Ryan names top aide for area

The incoming congressman for the Valley also hired an economic development director and a labor liaison.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- U.S. Rep.-elect Tim Ryan has hired a Niles business owner and longtime friend to serve as his regional director.
Rick Leonard, president and chief estimator for Niles Mirror and Glass for seven years, will oversee the local congressional offices for Ryan, who begins his first two-year term as congressman of the 17th District on Jan. 3. Leonard, of Niles, served as Ryan's campaign treasurer during the Niles Democrat's successful state Senate race in 2000, and is the former general manager of McMenamy's, a restaurant and banquet center in Niles, owned by his family.
Ryan will open offices in about a week at the Youngstown Business Incubator and on the square in downtown Warren. The congressman-elect also plans to open an office in Akron.
Ryan's staff will also include Barbara Ewing, the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber's vice president of public policy, as director of economic development, and Carl McConnell, Western Reserve Building and Construction Trades Council's president, as his labor liaison.
Economic development
Ewing, of Salem, said her main focus will be on helping Ryan improve the economic climate of the 17th District, which includes portions of Mahoning, Trumbull, Portage and Summit counties.
"He has a very clear understanding that to build a stronger economic base, you need the traditional infrastructure like roads and bridges as well as the technological infrastructure and a strong work force," Ewing said of Ryan. "Those priorities will be at the forefront of what we do."
Ewing has spent the past eight years at the chamber including the last seven as its vice president of public policy. As part of her position, Ewing staffs Grow Mahoning Valley, which promotes economic development and has been instrumental in obtaining more than $160 million in state and federal funds for Valley road, water, sewer and bridge projects.
Before coming to the chamber, she spent seven years working for the Better Business Bureau of Mahoning Valley Inc., focusing on membership services.
Labor liaison
McConnell, who was among Ryan's most active supporters in the labor community during the campaign, will advise the congressman-elect on labor matters in his new job.
"My focus will be on helping working families in the 17th Congressional District," McConnell said.
McConnell, of Bessemer, Pa., has served for 11/2 years as the president of the trades council, which represents more than two dozen local unions in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
He has also spent the past 41/2 years as business representative for Painters District Council No. 6 of Northern Ohio, which represents about 3,600 painters, glaziers and drywall finishers, and has been a member of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades since 1978.
Already on board
The three join Mary Ann Walsh, Ryan's chief of staff in Washington, D.C., and Patrick Lowry of Youngstown, Ryan's campaign spokesman and his former high school history teacher, who will serve as the congressman-elect's local press secretary.
Lowry is resigning, effective Jan. 3, from John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ryan's alma mater, where he has spent the past 22 years, including the last 21/2 years as a guidance counselor.
Other staff announcements are forthcoming. Ryan plans to have about 14 staffers.
Strickland
U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, a Lucasville Democrat who represents the 6th Congressional District, announced two hirings for his Boardman office last week.
Strickland, whose district includes Columbiana County and a portion of Mahoning County, hired Anthony Trevena, his campaign manager, as a field representative, and former Columbiana County Commissioner Cathie DeFazio, who worked part time on his re-election campaign, as a caseworker.
skolnick@vindy.com