Development groups release ‘report card’

Job losses and plant
closings are not included
in the report.

By DON SHILLING

VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

LIBERTY — Area agencies charged with attracting jobs issued a report card on themselves but said they are leaving it up to the community to give them a grade.

The Community Report Card shows these agencies assisted last year in projects that resulted in $192.6 million in business investments. Those companies said they would create 1,721 jobs and retain 4,717 jobs.

“What we’re saying to you — the Valley — is, ‘Does this meet your expectations?” said Reid Dulberger, executive vice president of the Regional Chamber.

The chamber joined with nine other organizations in Mahoning and Trumbull counties in a press conference Wednesday at the Holiday Inn MetroPlex.

Officials refused to be drawn into giving themselves a grade, despite calling their tally a report card. Michael Keys, Warren’s community development director, came the closest, saying the agencies get an E for effort and excellence.

Dulberger said 2007 data will be released early next year so year-to-year comparisons can be made.

Compiling this kind of data from various agencies has not been done before in the Mahoning Valley, he said.

Job losses and plant closings are not included in the report. Last year, General Motors and Delphi Packard Electric cut 4,400 local jobs by offering workers buyouts and early retirements.

Recently, General Electric said it intends to close plants in Niles and Austintown next year, eliminating 130 jobs, and Amweld Building Products said it is closing its 100-person plant in Niles. Indalex Aluminum Solutions has said it will have 134 workers, or about one-third of its Girard plant, on layoff by November because of broken equipment and soft market conditions.

Dulberger said the report isn’t trying to keep track of job losses but show what agencies have done to promote business investment. Up to now, these agencies acted independently, so it was hard to get an overall picture, he said.

“Do we need to do more? Do we need to do something different in certain areas? Now we can have that discussion,” he said.

Dulberger said there are 10 economic development groups in Mahoning and Trumbull counties but that doesn’t mean they are competing with one another. He said each of them has a niche to fill, such as the Youngstown Business Incubator’s focusing on attracting high-tech companies and the Senior Core of Retired Executives’ focusing on advising entrepreneurs.

Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams and Warren Mayor Michael O’Brien stressed that cities are not competing with one another for businesses. The report is an indication that the communities of the Mahoning Valley are working together, they said.

Others in the report are CASTLO Community Improvement Corp., Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp., Ohio Small Business Development Center, Trumbull County Planning Commission and Warren Redevelopment & Planning Commission.

Dulberger said the largest business investment last year was by WCI Steel in Warren — $36.7 million for new machinery. Next was Transload America, which invested $35 million in a landfill in Smith Township in Mahoning County.

Infocision, an Akron-based call center company, created the most jobs last year — 250 with an expansion of its Youngstown center. The project that promised the most jobs last year was Leedsworld, which opened a warehouse in Warren for promotional items. The company intends to create 485 jobs by 2011.

shilling@vindy.com