Warren's problems started long before Eastwood Mall and are much bigger. In reality it's a national problem. We've replaced good-paying industrial jobs with minimum wage near-minimum wage jobs. Believe it or not, but there's more jobs in Mahoning-Trumbull Counties than there were in the last good days of industry in the 1970s. But they don't pay anywhere near as well as the jobs of old. It used to be one person could earn enough to feed the entire family. Then the spouse had to work to make ends meet. Now the kids have to earn, too, just to try to make the same household income the lone breadwinner did 30+ years ago.

 

We let this happen. We felt America could prosper by giving up our manufacturing to less fortunate nations and let them work the tough, dirty jobs and we'll just buy their stuff from them. But the remaining jobs in the U.S. don't pay well while we continue to send more of our wealth overseas than get in return from them buying services from us. So the U.S. gets poorer while they get richer. The older industrial cities of the north felt it first some 30 years ago. The industrial jobs that didn't go overseas went to the Sun Belt. Now the industrial cities of the south are bleeding manufacturing jobs overseas.

 

We can stop the bleeding anytime we want, but we choose not to. We're more concerned with offending other nations than taking care of our own people. But we don't care how offended the unemployed person is in Warren, Youngstown, Flint, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Birmingham or so many other places in America. We aren't worried about them.

 

We better be.

^

good rant there, KJP.  I think thats what suprised me when i did those posts on Youngstown ..gosh..last year I think.  That the place didnt really shink in overall employment.

Entrepreneur Magazine listed Youngstown as one of the top 10 cities to start a new business.

 

Where to Be an Entrepreneur

The Dreamer: Youngstown, Ohio

Sure, Youngstown may not have the economic firepower of other cities on this list, but it has one important commodity in spades: hope.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2009/august/202666-9.html

 

GE Lighting had 3,000 employees at one time in the valley. Now they'll be down to 200....

 

http://www.vindy.com/news/2009/jul/23/ge-plans-to-close-plant-in-niles/?newswatch

 

GE plans to close plant in Niles

Thursday, July 23, 2009 @ 4:55 p.m.

 

NILES — General Electric plans to close its Mahoning Glass plant here next year, eliminating 109 jobs.

 

It would be the third plant that GE has closed in the region since last year as it deals with a struggling economy and a move to more energy-efficient lights.

 

GE said today that it will enter into bargaining with union officials in Niles to determine if there is a way to save the Mahoning Glass Plant. The talks will last up to 60 days.

 

The closing would occur in July 2010 if the talks aren’t successful, GE said.

 

For more information, see Friday’s Vindicator or www.vindy.com.

Is there any viable business left in youngstown/warren? Is the GM plant safe?

Nothing is safe, but of course there are viable businesses left. There's actually more jobs these days in the Youngstown-Warren MSA (Columbiana, Mahoning & Trumbull counties), than before the mills started closing in 1977...

 

U.S. Department of Labor employment data:

1975 - 209,800

1980 - 210,500

1985 - 196,300

1990 - 257,500

1995 - 266,600

2000 - 262,600

 

Do these jobs (mostly in retailing, small business, service sectors) pay as much as the industrial jobs did? Probably not based on other economic data posted on this forum. The question is what do you consider "viable"?

Is there any viable business left in youngstown/warren? Is the GM plant safe?

 

Also, please see this thread:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,6916.0.html

I saw that thread earlier.

 

I have to look at viability as some kind of well-paying, secure, manufacturing position. The area's mentality, and I don't blame them, seems to be that it won't be "back" until there is a huge manufacturing facility operating there w/regularity. But, the area has been down so long that coming back won't be a problem in a while, no one will be alive who remembers what it was to be "back."

 

I find it quite odd that there are more jobs there now while the obvious decline rolls on. What are people doing? There can only be so much you need @ wal-mart. What are the other big employers now? Please forgive me, I left the area in '92, and while my family is still there, I haven't paid much attention.

