YNDC Plans to Expand Its Budget, Staff

 

Dec. 15, 2010 6:48 a.m.

By George Nelson

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. plans to add staff -- as well as expand its budget by about 80% -- over the next few years in order to build a "focused, dynamic and inspirational organization" that gets tangible, measurable results, its executive director says.

 

http://business-journal.com/yndc-plans-to-expand-its-budget-staff-p18150-1.htm

 

Here is YNDC's website: http://www.yndc.org/

Youngstown Posts 2nd-Highest Jobless Rate

Dec. 21, 2010 5:30 p.m.

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Despite a decrease in its unemployment rate last month, Youngstown still posted the second-highest jobless rate among Ohio cities in November, newly released state figures show. At the same time, Warren's unemployment rate rose by a tenth of a percentage point last month from October's.

 

The data, released Tuesday morning by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, shows Youngstown's jobless rate for the month, 12.0%, was down slightly from 12.2% the month before. Youngstown's jobless rate was only surpassed among the Ohio cities JFS released data for by Zanesville, which recorded a 12.2% jobless rate last month.

 

Warren had an unemployment rate of 11.5% in November, up slightly from 11.4% in October.

 

Both Warren's and Youngstown's jobless rates were improved substantially from a year ago, when the rate was 14.0% in Warren and 14.4% in Youngstown.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/youngstown-posts-ndhighest-jobless-rate-p18199-1.htm

This is the most surprising of any of the projects on here. This proves a number of things, many of them which contradict a lot of the political talking points from both sides.

 

700 jobs is a fairly sure thing, then? I'll assume the 3,500 number is "highest possible in the extreme long term where everything goes perfectly".

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a .65 B investment and around 1,000 jobs a massive shot in the arm for Youngstown?

This should help a little......

 

InfoCision puts out call for 200 more hires

Published: Wed, December 29, 2010 @ 12:10 a.m.By Kristine Gill

[email protected]

 

AUSTINTOWN

 

A local phone center announced it is looking to hire 200 Valley workers to aid its growing clientele base.

 

Based in Akron, Info-Cision Management Corp. is the nation’s second-largest privately owned teleservice company with 32 call centers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The new hires will work at the Mahoning and Shenango Valley locations, according to the announcement.

 

Lisa Watson, recruitment and retention coordinator of the Austintown branch, said about 100 positions are available at the 5740 Interstate Boulevard location, which employs 600. Watson said the Boardman branch at 8530 Crossroads Drive and the New Castle branch at 253 East Washington Street each employs about 300 and are looking to hire an additional 50.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/dec/29/infocision-puts-out-the-call-for-200-mor/

^ I was peeved at InfoCision because they left downtown for Austintown a couple years ago. (breaking their lease/agreement with the city)  But if they hadn't left, VXI wouldn't have taken their place.

City’s income-tax receipts up slightly

By ed runyan

 

[email protected]

 

YOUNGSTOWN

 

Mayor Jay Williams said the city saw a “slight improvement” in income-tax receipts during the last three months of 2010 — a sign of a “gradual improvement and strengthening of the economy.”

...

The city’s general fund revenue for 2010 was $39.35 million. Expenses were $38.6 million. The general fund is the city’s main operating fund and pays for most government services, such as police and fire protection.

 

http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/dec/31/city8217s-income-tax-receipts-up-slightl/

Pig Iron Owner Hopes Resurgence Spreads

Jan. 5, 2011 6:30 a.m.

By George Nelson

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Jim Villani bought the building that houses his Pig Iron Press and related enterprises in the early 1990s when resuscitating the downtown seemed an unrealistic goal.

 

The downtown has indeed come back but not as strong as touted, he says. Because enthusiasm exceeded the ability to meet those overly ambitious goals, Villani admits he is approaching the current revitalization efforts with a mixture of hope and skepticism.

 

The three-story structure on North Phelps Street built in 1910, which sits across from the west entrance of 20 Federal Place, is known today as the Pig Iron Press Building. It was home to Frankle Brothers Tobacco Co, more than a half century.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/pig-iron-owner-hopes-resurgence-spreads-p18269-1.htm

Magnet, Trade Agency Add Area Offices

Jan. 18, 2011 6:50 a.m.

By George Nelson

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Officials with the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber say they are optimistic about the potential impact of two Northeast Ohio economic development institutions that are each establishing a regular presence in the Mahoning Valley.

 

The Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network, better known as Magnet, and the International Trade Assistance Center, part of the Kent-based Northeast Ohio Trade & Economic Consortium, or Neotec, both will have staff in new local satellite offices.

 

Cleveland-based Magnet's Alan Lupus, senior business consultant, will operate out of the Regional Chamber's Warren office, and Ryan Sansom, of the trade assistance center, will be housed at Youngstown State University's Williamson College of Business Administration as part of its Center of Excellence in International Business.

 

Both have started their regular visits to the area, the chamber officials said.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/magnet-trade-agency-add-area-offices-p18379-1.htm

I've been negligent in posting articles to this thread lately. :(  Recently, there was a 3 part write-up about the business corridors in Boardman.  When I get more time later, perhaps I'll post them.

