Specialist sought to create jobs through port authority

By Ed Runyan

The development director’s salary is likely to be more than $100,000.

VIENNA — With funding commitments finally in place, lawyers John Masternick and Paul Heltzel are taking the first steps that will lead to the hiring of a two-county economic development professional to tap into the potential of the Western Reserve Port Authority to create jobs.

The hardest part — getting funding commitments of $375,00 per year from Mahoning and Trumbull County government bodies — is done.

The port authority, which has worked in conjunction with the Regional Chamber on economic development activities, oversees operation of Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport here.

Masternick, of Poland, president of the Girard-based Windsor House Inc., and authority chairman; and Heltzel, of Niles, a Trumbull County commissioner, say they expect a committee made up of the funding partners for the project to meet sometime in November or December.

Masternick said he will try to establish a first-meeting date and notify the six current funding partners — both counties, Youngstown, Warren, Niles and the Western Reserve Building Trades Council — along with the chamber and office of U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, just after Tuesday’s election, Masternick said.

Among the committee’s first jobs will be to finalize a job description and select a person to recruit individuals for the job, Masternick said.

Heltzel said he would expect the salary for the new economic development professional to be more than $100,000,

The funding partners will have either two or three voting representatives on the committee, Masternick said, depending on their funding level. The chamber and Ryan’s office will have nonvoting representatives, he said. So far, Masternick has proposed a committee of 15 people.

But while five government bodies have passed legislation committing money to the proposal, discussions have taken place with other cities, townships and villages about their participation in the project, too, Heltzel said. Among them are Howland and Girard.

Niles City Council was the first local government to reveal in August that it had been approached by Ryan to participate in the funding to create a new office within the port authority.

Niles agreed to provide $50,000 the first year with a promise to revisit the idea in years two and three.

Youngstown followed with $50,000 for three years, along with Mahoning and Trumbull counties commissioners agreeing to $100,000 each for three years.

The last body to approve the funding was Warren, which approved its $50,000 per year last week.

Heltzel, a Wharton School M.B.A., said he believes the country’s financial meltdown makes Ryan’s proposal all the more logical.

“If anything it [the financial crisis] makes it more important than ever,” Heltzel said, saying that difficult financial times offer opportunities to attract businesses that might not have normally considered leaving their current location.

Heltzel said changes in the state’s business taxes, such as the elimination of personal tangible property taxes, along with Mahoning and Trumbull counties’ access to transportation could make the area attractive to industry.

Under the right leadership, the port authority could help build the water, sewer and roads to attract businesses, Masternick added.