It's my opinion that the days of the big industrial employer are nearly over for the US, not just the Mahoning Valley.  Too many people are waiting for the one big corporation to come back and employ thousands who will work there for the rest of their lives and collect a nice pension after retirement.  And, I think this is unrealistic.  A stronger economy would be built from many small businesses and industries, not just a few big ones.

 

I haven't done any research on this, but I think there are many smaller businesses around.  Because they are small, they aren't news worthy and so they get overlooked.  Because there isn't one big employer, people seem to assume there are no employers.

Call-center operation is ‘home run’ for city

 

VXI Global Solutions is expected to hire 150 people by Oct. 1.

 

By William K. Alcorn

 

YOUNGSTOWN — A Los Angeles-based call-center company says it will set up business in the city-owned former Phar-Mor Building downtown and eventually employ about 500.

 

Mayor Jay Williams said VXI Global Solutions is expected to hire 150 people by Oct. 1, when the center is scheduled to open at 20 Federal Place, and an additional 50 a month after that, up to about 500.

 

If business is really good, VXI has an option on a second floor of the building and could nearly double that number of employees in the future, said Williams, who announced the company’s coming at a news conference Wednesday.

 

 

 

http://www.vindy.com/news/2009/aug/13/call-center-operation-is-8216home-run8217/?newswatch

http://www.business-journal.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=14513&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1711&hn=business-journal&he=.com

 

N-Viro Bringing 40 Jobs to Castlo Park

Sept. 1, 2009 6:48 a.m.

 

STRUTHERS, Ohio -- SouthSide Environmental Group LLC of Niles and N-Viro International Corp. of Toledo have teamed up to create Mahoning Valley N-Viro, a new company to be located in the Castlo Industrial Park here. The facility will convert various types of waste into alternative fuel.

 

The resulting product, N-Viro fuel, is blended with coal or petroleum coke and burned as a coal substitute in coal-fired plants. The new facility will create 40 jobs, according to Bill Binning, chairman of the Castlo Community Improvement Corp. board of trustees. Construction is expected to begin this year with opening anticipated in mid-2010, once state and local permits are approved.

 

....

New and brief article just published in The Economist on the decline of U.S. manufacturing, the shrinking of Youngstown, and the Youngstown Business Incubator.  All in all, it was a fairly optimistic read, focusing on the nascent success of the YBI and Turning Technologies and the competitive advantage of inexpensive space.

 

http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14588263

http://www.business-journal.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=14809&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1711&hn=business-journal&he=.com

 

AT&T Ohio President Praises Valley Workers

Oct. 9, 2009 6:48 a.m.

 

BOARDMAN, Ohio – AT&T’s decision to create 150 union jobs at its call center here results from the company recognizing the high skill level of local workers, says Tom Pelto, president of AT&T Ohio. Pelto was joined by Gov. Ted Strickland and local legislators in making the announcement at a press event Thursday. He elaborates on his company’s decision in today’s “3 Minutes With” video interview posted on the right side of our home page.

 

http://www.business-journal.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=14859&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1711&hn=business-journal&he=.com

 

Employees’ Local Ties Draw VXI to City

Oct. 16, 2009 7:02 a.m.

By George Nelson

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- VXI Global Solutions Inc. executives began to notice a common denominator in recent years among several of its top employees: a Mahoning Valley point of origin.

 

VXI saw how those employees were excelling at its various sites, prompting company officials to take a “serious look” at establishing a call center here, said its vice president of operations, Tobias Parrish.

 

http://www.business-journal.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=14856&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1711&hn=business-journal&he=.com

 

Applicants Seek Jobs at Things Remembered

 

Cameron Shackelford

Oct. 16, 2009 6:39 a.m.

By Dan O’Brien

 

BOARDMAN, Ohio – Cameron Shackelford lost his job at InfoCision when the call center closed its operation in downtown Youngstown earlier this year.

 

The Youngstown resident relates it’s tough to find work in an area with one of the highest rates of unemployment in the state. But Shackelford hopes that he’s one of the successful applicants for 300 positions open at the Things Remembered distribution center in North Jackson.

