including to two shits that were eliminated  +1000 jobs @TJX. Looking at the bigger picture TJX doesn't really offset too much of the loss. These will be much lower paying jobs in a area where higher paying jobs are already sparse. Many in the area move to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Columbus, or out of state for better employment opportunities.

 

15 hours ago, Florida Guy said:

-1500 jobs lost not including to two shits that were eliminated  +1000 jobs @TJX. Looking at the bigger picture TJX doesn't really offset too much of the loss. These will be much lower paying jobs in a area where higher paying jobs are already sparse. Many in the area move to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Columbus, or out of state for better employment opportunities.

 

Yeah as someone currently living in the Warren/Youngstown area those jobs at TJX should not at all be compared to the ones lost at GM.  Most of the jobs at GM (especially the first shift that was just cut) were jobs one could support a family on, while the vast majority of the jobs at the warehouse do not provide the kind of income to support a family.   It's not the lack of jobs, but more the lack of quality jobs that is killing this area and causing people to move out.  So many people when they graduate college, even from YSU or Kent State do not return back to this area simply because good jobs are few and far between.  This is why from 2010 - 2017 Trumbull County has lost 4.7% of its population and is showing no signs of slowing down either. 

Edited November 30, 20186 yr by cle_guy90

We could sell US-built small cars in China, where small cars are popular, except that the Chinese inexplicably believe tariffs work.

18,000 advertised job openings in the Mahoning Valley...

 

GM plant shutdown in Lordstown evokes other dark memories for Mahoning Valley

 

In many ways, General Motors' announcement that it didn't have any new products planned for its plant in Lordstown held echoes of layoffs past for the Mahoning Valley.

 

But there are some key differences today. The region has other manufacturers that have been seeking skilled employees, manufacturers that might be able to hire those laid-off employees. There are established retraining programs. And some are hopeful that the region's investment in new technologies might entice GM to give the plant another product after all.

 

MORE:

https://www.crainscleveland.com/manufacturing/gm-plant-shutdown-lordstown-evokes-other-dark-memories-mahoning-valley

Is there an Amazon Fulfillment Center to the rescue??

 

 

Wow.  Boardman was like the one part of Greater Youngstown that still seemed to be doing ok.

A realtor friend of mine in Warren is trying to put together a proposal to Amazon or other big tech firms to get them to come to Lordstown. It is includes providing train service to "the big, expensive cities of Cleveland and Pittsburgh which have the jobs and universities." I don't have the heart to tell him that today's economic movers are barely looking at Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and they would never consider the Youngstown area. If they want to be in a low-cost area, they'll go to Cleveland or Pittsburgh. But money isn't their biggest worry. It's being in a collaborative setting with lots of urban amenities close by -- like within walking or biking distance. BTW he's a Trump supporter, but we seldom talk politics.  But it shows there's such amazing contrast of lifestyles, economies, cultures and expectations emerging in this country....

 

 

The funny thing is that there is no "town" at Lordstown.  It's just farm fields around the massive auto plant that blue collar workers from Warren and Youngstown commute to.

 

1 hour ago, X said:

The funny thing is that there is no "town" at Lordstown.  It's just farm fields around the massive auto plant that blue collar workers from Warren and Youngstown commute to.

 

Tis true but nobody wants to live right by an auto plant.  Quaint-looking Newton Falls is just outside Lordstown but it was poor even before this happened.  Their schools will probably merge with Lordstown's soon.  Maybe the entire Mahoning Valley should consolidate to help it survive this.

Living in the area currently. There are a lot of consolidation of schools that need to happen. So many schools have shrunk because of population decline and are barely holding on.

I hate that this happened. Youngstown just can't get a break. As mentioned, it's not large enough to have other assets, but at the same time it is large enough - and has some geographical advantages that I hope finally get leveraged and realized.

Regulators approve Home Savings, First Federal Bank of the Midwest merger

Jeremy Nobile - Jan. 21, 2020

Link: https://www.crainscleveland.com/finance/regulators-approve-home-savings-first-federal-bank-midwest-merger

 

"Regulators have signed off on the merger of Youngstown's Home Savings Bank and its holding company with Defiance's and its parent company, the organizations have announced.  . . .  The combined bank's holding company will be based in Defiance, while the bank entity itself will be based in Youngstown. Based on estimates at the time the deal was announced, the combined bank is projected to have about $6.1 billion in assets, $5 billion in loans, $4.9 billion in deposits and more than $1 billion in wealth assets under management (AUM)."

Biden Says Entire Federal Fleet Will Be Replaced With Electric Vehicles — Workhorse, Lordstown Surge

 

President Joe Biden said Monday that the entire U.S. federal fleet of vehicles would be replaced by EVs made in the United States.

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biden-says-entire-federal-fleet-060535504.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9mb3J1bS51cmJhbm9oaW8uY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABGNXeGwkGYdtHqA0wiQXAfybn1vAH9c9EA3Af9jg2HAYKDV4XY1qvYRUym2gODMb9V2EiquBbcTSdrc8dxi50ayQ6fV_GuioUqP3nfgqMipdZ_OvMqVaSoZgwVRcbK3COIrk4RQIM1FkuaS9TbbIpB0LQvghX4SJZSMlaXtkQ7f

 

This could be huge for Youngstown. 

Interesting that Foxconn is buying (sale/lease-back) Lordstown Motors factory.  Foxconn were the guys who promised Wisconsin the $billion new factory and thousands of jobs.  Lordstown Motors doesn't need the whole place; maybe Foxconn has some immediate plans for Ohio.

 

https://www.crainscleveland.com/manufacturing/lordstown-motors-nears-deal-sell-ohio-plant-taiwans-foxconn

 

Edited September 30, 20213 yr by Dougal

https://finance-yahoo-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/lordstown-nears-deal-sell-ohio-092706746.html?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a6&usqp=mq331AQIKAGwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From %1%24s&aoh=16330108910412&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Ffinance.yahoo.com%2Fnews%2Flordstown-nears-deal-sell-ohio-092706746.html

 

I wonder if this this has any effect on their possible investment with Wisconsin...

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2021/08/09/fisker-ev-plans-for-underused-foxconn-site-hit-snag-on-wisconsin-auto-sales-rules/?sh=131372cc79de

Edited September 30, 20213 yr by lockdog

The Lordstown-Foxconn deal is getting more interesting.  Foxconn will apparently do ALL the manufacturing for Lordstown and for Fisker in the Lordstown factory. Just as they make Apple's phones, they will make the two electric companies' vehicles.  Will LMC become just a design shop?  Apple makes a good living doing that.

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/lordstown-motors-to-sell-former-gm-factory-in-ohio-to-foxconn-11633039551?page=1

Edited October 1, 20213 yr by Dougal

If foxconn goes through with this, I look at it as a "possible" really big deal for Northeast Ohio....   it could put us in the map with other technology companies, like chip manufacturers.....  and obviously, we have plenty of water for cooling....   

Edited October 1, 20213 yr by lockdog