 

Food court at 20 Federal Place has filled up in the last two years

Published: Tue, February 1, 2011 @ 12:01 a.m.

 

By David Skolnick

 

[email protected]

 

YOUNGSTOWN

 

Eating a pepperoni roll from Pizza Joe’s for lunch with friends at the 20 Federal Place food court, John McMullen remembers when there wasn’t much of a selection at the downtown lunch location.

 

“It was lean for the past couple of years,” said McMullen, a federal bankruptcy court employee who’s worked downtown 28 years. “But I’ve seen an increase in the last couple of years.”

 

...

 

The restaurants’ owners say business is good, particularly since VXI Global Solutions, a call center, opened in October 2009 and expanded a few months ago. The business employs about 1,100.

 

InfoCision, another call center, left 20 Federal Place in early 2009 after a four-year stay. It had employed about 165 there.

 

http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/feb/01/the-food-court-at-20-federal-place-has-f/

 

I often stop in there to get food for a monthly lunch meeting in Youngstown, and then go back there for post-meeting follow-up discussions with a friend or two. It is usually very busy there at the start of the lunch hour. And afterwards, about 1:30 p.m., there's still a decent amount of people around.

 

No apologies needed for a lack of posting articles. Just don't let it happen again! ;)

How's this for good news and recognition!

 

The Rust Belt Has Arrived

Interest in cities that have fallen on hard times in the Midwest and Northeast brings new cache to living and working in the Rust Belt.

 

FEBRUARY 2011

 

Step aside Boston, New York City, San Francisco and Seattle. Sorry, but you’re just not cool anymore. These days, you need to have crumbling roads, triple-decker apartment buildings, old-fashioned neighborhood bars and lots of rust to gain any hipster cred. When Anthony Bourdain, host of the trendy travel and food show No Reservations, passes up Tuscany, Provence and Barcelona to visit Baltimore, Buffalo and Detroit, you know the Rust Belt has arrived.

 

....But the other fascination is the defiance these Rust Belt cities have shown. Many of them, such as the gritty cities Bourdain visits, reflect a rebellious attitude. Youngstown, Ohio, has to be the poster child of this stance. Once part of America’s steel manufacturing hub, Youngstown went into a death spiral as the industry collapsed in the mid-1970s. Today, Youngstown’s population is 75,000, less than half of its original size, and is 43 percent vacant.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.governing.com/columns/urban-notebook/Rust-Belt-Arrived.html

^I really like that article, KJP!

 

YSU, Delphi team up in automotive technology

 

Published: Tue, February 1, 2011 @ 12:05 a.m.

 

By kristine Gill

 

[email protected]

 

YOUNGSTOWN

 

Youngstown State University is teaming up with Delphi Automotive through a $1 million state grant to improve technology for electric and hybrid vehicles.

 

The Ohio Third Frontier Commission awarded $14 million in grants this year for similar projects in its Photovoltaics Program, Fuel Cell Program and Advanced Energy Program.

 

http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/feb/01/ysu-delphi-team-up-in-automotive-technol/

Not good news...

 

Jillian’s closes in Boardman

 

Published: Mon, January 31, 2011 @ 12:02 a.m.

 

Staff report

 

BOARDMAN

 

After 12 years in business Jillian’s in Southern Park Mall has closed.

Generally, more sprawl.  But still positive news, I guess...

 

Single-family-home permits surge in county

 

Published: Sun, January 30, 2011 @ 12:07 a.m.

 

By Elise Franco

 

[email protected]

 

Single-family-home permits issued in Mahoning County are on the rise for the first time since 2006 — a positive sign for a county hit hard by the recession.

 

http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/jan/30/single-family-home-permits-surge-in-coun/

The Corridor Project: The value and difficultly of tracking commercial retail businesses

 

Published: Sun, January 23, 2011 @ 12:01 a.m.

By Ashley Luthern

[email protected]

 

BOARDMAN

 

One area stands out in Mahoning County as king of commercial retail businesses.

 

About 10,000 businesses call Boardman Township home, drawing more than 100,000 people to township limits during the day to eat, shop, work and play. At least 50 percent of the county sales tax – which totaled more than $27 million in 2010 – comes from Boardman’s commercial corridor.

 

The size of the corridor makes documenting retail trends difficult, and no government or business agency has undertaken the task.

 

http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/jan/23/corridor-project-day-one/

 

The Corridor Project: Market St. stays local

 

Published: Mon, January 24, 2011 @ 12:01 a.m.

By Ashley Luthern

[email protected]

 

BOARDMAN

 

Driving north on Market Street, it’s a hard to miss the cheery yellow-and-white-striped sign and awning for The Joshua Tree – or the portrait of “Aunt Helen” peering out from the window.

 

“It’s got curb appeal,” said Jan Christopher, who co-manages the antique store, 4416 Market St., with Maria Van Tilburg.