This is an awesome "trailer" -- I love it!!

 

http://vimeo.com/5686360

Read more about the film here: http://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio/662003-steel-valley-meltdown.html

 

The author joins the discussion.

Sorry to see it go, but I understand the reason. It's not likely anyone else has had any plans for it since the mid-1970s.....

Sorry to see it go, but I understand the reason. It's not likely anyone else has had any plans for it since the mid-1970s.....

 

Perhaps it is appropriate, since its walls were the first to know of Black Monday.

Actually, the people who were first to know of Black Monday were at the Lykes Corp., a steamship company based in New Orleans. They bought YS&T in 1969 and bled it dry over the coming decade. And the building shown above wasn't YS&T's corporate headquarters, which had been located in suburban Boardman since 1950.

 

It is also possible, giving the timing that the Brier Hill office building shown above was closed before Black Monday (Black Monday was Sept. 19, 1977, but the article said the Brier Hill office building was closed 35 years ago). My guess is that there were some low-level payroll workers, safety inspectors and labor relations staff at the Brier Hill offices, which may have been consolidated and moved to the YS&T corporate offices in Boardman a few years prior to Black Monday. I remember reading that YS&T underwent a few hundred layoffs in about 1974, but I don't remember if those were steelworkers, office workers or both.

 

But I can say for certain that the Boardman headquarters was closed coincident with Black Monday and all YS&T offices moved to Chicago. I don't know if that's when the Brier Hill building was closed. YS&T's Brier Hill steel plant was closed in 1979, however. My guess is that the Brier Hill office building was shuttered during the 1974 layoffs, which were considered by pretty catastrophic at the time.

 

If they only knew what was yet to come.....

Not good....

 

Valley Jobless Rate 2nd Highest in Ohio

Dec. 3, 2009 6:40 a.m.

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The Mahoning Valley’s unemployment rate for October was 12.5%, up from 7.3% a year ago, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. A total of 33,900 residents were jobless for the month in the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman metropolitan statistical area.

 

The October rate for the metropolitan area, up from 12.3% in September, was the second-highest rate among Ohio’s metro areas, behind only the 12.6% jobless rate for the Weirton-Steubenville MSA. The Valley’s jobless rate was also higher than the statewide rate of 10% and the national jobless rate of 9.5%.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.business-journal.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=15199&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1711&hn=business-journal&he=.com

VXI Grows Faster than Expected; Could Soon Create 250 More Jobs

 

http://www.business-journal.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=15227&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1711&hn=business-journal&he=.com

 

Dec. 7, 2009 1:00 p.m.

By George Nelson

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- VXI Global Solutions Inc. has already hired half of the 500 employees it expected to hire in its first year downtown, and the company could add another 250 workers – at the very least – early next year at its new call center.

 

Global Green USA Finds City Fertile Ground

Dec. 18, 2009 6:32 a.m.

By Dan O’Brien

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The city missed out on the technology revolution during the last decade and it won’t make the same mistake with the “green” revolution, vow U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-17, and Mayor Jay Williams.

 

Ryan and Williams announced Thursday a partnership with Global Green USA, a nonprofit organization based in Santa Monica, Calif., that pledges to help the city get grants and philanthropic contributions to boost its stature in environmental and neighborhood redevelopment.

 

“We are committed to make sure that we don’t miss the green revolution that’s coming,” Ryan told reporters during a conference call. Ryan and about 30 other members of Congress joined world leaders in Copenhagen yesterday at the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.business-journal.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=15315&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1711&hn=business-journal&he=.com

I suspect this purchase is anticipation that V&M Star Steel will select Youngstown for its $1 billion steel mill expansion.......

 

Metalico Buys Youngstown Iron & Metal

Dec. 21, 2009 7:14 a.m.

 

Youngstown Iron & Metal’s plant at 100 Division Street provides its neighbor and largest customer, V&M Star Steel, with scrap steel. The company’s huge auto shredder is supported by the ferrous and non-ferrous buying yard operated by Atlas Recycling at 1420 Burton St. SE in Warren.

