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Report card: In ’08, almost $450M invested in Valley
GM Lordstown and Republic Special Metals in North Jackson were major contributors.
YOUNGSTOWN — Nearly $450 million was spent on economic development in the Mahoning Valley in 2008, the majority by General Motors Lordstown, creating 2,338 jobs and retaining an additional 4,195 jobs.
Despite 2008’s being a down year for jobs and growth, $446.3 million was invested in economic development in the Valley, according to the 2008 Economic Development Report Card prepared by the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.
GM spent some $350 million refurbishing and retooling its Lordstown complex in preparation for making the Chevrolet Cruze compact car.
The major new business attracted to the area is Republic Special Metals, which is spending $64 million on a new specialty-steel manufacturing plant in North Jackson.
Though 2008 was a down year overall economically, there were some significant projects that companies “pulled the trigger on. By any terms, these are projects any community would love to have announced,” said Walter Good, Regional Chamber vice president for economic development and business retention and expansion.
Economic investments here included 46 retention/expansion projects, totaling $373.2 million; four new business projects attracted to the area, totaling $70 million, and nine startup projects, totaling $2.9 million.
The chamber report card provides the community with an “excellent snapshot of economic development activities that have and are occurring,” Good said.
Close cooperation and coordination of efforts among the 10 reporting entities are driving factors for the achievements reported, he added.
Agencies and entities that supplied information for the report card are: CASTLO Community Development Improvement Corp.; city of Warren; city of Youngstown; Eastgate Regional Council of Governments; Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp.; SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives); Trumbull County Planning Commission; Warren Redevelopment and Planning Corp.; Youngstown Business Incubator; and the chamber.
The 2008 report card, the third year for the report, was expanded to include transportation and infrastructure construction and other project data in order to provide a more comprehensive picture of local economic-development activities.
Infrastructure and transportation construction are not included in the $446.3 million investment, however, Good said.
The report card is not intended as a pep talk. Rather, it is intended to give local government and business officials and the general public a realistic picture of what has occurred and the efforts that went into making the projects happen, he said.
The $446.3 million figure does not include agency expenses or a monetary value assigned to volunteer hours. It reflects statistics provided by the companies involved.
For instance, when a business receives a tax abatement for an expansion, it states the cost of the project and how many jobs will be created.
Though there was some good news in 2008, it also was a sobering year, with many companies in survival mode, Good said.
“We saw many manufacturers severely impacted by the economy, particularly in September, when order books dried up. As we ended 2008 and went into 2009, I believe things bottomed out,” he added.
Though he thinks recovery is going to be relatively slow, looking to the future, Good said there are some great projects in the pipeline, and if they come to fruition, would help the Valley get out of its economic doldrums.
“We have to help companies retool and rethink and move into areas where there will be growth in the future, such as renewal energies. We need to help them position themselves so they can take advantage of those sectors,” Good said.
alcorn@vindy.com
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: By the numbers
In 2008, economic-development agency efforts resulted in $446.3 million in project investments in the Mahoning Valley. Private-company investments totaled $104.2 million in project investments.
Agency investment results
Startup projects: Nine; investment, $2,951,145; new jobs, 89; retained/maintained jobs, 37.
Retention/expansion projects: 46; investment, $373,222,168; new jobs, 1,789; retained/maintained jobs, 4,158.
Attraction projects (new companies to the area): Four; investment, $70,132,000; new jobs, 460; retained/maintained jobs, 0.
Private company investment results
Startup projects: One; investment, $218,000; new jobs, 24; retained/maintained jobs, 0.
Retention/expansion projects: 14; investment, $75,205,000; new jobs, 601; retained/maintained jobs, 793.
Attraction projects: Six; investment, $28,800,000; new jobs, 272; retained/maintained jobs, 0.
Source: Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber