NORTHEAST OHIO Effort to work for better business atmosphere

Working with bigger cities will help the Mahoning Valley, officials say.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
CLEVELAND -- Mahoning Valley leaders are joining with others in the region in an ambitious effort to make Northeast Ohio businesses more competitive.
Goals explained Friday at the Northeast Ohio Competitiveness Summit were to improve research and technology development, strengthen manufacturers and stop the loss of young, talented people.
Speakers said the key for Northeast Ohio is to develop a culture that promotes innovation and values collaboration between businesses, community leaders and universities.
Not only will progress be made on these topics, but having regional leaders work together also will lead to new ideas on other topics, said Reid Dulberger, executive vice president of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.
"When you create patterns of working together and solving problems, it's amazing what can be accomplished," he said.
Dulberger was among the civic leaders from throughout Northeast Ohio invited to the conference in Cleveland by the federal Economic Development Administration and the Council on Competitiveness, a nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C.
An advisory group that has been working the past several months identified the three goals, but the development of action plans will be led by the 150 civic leaders who attended. Committees were formed around each goal, and plans are to be developed within six months.
The Valley was represented by officials from the chamber, Youngstown State University and the office of U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th.
What's expected
Dulberger said the Valley's participation will grow as representatives of these organizations recruit other people.
Even though the Valley is smaller than Cleveland and Akron, it will benefit from working with officials in these areas, he said.
If the region's economy becomes stronger, the Valley will get some share in that just because of its location, he said. It will benefit even more if it continues to strengthen its own marketing and economic development programs, he said.
Hunter Morrison, director of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at YSU, said Cleveland and Akron officials used to ignore the Mahoning Valley in regional planning.
That has changed, as shown by the support other development agencies gave the Valley's effort to bring a planned Boeing aircraft plant to the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, he said.
The EDA and Council on Competitiveness are selecting six regions of the country to hold competitiveness summits. Areas selected so far are Northeast Ohio, central New Mexico and Wilmington, Del.
Randall Kempner, the council's acting executive director, said no federal funding is guaranteed for the six areas, but it is likely that the EDA will look favorably on their funding requests.
shilling@vindy.com