April 27, 2024
WARREN — With the creation of Lake to River Economic Development, a new entity charged with driving business expansion and job creation in the region, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber is redefining its work.
Lake to River, the seventh and final region in the network of JobsOhio, the state’s personal economic progress corporation, will drive economic progress in Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana and Ashtabula counties, allowing the chamber to redirect resources to “transformative initiatives” to prepare. for the long-term and sustained economic growth of the region, according to the Chamber.
“The chamber will have the opportunity to take a look at things that I would call strategic and transformative, as opposed to Lake to River, focusing on things that are operational and transactional,” said Guy Coviello, the chamber’s president and CEO.
Let’s take the example of the Array Lake to River project: The express approach will be to locate a company with express skills and numbers for that specific company, “while looking at how to grow the entire population to make sure there are enough workers, not just for this express project,” Coviello said.
Or sites. Lake to River will depend on square footage and amenities, “as we look at how to prepare all of our sites, regardless of the project,” he said.
“They’re going to be looking intensively at the 10 industry sectors that JobsOhio believes have the greatest growth prospects, while we’re going to be looking at every industry,” Coviello said. “We’re going to help businesses, whether they’re a driver or not. “
In addition, JobsOhio is limited to Ohio, but there is an opportunity to partner with economic growth organizations in western Pennsylvania (anything the chamber can do to promote the region) that represent common strengths and challenges, Coviello said.
NEW ROLE
Initiatives include expanding the workforce, implementing a housing plan across the Mahoning Valley to accommodate population growth, and converting the region’s image.
“If you’re in some other faraway state and you’re thinking about racing here, say at Ultium Cells or Kimblery-Clark, you’ll be researching life in Youngstown, Ohio, and your Google effects probably won’t do that. “So we want to make sure that other people are aware of all the smart things that we have here that make it a good position to build a career and start a family. “
Others come with a leadership progression through Leadership Mahoning Valley, an autonomous organization under the umbrella of the chamber, and its subsidiary, Youth Leadership Mahoning Valley; and assisting local nonprofit teams through the new nonprofit Center for Excellence, also an independent agency, but under the umbrella of the chamber.
Public policy needs to be worked on to encourage more advertising-ready sites and advertising development, Coviello said, as well as other opportunities in additive manufacturing, the fuel and vegetable oil industry and new technologies, adding electric vehicles.
ABOUT THE LAKE
ON THE RIVER
Announced Wednesday through Gov. Mike DeWine, the new venture will be bolstered through JobsOhio resources to add business, site and skills development, as well as assignment management.
Lake to River has been incubated in the House and, in fact, the House has eliminated six positions that have been absorbed through Lake to River, which will have its construction at City Center One in downtown Youngstown, where the Chamber, Western Reserve Port is located. There’s the Authority, Eastgate. Se the Regional Council of Governments and the Youngstown Foundation.
JobsOhio will spend the next six to eight months educating Lake to River on how to talk about and propose economic progression opportunities and programs.
Team NEO, the longtime network partner of which the four-county region was a part, will continue the projects and businesses that JobsOhio has active projects with and will slowly, towards the end of the year, move from Lake to River.
From now on, Lake to River will also be the new spouse of the chamber and Team NEO, for progression projects.
“The big difference is that the footprints line up perfectly and the efforts align perfectly with the advantages of focusing on (the) (region) lake by lake, the region of the lakes. Team NEO,” where progression takes position” which “applies to us,” Coviello said.
In the past, Team NEO represented 18 counties in Northeast Ohio. The identities of the 4 counties are very different from other parts of Team NEO’s footprint, “so now we’re running with a spouse at JobsOhio who has almost exactly the same footprint as we do. “Coviello said.
Lake to River will be governed through a nine-person board of directors, two from the county and one appointed through JobsOhio. Its interim executive director is Alexa Sweeney Blackann, a member of the chamber’s board of directors, as well as the president of the former Chevrolet and Sweeney brands. Buick GMC dealerships in Boardman. The chairman of the board is local businessman Chuck George of Canfield.
Do you have a story? Email business writer Ron Selak Jr. at rselak@tribtoday. com.
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