Youngstown shines on the world stage

My Aussie accounting professor in grad school used to call it “that Pink Rag!” In the UK, it is affectionately referred to as “the Footsie.” But for me, the Financial Times is a newspaper that helps take me from the momentary doldrums of daily life to explore the rest of the world. The FT is similar to the Wall Street Journal, but its history as a business newspaper started when the trade winds took the British Empire around the world, thus giving the paper a more global scope. But on a recent night, the FT transported me back to the B&O station in downtown Youngstown, as it had a front-page feature on lst Wednesday evening’s election party there. In a similar manner, my good friend in Sydney sent me a video link of an Australian news show that had done a good expose on Ohio for the election, with interviews of Mayor Williams among other Valley leaders.

Youngstown has really shined in international media of late, in my opinion. Slowly but surely, the constant barrage of negative press has been replaced with more balanced reporting. For every abandoned steel mill shown (if the city starts charging $1 for every time a closed mill is shown by the media, it could have a budget surplus in about two months), there is a counter-balance showing a renewed determination by residents to take its destiny in its own hands. Maybe we can call it “the Pavlik Effect” – it has a nice ring to it.

Now that the election is over, cameras are being packed away, reporters’ notes will be thrown into the file cabinet, and maps of Youngstown will be archived in the reporters’ iPhones. But instead of waiting for the attention to come back to the Valley in 2012, its time for the area to create more attention for itself by showing what can be achieved with while our country is in recession.

Rationalize costs

Local, state, and the federal government will all have to rein in spending during the next two years. Instead of bemoaning the lack of dollars flowing into the kitty, the Valley should find ways to help the government rationalize costs. Through the grapevine I heard that owners of commercial properties in the Washington, D.C., area are excited as the current financial crisis will most likely lead to more regulatory bodies to be formed, which means greater demand for office space in the D.C. Metro area. Somebody please tell me why such agencies have to be in Washington, where housing is off-the-board expensive (even today), traffic is a nightmare, and rental space is at a premium? A city such as Youngstown, which is less than one-hour to D.C. by plane, can easily handle such agencies and at a more reasonable cost. And given the consolidation of financial services companies in the Buckeye State, including the inevitable consolidation at National City Bank’s headquarters in Cleveland, I suspect there is a good pool of talent for government agencies to find. But it’s up to the Valley to speak the ideas into the right officials ears before the mandates are sought.

Two areas in which President-elect Barack Obama addressed as needs for our country include controlling our energy destiny and the rebuilding of infrastructure in the U.S. Well, maybe it’s time for the Valley to dust off a decades-old proposal to revaluate for its feasibility in modern times. And that would be the Lake-to-River Canal. I personally never thought I would actually speak about it with any seriousness, but after reading a story on the resurgence of the Erie Canal in upstate New York, I wonder if there is a place for it in today’s America. Barges can carry cargo at a fraction of fuel usage than trucks and even rail. And given the Valley’s spot on the map, with I-80 crossing through, and a great rail access, barge-to-rail and road sounds appealing. If a refreshed locally-sponsored study of the canal can show a meaningful decrease in national fuel demand from the switching of cargo to an inland waterway, that is worth the cost of the project, this would get the Obama administration’s attention — especially before 2012.

One of the benefits of an Obama led country is hopefully a change in culture of this country from the me-generation highlighted by the boomers to the were-all-in-this together mantra of younger generations. It’s time for Youngstown to be a leader in this way of thinking. I believe there is a way to have your cake and eat it too — by showing ways in which development in the Valley can tangibly benefit America as it goes through a revival of economy and spirit. It will keep the Valley on the political map, and will hopefully keep us frequently on the front page of the Footsie for the foreseeable future.

X Eric Planey, a Mahoning Valley native, is a bank vice president living in New York City.