Western Reserve group donates $19K to YSU

By RICK ROUAN

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University has announced a $19,000 donation from the Western Reserve Building and Construction Trades Council, calling it a manifestation of the link between the university and labor.

The grant will help pay for the 110,000-square-foot, $34.3 million Williamson College of Business Administration building, which crews broke ground on in March and will open in fall 2010.

“YSU is, I believe, the pillar of the whole Mahoning Valley. If our youth have somewhere to land, it will hopefully help the community,” said Don Crane, president of the council. “The steel mills aren’t coming back.”

The council represents more than 5,000 union members in trades ranging from bricklayers to plumbers, electricians to painters.

Crane said the council asked its unions for donations before topping it off with $2,500 of its own, bringing the total donation to $19,000.

“It’s an indication of the building trade’s support of the university. Likewise, I hope it conveys our support for the building trades,” said YSU President David C. Sweet, who accepted the check from Crane.

“What we aspire to in the future is strong working relationships between labor and management throughout the Valley,” Sweet said.

The council’s donation caps off a five-year Centennial Campaign in which the university hoped to raise $43 million, said Ron Cole, university spokesman. The university ultimately raised about $50 million.

“We are blessed by response of our donors. Today’s an example,” said Paul McFadden, the university’s chief development officer.

At the center of the Centennial Campaign is the business college building, which the university plans to pay for with $16 million in donations and $18.3 million in state dollars. The college’s 1,950 students will now enjoy better access to technology in the three-story building, which is about twice the size of the current building.

“This is an enormous step forward to connecting the university to the downtown,” McFadden said.

rrouan@vindy.com