 

The store is one of 269 occupied storefronts counted by The Vindicator during a survey of Market Street from Midlothian Boulevard to Western Reserve Road.

 

http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/jan/24/corridor-project-day-two/

 

The Corridor Project: Day Three

 

Published: Tue, January 25, 2011 @ 12:01 a.m.

By Ashley Luthern

[email protected]

 

BOARDMAN

 

The township’s motto is, “A Nice Place to Call Home.”

 

To many, it simply is, “A Nice Place to Shop.”

 

“Route 224 is a great shopping mecca,” said Melissa Hotem, Old Navy’s Ohio East district manager.

 

Old Navy occupies a corner in the popular Shops at Boardman Park.

 

“When you come down 224, you really see the store with its striping and its lights. It’s like a beacon,” Hotem said.

 

A Vindicator survey of business along U.S. Route 224, from Interstate 680 to state Route 11, revealed that of 426 storefronts, 73 were vacant — about 17 percent.

 

http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/jan/25/corridor-project-day-three/

VXI Seeks Workers to Meet Contract Growth

Feb. 3, 2011 7:14 a.m.

By George Nelson

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- VXI Global Solutions Inc. must fill about 200 positions in the near term at its downtown call center, a need driven in part by clients specifically asking that their work be done here, its CEO says.

 

VXI, which opened an inbound call center in 20 Federal Place in fall 2009 and now employs more than 800 customer service representatives and supervisors on the building's fourth and fifth floors, is about to embark on a new advertising campaign soliciting employees.

 

The company held an open house Tuesday and has another one planned for Feb. 16, said Stuart Foster, operations director at the call center.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/vxi-seeks-workers-to-meet-contract-growth-p18498-1.htm

Just found this, although it was posted a year ago. It is a status report e-mail on Packard Electric in Warren, which was comprised of 15 plants that employed 15,000 people at good wages. The good wages (vs. the slave wages overseas) is why almost all of it is gone. I think when Americans get to be dirt poor and desperate enough to work for $2 per hour, then we will our industry come back nice and strong <<sarcasm>>........

 

_________________

 

Warren was home to the Packard Motor Car Co. The business was on the Erie-Lackawanna railroad's 2nd district main. The company was owned by the Packard brothers of Warren. That is W.D. Packard and J. W. Packard. That's where the first Packard cars were made - on Dana St. Where you see Ohio Lamp of GE - that was originally Packard Mazda Lamp that made lightbulbs. The Packard brothers sold it to GE. BTW, the Ohio Lamp Plant is dying a slow death today.

 

The car business moved to Detroit sometime after 1900. One of the biggest eyesores in Detroit is the old abandoned Packard Plant. The automotive wiring business was kept by the Packards until it was sold to GM in 1932. Thereafter, it was known as Packard Electric Division of General Motors. It became Delphi Packard Electric Systems in 1994. Delphi was spun off from GM in 1999.

 

We were the world's largest and best producer of wiring harnesses. We also made electric motors at Thomas Rd. at one time. This business eventually went to Dayton and became part of DELCO.

 

Packard could make wire faster than anyone else in the world. We used to make enough wire to circle the world 30 times in one week. Packard was known for it's ignition cable, too. I think most racing teams used Packard high suppression sparkplug wires. It supposedly once had the world's largest injection molding facility in Plt. 3. This made connectors and plastic parts used in wiring harnesses. They also made printed circuit boards. It's now closed.

 

> Plt. 8 made wiring for appliances (Frigidaire). During WW 2 Plant 8 made the Norton bomb sight used on the B-17's. These facilities were in the Dana St. area. Plt. 8 had a Bandberry mixer and a rubber mill to make the rubber spark plug boots along with ignition wires in later years. It's now closed.

 

> At N. River Rd. is the big complex. Plt. 10 made most all the wire after  it was built in the 50's. My dad was a millwright and installed the wire mill. Plt. 10 is still there but we don't know for how long. Plt. 10 still receives plastic pellets for wire insulation by rail. Used to receive copper billets for the wire mill. This plant also used to get tank cars. The boilerhouse behind Plt. 10 used to get coal by rail. BTW, the Dana St. plant used to get coal for it's boilerhouse by rail. They had a big silo for coal storage.

 

> Plt.11 made harnesses for Cadillac at one time. Those instrument panel harnesses were really big and heavy. Eventually, it was turned into a plant that makes terminals. High speed presses running progressive dies spit out 2,600 terminals a minute in some cases. It is still running.

 

> Plt. 12 had harness assembly lines for power equipment - power windows, seat adjusters, rear speakers, air bags, etc.The last work at the plant was making Bussed Electrical Centers (BEC's). These are for fuses, relays, and other devices. Gone to Mexico and China. Now closed. BTW, Delphi Mexican workers make $2 an hour. Chinese make about 68 cents an hour.

 

> Plt. 13 did the forward lamp harnesses and bus harnesses I think, for GM's bus div. This plant is closed.

 

> The engineering building was in front of Plt. 13 product development and testing was done here. It's now closed.

 

> Plt. 14 was pretty much assembly lines. It's closed.

 

> Plt. 15 was the Distribution Center. I think Steve Timko once mentioned that Packard once shipped 12 50 ft. boxcars a day for assembly plants. This is also closed.

 

> Test Center near KSU Trumbull does testing - still open.

 

> The NRR complex was really big. It had Plts. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and the engineering building. Only Plants 10 and 11 are open. The rest of the complex is vacant.

 

During the 1980's several branch plants were built because wiring content in cars was increasing at a rate of 15% each year and we didn't have the necessary floorspace for the business.

 

> Cortland Plt. 45 made CCC harnesses. Now closed

 

> Austintown had two plants that did the same thing. Now closed.

 

> Vienna Plt.47 Injection molding plant. Still running.

 

> Thomas Rd. Plt. 41 - now closed.

 

> Rootstown - Makes plastic compound pellets. To close before March 2010.

 

The Warren operations used to have about 15,000 hourly and salaried workers. Many tool & die makers. There are now about 600 people left and it is unknown how long the local operations will last. Some think all of it will be gone by 2012.

 

Delphi has moved probably 90% or more of their operations to Mexico and China. GM wants Packard parts made where they can get China pricing.

 

Packard's Warren operations always made money even through the Delphi bankruptcy at the old high wage levels they just couldn't offset the losses of Delphi's other divisions.

 

Packard workers now make $10.50 an hour with reduced benefits.

 

I'd like to say that US trade policy had a LOT to do with the demise of Delphi P in Warren, OH. It stinks!

 

Posted by Rick F. in Cortland, OH

Wow.. interesting! Growing up in Warren, we always just called it Packard. I believe both my grandma and grandpa worked there at one point, with my grandpa working at GM Lordstown later. Everyone I grew up with had at least one family member that worked at Packard or GM. Terrible to see the jobs gone, but times have changed. Unfortunately, Warren and Youngstown hasn't been able to come up with a new industry of sector to make up for the lost jobs.

Youngstown expects increase in tax revenue

Published: Wed, March 2, 2011 @ 12:07 a.m.

By David Skolnick

 

[email protected]

 

YOUNGSTOWN

 

City financial officials expect a modest 1.5 percent increase in income-tax revenue that will help keep Youngstown out of the red this year.

 

...

 

“Companies are starting to see profits that they didn’t see in 2008 and 2009,” Bozanich said.

 

...

 

The city expects income-tax revenue to rise this year with several hundred construction workers busy at the $650 million V&M Star expansion project site, Bozanich said.

 

More:

http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/mar/02/city-expects-increase-in-tax-revenue/

 

There seems to be a lot of info here, for those interested in the city of Youngstown's budget.

Just found this, although it was posted a year ago. It is a status report e-mail on Packard Electric in Warren, which was comprised of 15 plants that employed 15,000 people at good wages. The good wages (vs. the slave wages overseas) is why almost all of it is gone. I think when Americans get to be dirt poor and desperate enough to work for $2 per hour, then we will our industry come back nice and strong <<sarcasm>>........

 

Wow, i thought that email looked familiar! My dad wrote it! :) My grandpa, dad and myself all worked at Packard as did many of our friends, family, and neighbors.

 

If you want to see the influence of the Packard family on Warren and if you'd like to see pictures and commentary on Packard Electric check out my Warren phototour starting w/post #16. :) Enjoy

I had a feeling that your padre. He has some great info there!

Oh my gosh! Did i forget to post the link to my tour???? lol

 

Here it is, http://www.city-data.com/forum/ohio/313904-warren-photo-tour-warning-if-you.html

 

Again, if you want to see Packard then start at post #16.

Youngstown turns corner, mayor says

 

Published: Sat, March 12, 2011 @ 12:10 a.m.

 

By David Skolnick

 

[email protected]

 

YOUNGSTOWN

 

Despite sharp declines in population and income-tax revenue, Mayor Jay Williams said Youngstown has turned the economic corner.

 

“Every economic renaissance has a tipping point, that point at which the momentum begins to shift in the other direction,” Williams said Friday at the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber’s annual Good Morning, Youngstown! breakfast.

 

More:

http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/mar/12/youngstown-turns-corner-mayor-says/

Y-town is featured on NPR.....

 

A Shrinking City Knocks Down Neighborhoods

 

12:01 am

March 15, 2011

  by Chana Joffe-Walt

 

By 2006, most of the steel mills in Youngstown, Ohio, had been gone for decades. The population was shrinking year after year. So the city launched a bold plan to redeem itself.

 

The plan: Quit trying to redeem itself.

 

Before 2006 and the bold plan, there were other ideas. Or, rather, multiple variations on the same idea.

 

Youngstown was going to replace the steel industry with a car factory. Or with a NASCAR racetrack, or a riverboat casino. Maybe a blimp factory out by the airport.

 

Full story and audio link at: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/03/15/134432054/a-shrinking-city-knocks-down-neighborhoods

By 2006, most of the steel mills in Youngstown, Ohio, had been gone for decades. The population was shrinking year after year. So the city launched a bold plan to redeem itself.

 

The plan: Quit trying to redeem itself.

 

Love this, though it's horribly depressing.

 

The truth is all that dramatic population loss has a silver lining- less competition for jobs. Youngstown's unemployment will drop because so many people are out of the labor market. New job growth can actually make a dent. The population loss is why Youngstown is recovering faster than other parts of Ohio. It's good to have population losses when you have job losses. The problem in Ohio is that it lost 10% of its jobs, but not 10% of its population. Youngstown is seeing lots of growth in reliable $10-$12 an hour jobs. Those are the types of jobs Ohio has been struggling to produce.

While the city of Youngstown's population is shrinking, the metro area's population is not. In fact, the metro area population has grown from 500,000 in 1970 during the last good years of the old Youngstown economy to about 700,000 today. The number of jobs have increased too! The civilian employment grew from 205,000 in 1970 to more than 300,000 today. What has declined is the individual's average wage as it relates to the cost of living.

^The MSA was down about 40,000 in this last census though (using the 2000 counties). I think that's actually more population loss than job losses, so good news for job seekers. The MSA based on the old definition is 565,773. The CSA is 673,614. I'm not sure about the trends in the urbanized area. It was 417,437 in the 2000 census, and almost certainly posted losses if the MSA lost that many people. Of course these boundaries will be redefined soon, so MSA and CSA numbers could go up or down. Youngstown's greatest strength is quick population turnover. People don't wait around for jobs to come back. They move, which is essential in the new economy. This makes it able to absorb booms and busts better than the norm in Ohio. I'd argue that's Cleveland's greatest strength too. The main problem is the suburban sprawl growth while the city is declining. It'd be much better and more efficient if people were abandoning suburban areas instead of urban areas.

 

The job market is not what worries me about Youngstown. Sprawl is what worries me about Youngstown.

FYI: This is next to the right of way of the EL's First Sub to Cleveland at SR534. It is 5 miles west of SN Jct in Leavittsburg. Restore that five miles (with a small bridge over the Mahoning west of Denman Tire Corp.'s plant -- another ignored customer!) and it will allow this plant to be linked to their Mogadore plant via the Youngstown Belt RR and the W&LE....

______________

 

Company looking to expand in Braceville

March 23, 2011 - By RON SELAK JR. Tribune Chronicle

 

WARREN - An Akron area-based industrial packaging recycling and trucking company is eyeballing a plant once used to dry lumber in Braceville as a location to expand its operation.

 

And Trumbull County commissioners and the county planning commission are going to bat for Old Forge Services, whose owner was drawn to the Shanks Downs Road facility because of a kiln that can be used to heat treat wood, killing insects and bugs.

 

Theresa Eubanks, owner, said part of what the company does is make wooden pallets for customers and for those pallets to be shipped internationally, they must be heat treated to rid them of insects. The company also recycles large corrugated cartons, repairs wooden pallets for reuse and ships freight.

 

The pallets would be treated in the kiln before sale.

 

''They want to keep part of their operation in Mogadore,'' Mark Zigmont, planning commission economic development coordinator, said. ''They wanted to move here because of the kiln actually.''

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/554779/Company-looking-to-expand-in-Braceville.html?nav=5003

Cross-posted from the Booming growth on freight railroads thread....

 

Reactivation of the RG Steel integrated steel mill on Warren's south side (formerly Severstal, formerly Warren Consolidated Industries, formerly LTV, formerly Republic Steel!) has meant some good things for local railroad lines in recent days. It means that the Norfolk Southern branch (mix of former Erie-Lackawanna Latimer-North Warren and Pennsylvania RR North Warren-RG Steel) is back in action! Actually, it restarted last year, but went into hiatus during the winter shut-down of Great Lakes shipping. The first trains of the new season started on Saturday, April 2.

 

NS is bringing ore trains south from the Ashtabula docks on the continuously active, former New York Central line to Latimer, then down the branch tracks described previously into RG Steel.

 

And.... (but wait, there's more!) on Saturday, RG Steel took possession of two switcher locomotives from loco-leasing giant LTEX, based nearby in McDonald. To deliver them meant reactivating CSX's Newton Falls-Warren branch, which has been mothballed since the recession forced Severstal's Warren Works to shut down in 2008. The two leased locomotives were hauled to RG Steel from McDonald westward on the old B&O mainline (now CSX's National Gateway Corridor) to Newton Falls (where CSX dumped a sh!tload of cars last week), then northeastward on the Warren branch to RG Steel. How do I know?....

 

I was driving into downtown Warren on US422 on Friday afternoon for a railroad development meeting when I saw the flashers flashing on the CSX branch, next to the vacated Erie-Lackawanna main line and West Market Street. I thought the flashers were malfunctioning until I drove east on Market Street and saw the next crossing's flashers were flashing too. So I pulled up on to where the EL main was to see and photograph this CSX unit pulling the two LTEX leased units...

