CASTLO director DeCicco to retire

By Don Shilling

A search for a new leader is under way.

STRUTHERS — Bill DeCicco, the longtime executive director of CASTLO Community Improvement Corp., is retiring July 2.

He has had the position since 1980, right after the organization created the CASTLO Industrial Park at the former Youngstown Sheet & Tube Struthers Works.

DeCicco, 68, said he felt it was time to retire and is looking forward to spending more time with his wife and grandchildren. His wife, Carole, is retiring in June as a behavioral specialist at the Mahoning County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.

The board of directors will place advertisements for a new executive director soon, but information for potential candidates is available online at castlo.com.

DeCicco said the board will be looking for someone with experience in economic development and urban planning.

DeCicco said an important part of the position is working with other community leaders to develop other former steel-mill land along the Mahoning River.

Bill Binning, board chairman, said CASTLO and DeCicco have been synonymous for decades because of his dedication to the industrial park.

CASTLO was organized in 1978 after Sheet & Tube shutdowns began a year earlier. The name is taken from the first letters of Campbell, Struthers and Lowellville, which were involved in the founding.

DeCicco said former Gov. James Rhodes and former state Sen. Harry Meshel were key forces in obtaining state assistance for the new organization.

The industrial park was created in December 1979, and the first tenant was signed a month later. DeCicco was hired at that point.

DeCicco had been chief planner at the Eastgate Development and Transportation Agency. He previously was a planner with City Planning and Associates of Mishawaka, Ind. He headed up the Youngstown office and oversaw work the consulting firm did for Youngstown, Campbell and Mahoning County.

The industrial park now has 20 tenants. Employment at those companies recently has fallen from 140 to about 125 because of layoffs.

shilling@vindy.com