 

Over the last two years, Youngstown Iron & Metal “averaged $50 million of annual revenue and sold an annual average of 105,000 gross tons of scrap steel and approximately 15 million pounds of non-ferrous products,” according to the sale announcement.

 

Metalico is a holding company founded in 1997. The publicly traded company operates 21 recycling facilities in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, New Jersey, Texas, and Mississippi and four lead fabricating plants in Alabama, Illinois, and California.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.business-journal.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=15325&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1711&hn=business-journal&he=.com

 

This is good news....

 

DECEMBER 30, 2009, 11:51 A.M. ET

Trade Panel Rules for U.S. Steelmakers Against Chinese Imports

By HENRY J. PULIZZI

 

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. International Trade Commission sided with U.S. steelmakers in a case over Chinese steel Wednesday, voting that U.S. industry has been damaged by a flood of imports of subsidized steel from China.

 

In its largest-ever steel case, the commission made an affirmative determination that imports of so-called oil country tubular goods from China have injured U.S. manufacturers. The commission will provide details of its vote later Wednesday.

 

The ruling, which will likely result in duties on future imports of Chinese steel pipes, adds more tension to the U.S.-China trade relationship. Ties between Washington and Beijing are already frayed by the Obama administration's imposition of duties on Chinese tire imports and China's criticism of U.S. moves as protectionist.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126219101972610403.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories

This is good news....

 

DECEMBER 30, 2009, 11:51 A.M. ET

Trade Panel Rules for U.S. Steelmakers Against Chinese Imports

 

That's great news!

The Trib's contribution to this historic ruling......

 

Duties a boon to steel mills

U.S. to set tariffs on some Chinese imports; local officials laud move

 

By RON SELAK JR. and LARRY RINGLER

Tribune Chronicle

POSTED: December 31, 2009

 

YOUNGSTOWN - The U.S. government is imposing new duties on Chinese steel pipe imports, a positive signal for steelworkers nationwide and locally toward convincing V&M Star Steel to select its Mahoning Valley facility for a nearly $1 billion expansion project.

 

The U.S. International Trade Commission voted Wednesday to impose duties between 10.36 percent and 15.78 percent on the pipes, which are mostly used in the oil and gas industries. Those duties are intended to offset the government subsidies that the U.S. government says China provides its steelmakers.

 

The case is the largest steel trade dispute in U.S. history and will affect about $2.8 billion worth of Chinese imports.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/531655.html?nav=5021&showlayout=0

Hiring 130 tech workers is great news!

 

Support.com Seeks Tech-Savvy Youngstowners

Jan. 8, 2010 6:12 a.m.

By George Nelson

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – An online computer support company is putting out the call for area geeks. And those hired could hardly find an easier commute.

 

Support.com announced Thursday that it chose Youngstown to kick off its campaign to hire more than 100 workers in 100 days to provide online support for computer users. The company, based in Redwood City, Ca., provides “premium support” for computer users, said Paul Vaillancourt, vice president of call center operations. The support technicians, or “solutions engineers” as the company calls them, remotely connect to the client’s computer via the Internet to resolve the issue.

 

The solutions engineers provide assistance for everything from setting up a new printer or personal computer “all the way to removing the most malicious viruses you could possibly imagine,” Vaillancourt said. “:As long as we can connect to your PC over the Internet, we can do just about anything.”

 

Support.com currently employs about 300 solutions engineers, and needs at least 130 to meet demand, Vaillancourt said.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.business-journal.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=15410&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1711&hn=business-journal&he=.com

And now for some bad news....

 

Polyair to close Youngstown plant; 41 workers offered transfers to Ky.

Published: Fri, January 8, 2010 @ 12:08 a.m.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

CITY HALL REPORTER

 

YOUNGSTOWN — A packing- products company will close its Youngstown facility by mid-March and move the operations to a plant in Bardstown, Ky.