 

Great news! If there's a train coming through Cortland it means the blast furnace in Warren is running and people are working, which is good news for the Mahoning Valley and especially Warren and Trumbull Co. :)

 

It's funny, i live about 3 or 4 houses up from the Warren-Latimer-Astabula line (I don't know the technical name) that goes through Cortland and I actually did see and hear the train earlier this winter. Now that you mention it though, i haven't heard it in a couple of months. Usually it comes through at 11 or 12 at night when i'm trying to sleep and then again around 5 am, which sucks when you have to get up at 630am.

 

I do enjoy watching the train go by and i love the sound of the train. I can hear the horn when it crosses rt 5, then Pearl, W. Main, St. Rt 46, old rt 5 (warren-meadville) and rt 305. There are lots of crossings in the Cortland area. Sometimes on a Saturday it comes through town around 11am. I've got a standing promise w/my friend's kids (they live downstairs) that some saturday we'll go down to the tracks and put pennies down for the train to run over, they are so excited. Can't wait til the trains come through again.

 

Incubator Catches Software Giant's Eye

April 7, 2011 6:48 a.m.

By George Nelson

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- A regional representative for Microsoft Corp. is expected to return to the Youngstown Business Incubator campus in the next few weeks to explore ways the software giant might be able to help YBI and its portfolio companies.

 

Brian Gorbett, Microsoft's director of startups for the 18-state Central Region, recently toured YBI, the incubator's CEO, Jim Cossler, said. Although not sure how YBI got Gorbett's email address initially, he has been on has been on YBI's distribution list "for some time," Cossler said. "He did reference seeing some of the national articles on us" in Inc. and Entrepreneur magazines, he added. "We've piqued his curiosity for some time."

 

Gorbett visited YBI to find out more about the types of companies it is fostering and discuss how Microsoft can help them though BizSpark, "a global program that helps software startups succeed by giving them access to Microsoft' software development tools, connecting them with key industry players, including investors, and providing marketing visibility to help entrepreneurs starting a business," said Keith Ragland of Airfoil Public Relations, representing Microsoft. He confirmed that Gorbett would be making a return visit this month.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/incubator-catches-software-giants-eye-p18923-1.htm

^That's great news!  (unless you're one of those people who consider Microsoft the evil empire)

I suspect Turning Technologies had a little something to do with that. TT is making a name for itself nationwide.

Thanks for the stories, CG.

 

BTW, I'm starting to think this new integrated steel mill proposed by Sherman International may be a legitimate project. I was at a meeting last week where a list of six new infrastructure projects (funded and not funded) was being discussed. I was given a sheet of paper listing those projects which total more than $12 million, of which four projects (at $4.4 million) are already funded. I believe all six of those projects are at or near the Sherman International site, but some are pretty vague as to their locations. The projects include new or restored roadways, bridges, utilities and sewer system facilities. Granted, these investments are needed to develop the former YS&T properties, regardless of whether Sherman builds its proposed steel mill there or not.

 

The projects that really caught my attention were the rebuilding of Campbell's sanitary sewer lift station on Wilson Road ($1 million, 100% funded, serving "existing and potential businesses") and a new roadway and bridge ($2.75 million, not yet funded) to link Sherman's property with the Center Street bridge. That's an eye catching project because it specifically lists accessing the Sherman International site, and the project would provide construction vehicle and long-term worker access to I-680. Hmmm.....

Any possible investment sounds good to me!

 

BTW, heard the train the other night..........

$650 million plant to transform Youngstown

Steel mill, expected to bring 350 jobs, atop natural-gas fields

BY BILL TOLAND

BLOCK NEWS ALLIANCE

 

  What's left of Youngstown's once redoubtable industrial corridor follows the Mahoning River through the valley that the water carved. Lording above those industrial relics -- above the still-active fabricating plants and tool-and-die shops -- is V&M Star. The city has pinned its financial hopes to the hulking mill works, which has pinned its own hopes upon the gaseous and liquid gold locked a mile underground.

 

Early in 2010, V&M Star announced it would build a $650 million rolling mill next to its existing Youngstown operation. It was the biggest private investment announced in all of Ohio that year, the biggest in that region since General Motors Co. built the Lords- town, Ohio, assembly plant nearly four decades ago, and the biggest in Youngstown in half a century, if not ever.

 

Today, the steel skeleton of the new plant is being erected by no fewer than 10 construction cranes.

 

The assembly has created or sustained hundreds of construction jobs, and the mill's operation will create 350 jobs by the end of 2012, more than doubling V&M's local work force.

 

Read more at: http://www.toledoblade.com/State/2011/04/19/650M-plant-to-transform-Youngstown.html

This is actually a non-steel business-economic news thread. But I'll keep the above story in here because it and smaller projects in the region is leading to the news told in the following story.....

 

 

Valley Jobless Rates Down in March

April 20, 2011 6:39 a.m.

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Unemployment in the Mahoning Valley dropped a full percentage point in March compared to February, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported Tuesday.

