Claire Maluso to be honored for service to city

Claire Maluso to be honored for service to city

Current and former Youngstown leaders will honor Claire Maluso at an event next week.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Claire Maluso, the city’s former Federal Plaza director, will be honored Tuesday for her years of service to the city with a special garden dedication and a permanent marker in Youngstown’s Central Square.

The event begins at 10 a.m. with current and former city leaders as well as Maluso’s friends and family in attendance. CityScape and Streetscape Youngstown, organizations that help beautify the city’s downtown, are sponsoring the event along with Maluso’s family.

Maluso spent about 15 years as the city’s Federal Plaza director during two stints on the job.

She was first hired for the job in January 1988 and stayed until May 1998. She was rehired by city council in September 2003 and retired in January 2008.

As director, Maluso was involved in promoting downtown activities and events and organizing ribbon-cuttings to attract interest in new and expanding businesses.

The job’s title was renamed downtown director of special events, special projects and community outreach during Maluso’s last year on the job. Federal Plaza no longer exists. It was dismantled in December 2004 with the reconnecting of the east and west sides of Federal Street at Market Street.

Then-U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. hired Maluso in May 1998 to serve as an economic development and community outreach aide for the 17th Congressional District office. She held the job until the end of 2002.

Maluso was hired in 1971 by Hartzell’s Rose and Sons, then a Youngstown clothing store, as its director of personnel and communications. She eventually became a vice president, the first woman to hold that position with the company.

She wrote a book, “Management by Objectives, A Dollars and Sense Approach” in 1975, published by the Men’s Wear Retailers of America and used as a training guide.

She served as training and development director at the former Strouss’ department store group and was the editor of “Store Stuff,” the company’s newsletter.

Maluso also founded CM Consultants, a management and development consulting firm.

She lives on the city’s West Side with her husband, John, a retired educator and former Youngstown school board member. They have two children, John of Dallas and Mary Jo of Canfield.