 

Polyair employs 41 people at its 160,000-square-foot plant in Youngstown’s Performance Place Business Park off Poland Avenue. Workers at the Youngstown plant were told Wednesday that the facility was shutting down.

 

The Youngstown plant is among eight operated by Polyair Inter Pack, a company based in Toronto.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/jan/08/polyair-to-close-youngstown-plant-41-workers/

Research company to open office in downtown Tech Block

Published: Tue, January 12, 2010 @ 12:06 a.m.

By Don Shilling

 

YOUNGSTOWN — Creation of the downtown Tech Block is taking a step forward as a San Francisco research company opens an office in a recently renovated West Federal Street building.

 

Revere Data plans to have 10 workers in the Semple Building by March 1 and expects to have a total of 40 to 50 within two years.

 

---

 

HELP WANTED

 

Necessary qualifications

 

Revere Data is looking for people with these qualifications:

 

Undergraduate degree in business, economics, information technology, life sciences or engineering.

 

Zero to two years of work experience.

 

Strong research and Internet search skills.

 

An interest in business, finance and global affairs.

 

http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/jan/12/research-company-to-open-office-in-downtown-tech/

I especially liked this paragraph in that article:

 

That follows the construction of the $6 million Taft Technology Center, which is next to the incubator. The Taft building houses most of the operations of Turning Technologies, which began in the incubator and has grown into a 130-employee company.

This appears to be a good sign about the local economy.....

 

Covelli Centre Posts 2009 Operating Profit;

$300,000 Set Aside to Pay Debt Service

Jan. 21, 2010 7:14 a.m.

By Dan O’Brien

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – City officials say sensible management decisions and the right mix of events last year led the Covelli Centre to its first-ever operating profit.

 

“We are very, very pleased,” said Kyle Miasek, the city’s deputy director of finance. “What’s most exciting is that there was a diversity of events. They delivered a great year.”

 

After four years of falling well below expected profit targets, the Covelli Centre ended calendar year 2009 with a net income of $153,905. The arena had budgeted a profit of $9,299.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.business-journal.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=15514&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1711&hn=business-journal&he=.com

^That is good news about the Covelli Center.  But, IMO, the poorer performance in the past has less to do with the economy, and more to do with the type of shows, and number of shows, that were provided.

Where is rage over loss of U.S. manufacturing?

Published: Fri, January 29, 2010 @ 12:10 a.m.

 

Fair-trade legislation and incentives to rebuild the nations manufacturing base are prescribed.

 

By DON SHILLING

VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

 

YOUNGSTOWN Where is the rage? wonders an editor who has covered the devastation of the U.S. manufacturing industry.

 

Industries have disappeared at an alarming rate because of what Richard McCormack considers unfair trade and foreign currency manipulation.

 

Recent stimulus and jobs legislation coming out of Washington, D.C., have only made the decline worse, said the editor and publisher of Manufacturing & Technology News, who spoke Thursday at a Williamson Symposium hosted by Youngstown State Universitys business school.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/jan/29/stimulus-worsens-economic-woe-editor-say/

Note that this thread is for general business (non-steel) news. The Youngstown steel industry thread is at:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,6916.0.html

Youngstown better be careful or it might just forget it was in a depression for 30 years!

 

Data company’s relocation to downtown brings cheers

The research center’s CEO wants to hire as many as 100 employees in two years.

Wed, February 17, 2010 @ 12:10 a.m.

 

By David Skolnick

 

YOUNGSTOWN — Just a day after the announcement of a $650 million V&M Star Steel expansion, Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams and U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan welcomed a research company to the city’s downtown Tuesday.

 

“We’ve come a long way,” said Ryan, of Niles, D-17th. “This is just the beginning of marketing our Valley as a great place for business.”

 

Revere Data, a San Francisco-based company, has relocated a research center’s operations from New Delhi, India, to the recently renovated Semple Building on West Federal Street, part of the city’s Tech Block.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://vindy.com/news/2010/feb/17/data-company8217s-relocation-to-downtown/

Ho hum, just another steelmaker seeking to build in the area -- again thanks to the Marcellus Basin gas boom. Brookfield is actually closer to Sharon, near the intersection of routes 82 and 7.....

 

$872K tax credit OKd to lure steel-tube maker to Brookfield

Published: Tue, February 23, 2010 @ 12:06 a.m.By ED RUNYAN

 

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

 

BROOKFIELD A tax credit worth $872,000 over nine years has been approved to encourage Ultra Premium Oilfield Services of Odessa, Texas, to invest $10 million in a vacant factory in Brookfield that would employ 120 people.

 

The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved the Job Creation Tax Credit on Monday in Columbus. If the project moves forward, Ultra Premium will make tubular steel products used in oil and natural-gas exploration there, the Ohio Department of Development says. The tax credit requires Ultra Premium to maintain operations for 11 years.

 

The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, which worked on the project, said it expects an announcement on whether the project will move forward in the very near future.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/feb/23/872k-tax-credit-ok8217d-to-lure-steel-tu/

I am shocked at the extent of good economic news coming to this region lately. It certainly needs it!!

 

GM Brings 1,200 Jobs to Lordstown Complex

Feb. 23, 2010 1:12 p.m.

 

LORDSTOWN, Ohio -- General Motors Co. announced moments ago that it will add a third shift at its manufacturing complex here, adding 1,200 jobs to support production of the new, 2011 Chevrolet Cruze compact car.

 

The Chevrolet Cruze program represents a $500 million investment in U.S. manufacturing operations, which includes more than $350 million to re-tool the Lordstown facility, GM said.

 

Here is unedited text from GM’s news release:

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/clients/business-journal/gm-brings-jobs-to-lordstown-complex-p15796.htm?twindow=Default&smenu=1&mad=No

I have a soft spot for Youngstown (my brother and his family live there and I stayed with them for a few months when I returned to Ohio last year).  It makes me so happy to see these positive developments!

How does 3,000 new good-paying jobs coming to Youngstown-Warren in the next year sound? That estimate was compiled in this blog posting yesterday (PS, the reporter forget to include 150 new jobs at the AT&T call center)......

 

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Jobs, Jobs and More Jobs

 

We're going to grab a place on Forbe's list of desirable places to live if the pace of economic development in the Mahoning Valley keeps up. The news lately has been all about jobs for our fine area and hopefully that translates into new positions for everyone who faced a layoff last year or an opportunity for anyone looking to move up. The new opportunities have been buzzing by so fast it's hard to keep up with all the good news:

 

+ V & M plan to build a new pipe mill with an investment of 650 million dollars that will create construction jobs and eventually employee 350 people. Company officials have indicated Youngstown may also be the site of a 300 million dollar melt shop.

 

+ Revere Data is moving into the tech block downtown and will employee 40 -50 people within two years.

 

+ VXI Global Systems opened a call center downtown in October that they hope will eventually employ 500 people.

 

+ Exal Corp is building a new facility on Salt Springs Rd. that will employee 400 people making aluminum cans and bottles.

 

+ The Severstal steel plant in warren will be reopening.

 

+ Sharon Regional Health System renovated a vacant super market in Hubbard at a cost of $1.7 million dollars that will provide a needed service and employee 12.

 

+ Patriot Special Metals is creating a $65 million dollar complex in North Jackson that will produce specialty aviation parts.

 

+ Reinforcement Systems is building a new plant and headquarters in Warren at a cost of $28 million dollars that will employee 65 people making wire reinforcement for construction projects.

 

+ McHenry Industries is building a a new production facility in Austintown for manufacturing signs.

 

+ Dearing Compressor and Pump Company is spending $3 million to build an addition to its plant in Boardman.

 

+ TMK IPSCO signed a lease on a facility in Brookfield that will employee up to 120 people producing pipe for natural gas drilling.

 

+ Arcelor Mittal is calling back 126 hourly workers at its Warren plant.

 

+ GM Lordstown will add a third shift for production of the Chevy Cruze which translates into 1200 workers.