 

The jobless rate in the Ohio-only portion of the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa. Metropolitan Statistical Area -- Mahoning and Trumbull counties -- was 10.1% in March, down from 11.1% the month before. In March 2010, the unemployment rate for the two counties was 13.7%.

 

The entire MSA, which includes Mercer County, Pa., had an unemployment rate of 9.9% last month, down from 10.8% in February. In March 2010, the MSA's jobless rate stood at 13.4%.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/valley-jobless-rates-down-in-march-p19009-1.htm

Lordstown Wins $34M Distribution Center

April 20, 2011 6:42 a.m.

By Dan O'Brien

 

LORDSTOWN, Ohio -- After nearly three years of searching, a major supplier for McDonald's Corp. has settled on a site at the Ohio Commerce Center to build a $34 million distribution center, officials say.

 

Mark Zigmont, a planner for the Trumbull County Planning Commission, confirmed Tuesday that Anderson-Dubose Inc. has submitted an application for an enterprise zone agreement requesting tax incentives of 75% over 10 years to help the project.

 

"They liked the Commerce Center because of the rail access," Zigmont said.

 

Anderson-Dubose is a major distributor for the fast-food chain. The Lordstown distribution center would supply paper cups, napkins, plates and some frozen items to restaurants in Ohio, New York, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Read more at:

http://business-journal.com/lordstown-wins-m-distribution-center-p19004-1.htm

Downtown’s rebound, 2.0

 

Published: Sun, April 24, 2011 @ 12:01 a.m.

 

By David Skolnick

 

[email protected]

 

YOUNGSTOWN

 

After a busy period of development from 2005 to about mid-2008, some downtown Youngstown businesses ran into a rough time with a number of them, primarily restaurants and bars, shutting down.

 

But a second renaissance may be in downtown’s future.

 

More: http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/apr/24/downtowns-rebound-20/

Cool. Several of us we're searching for a good lunchtime restaurant last week, so we ended up at the Lemon Grove. That was fine, but right now the choices are pretty limited -- either the food court in Federal Plaza or the Lemon Grove. It will be nice to have these new choices.

Joel Kotkin

NEW GEOGRAPHER

Manufacturing Stages A Comeback

May. 9 2011 - 11:13 am

 

This year’s survey of the best cities for jobs contains one particularly promising piece of news: the revival of the country’s long distressed industrial sector and those regions most dependent on it. Manufacturing has grown consistently over the past 21 months, and now, for the first time in years, according to data mined by Pepperdine University’s Michael Shires, manufacturing regions are beginning to move up on our list of best cities for jobs.

 

The fastest-growing industrial areas include four long-suffering Rust Belt cities Anderson, Ind. (No. 4), Youngstown, Ohio (No. 5), Lansing, Mich. (No. 9) and Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (No. 10). The growth in these and other industrial areas influenced, often dramatically, their overall job rankings. Elkhart, for example, rose 137 places, on our best cities for jobs list; and Lansing moved up 155. Other industrial areas showing huge gains include Niles-Benton Harbor, Mich., up 242 places, Holland-Grand Haven, Mich., (up 172),  Grand Rapids, Mich., (up 167)  Kokomo Ind., (up 177) ; and Sandusky, Ohio, (up 128).

 

READ MORE AT:

http://blogs.forbes.com/joelkotkin/2011/05/09/manufacturing-stages-a-comeback/

Valley jobless rate falls to 9.5%

Published: Wed, May 25, 2011 @ 12:09 a.m.

LOWEST SINCE DEC. 2008

 

By Karl Henkel

[email protected]

 

YOUNGSTOWN -- It’s been quite some time since the Mahoning Valley’s unemployment rate has dipped below 10 percent.

 

Twenty-eight months to be exact.

 

....George Zeller, a Cleveland-based economic analyst, said the Youngstown area continues to be the best Ohio region in terms of job growth.

 

“I’ve never before said that Youngstown is the best-growing area in the state,” he said. “The growth [overall] is so slow, except in Youngstown, where it’s been robust.”

 

Zeller chalked up the Valley’s improved numbers to manufacturing.

 

“The idea that we can ship our manufacturing jobs overseas is being proven wrong by Youngstown,” he said.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/may/25/valley-jobless-rate-falls-to-95/

Local Demand Up for Temporary Workers

May 26, 2011 7:14 a.m.

By Dan O'Brien

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Because so many companies in the Mahoning Valley remain wary of hiring full-time employees, more and more are turning to temporary employee agencies to fill their staffing needs.

 

"Although the economy is picking up, our clients are a little hesitant right now to fully staff their companies," said Derrick Hart, general manager of Staff Right Inc., Boardman. "So, they rely on the temp industry to help them find qualified people for short-term and long-term assignments."

 

Staff Right hosted a job fair Wednesday at Country Inn & Suites, Austintown, where prospective candidates filled out applications and interviewed for jobs.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/local-demand-up-for-temporary-workers-p19253-1.htm

PeopleKeys relocates its headquarters to Boardman

Published: Fri, May 27, 2011 @ 12:00 a.m.

Staff report

 

BOARDMAN

 

PeopleKeys Inc., which provides hiring solutions for businesses, announced Thursday that it has relocated its headquarters from New Castle, Pa., to the township.

 

PeopleKeys, which employs about 60 worldwide in locations such as Singapore and London, will employ about 15 at its new home, 8392 Tod Ave., which is off McClurg Road.

 

John Schindell, director of global communications, said the company plans to hire five more people — two executive-level positions (in sales and marketing) and three clerical positions.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/may/27/peoplekeys-relocates-its-headquarters-to/

Ontario Solar Farm Selects Solar FlexRack

June 6, 2011 6:48 a.m.

 

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- More than 300 Solar FlexRacks are being used during construction of the Whitewater Solar Farm facility in eastern Ontario, Canada. Solar FlexRack is a patent-pending product of Northern States Metals.

 

Northern States, headquartered here, opened an office in Ontario last May.

 

The Whitewater Solar Farm project will supply 3.7mW of power into to the grid, providing electricity to the equivalent of 280 homes. The project was developed under Ontario's Resop tariff program by SunQuake Energy Corp. The project constructor is M. Sullivan & Son Ltd.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/ontario-solar-farm-selects-solar-flexrack-p19302-1.htm

Valley Manufacturing Coalition Takes Shape

June 24, 2011 6:42 a.m.

By Dennis LaRue

 

CANFIELD, Ohio -- Sometime in July, a trade association six months in development should be fully organized and ready to fulfill its mission of making residents more aware of the role small manufacturers play in the Mahoning Valley economy and the fulfilling careers these companies can provide.

 

The association, the 12-member-strong Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition, should easily have 20 by year-end, Brain Benyo, president and CEO of Brilex Industries Inc., Youngstown, and midwife to the coalition, told representatives of eight other manufacturing enterprises Thursday at the Mahoning County Career & Technical Center.

 

Founding members so far are from Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties: Brilex, BOC Water Hydraulics Inc., M-7 Technologies, Girard Machine Co. Inc., Starr Manufacturing, Butech-Bliss, Warren Screw Machine, Glunt Industries Inc., Specialty Ceramics, Kiraly Tool and Die Inc., Specialty Fab Inc. and CMT Inc. At least eight others have expressed strong interest, Benyo and those present agreed.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/valley-manufacturing-coalition-takes-shape-p19441-1.htm

Oops! Brookings says we’re not that bad after all

 

Published: Sat, June 25, 2011 @ 12:10 a.m.

 

By Karl Henkel

 

[email protected]

 

YOUNGSTOWN

 

Economist George Zeller said he didn’t think a recent Brookings Institution list was reasonable.

 

Walt Good of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber pointed to big employment gains and hinted at big things in the Valley’s future.

 

The local one-stops reported slow but steady increases in job requests.

 

It turns out nobody knows the Valley quite like those in the Valley.

 

Earlier this week, the Brookings Institution released its MetroMonitor economic report that lumped the Mahoning Valley in with the nation’s 20 weakest-performing metro areas.

 

The report ranked the 100 largest metro areas by a variety of economic indicators.

 

But Friday, Brookings released a correction that vaulted the Valley out of the study’s basement.

 

More: http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/jun/25/oops-brookings-says-we8217re-not-that-ba/

Glad they realized the errors of their ways, and I'm even more glad the Vindy reported it.

Ryan Feared Feud Impeded Development

July 26, 2011 7:02 a.m.

By George Nelson

 

WARREN, Ohio -- The Mahoning Valley's economic development initiatives could ill afford the "self-inflicted wound" of the ongoing feud between Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman David Betras and Tom Humphries, president and CEO of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber playing out in local media, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan said.

 

That promoted the congressman, who has relationships with both men, to get involved a couple of weeks ago, he said.

 

"It got to the point where I felt like it was starting to affect our ability to conduct economic development," Ryan, D-17 Ohio, said. "We can't have companies coming in here from China and Germany and other parts of America looking for a place to do business, and on the front page of the newspaper is a big fight between the chamber of commerce and the local political party."

 

READ MORE AT:

http://business-journal.com/ryan-feared-feud-impeded-development-p19641-1.htm

From the Youngstown Business-Journal:

http://thebizjournal.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/downtown-youngstown-grows-as-cultural-and-entertainment-center/

 

The downtown Youngstown area has been the epicenter of the city since its founding in 1797. At the start of the industrialization of Youngstown, the coal industry attracted immigrants from England, Germany and Ireland. As the city’s steel industry grew in the late 19th century, there was an influx of Italians, Greeks and Eastern Europeans. At this time Youngstown was a prospering city of cultural diversity.

 

Click the link above for the rest of the article.

 

Tonight Downtown will be hopping. 7,000+ at the Motley Crue Concert, another 4-6,000 at the Downtown Youngstown Italian Fest. It is a great time to be in downtown!