 

 

READ MORE AT:

http://talesfromtherustbelt.blogspot.com/2010/02/jobs-jobs-and-more-jobs.html

I'm not familiar with the Youngstown-Warren area, but it's definitely a good week for the city and region.  NE Ohio can use all the good news it can get.

 

That 3,000 jobs are just the direct jobs. There's usually an economic multiplier from a new job being created that can range from 1.5 to 3.5. So with 3,000 new jobs in the Mahoning Valley, that could result in an additional 4,500 to 10,500 spin-off jobs created!

That 3,000 jobs are just the direct jobs. There's usually an economic multiplier from a new job being created that can range from 1.5 to 3.5. So with 3,000 new jobs in the Mahoning Valley, that could result in an additional 4,500 to 10,500 spin-off jobs created!

 

Exactly.  Thats how I was thinking of the Lordstown announcement yesterday.  There will be many spinoff jobs in addition.

 

I know with GM-Parma's pretty large role in supplying their parts (and they have already called back everyone), that they will likely have work to keep everyone busy and likely will need to add jobs there.   

I sent an e-mail to a friend of mine at the Youngstown chamber and congratulated him for a great week. He responded that he's lived in the area for 30 years and has never seen a 10-day period like this.

 

I told him you might see a lot more good times with the spin-off benefits from the Marcellus Shale. This may be the best era for the region since the decades which followed the discovery of Brier Hill Black in 1844 and Drake's Rock Oil in 1859.

More jobs for Valley: VXI will hire 200

 

Published: Thu, March 4, 2010 @ 12:08 a.m.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

 

[email protected]

 

YOUNGSTOWN

 

A call-center company that opened five months ago in the city-owned 20 Federal Place will add 200 jobs by May.

 

VXI Global Solutions, a Los Angeles-based company, already employs 450 at the downtown building, said Deidre Watson, the company’s lead recruiter for its Youngstown office.

 

...

 

The starting pay for the jobs is $9 an hour. Top employees at VXI earn $800 to $1,000 a week, Watson said.

 

http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/mar/04/more-jobs-for-valley-vxi-will-hire-200/

Damn, you beat me to it! Oh well, here's another article about it (I was suffering from withdrawal having not heard any positive job news for an entire week!).....

 

VXI Considers Expansion at 20 Federal

March 5, 2010 7:14 a.m

By George Nelson

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- VXI Global Solutions inc. is considering whether to lease more space at the city-owned 20 Federal Place, where employment may soon reach 550 -- 50 more jobs that the company promised to create when it began operations here six months ago.

 

Los Angeles-based VXI opened an inbound call center last October on the building’s fourth floor, in space vacated earlier in the year by InfoCision Management Corp. At the time the company said it would hire 500 workers within one year. The call center already has 450 employees and this week is running help—wanted ads to hire more.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/clients/business-journal/vxi-considers-expansion-at-federal-p15887.htm?twindow=Default&smenu=1&mad=No

That's a TON of good news for the region within the last week or so!  Good for Youngstown!!

The Vindicator's Main Sunday Frontpage Column was on Downtown Youngstown and all the positive things going on, nightlife wise, down there. The articles continued pouring into today's paper.

 

Great Reads/Pictures/Videos:

1. Work and Play || Nightlife comes alive in Youngstown, Ohio

 

2. Bar, restaurant, nightclub owners toast to success in downtown Youngstown

 

3. Youngstown arts scene applauded

 

4. Column: Pride in our shell

5. Owners envision prosperous economic growth through entertainment

 

As you can see, The Vindicator went all out in their articles on Downtown Youngstown. I hope you folks enjoy them all!

 

6. Youngstown Merchants Seeing More Traffic

 

You covered the articles better than I did. (I didn't realize the Vindicator was doing a series of articles until after I posted the second one)  But here is a link to my thread anyway:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,22436.0.html

Cool stuff. And adding 10,000+ jobs in the valley in the coming year doesn't hurt either!