V&M expansion appears likely, Strickland says

The governor expressed support for the salaried retirees of Delphi Corp.

By Don Shilling

BOARDMAN — Gov. Ted Strickland said he thinks the proposed expansion at V&M Star Steel will go forward even though company executives have not given him a firm confirmation.

Speaking after a Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber event Thursday in Boardman, Strickland said he has spoken to company executives about their plan to expand their Youngstown steel mill and add about 400 jobs.

“I do believe it will happen. Can I definitely say for sure that it will happen? No. But the intentions are there,” Strickland said.

The governor previously announced the project would receive $20 million in federal-stimulus funds for the improvement of rail lines. Also, the cities of Youngstown and Girard have reached a tentative agreement to move some land from Girard to Youngstown, even though they would split income-tax revenue from the new jobs.

V&M, which produces pipe for oil and gas exploration, has said it won’t decide on the project until the end of the year.

In other matters, the governor said the matter of saving pensions and health care for Delphi Corp. retirees is not over even though the International Union of Electrical Workers announced this week that it had reached a deal with the U.S. Treasury and General Motors.

Strickland said attention still must be focused on the issue because salaried retirees were not part of the deal.

He said he has spoken with Fritz Henderson, GM chief executive, and Timothy Geithner, U.S. Treasury secretary, about finding the money to fund pensions and health care for both hourly and salaried retirees.

Strickland was the keynote speaker for the regional chamber’s Salute to Business breakfast. About 500 people attended the event at Mr. Anthony’s.

Strickland said the proposed project at V&M and the callback of a second shift at GM’s Lordstown complex are part of the reason he thinks the recession may be drawing to a close. He said he has traveled the state in recent months, and nearly all business executives that he has spoken with have told him that they are optimistic and expect a pickup in orders this fall.

“We are near the bottom or at the bottom of the recession and poised for a recovery,” he said.

He called the reports “embryonic signs,” however, and said he knows that many people around the state are still hurting because they have lost jobs.

During the breakfast, the chamber honored four area residents for their efforts in making the Valley a better place to live and do business.

Strickland noted afterward that most of the award winners talked about being disappointed because their children had to move away to find jobs.

“That’s sad when you hear people talk about their kids and their grandkids. It comes from their heart,” he said.

He added, however, that the common theme told him that the leaders of the Mahoning Valley are committed to turning around the economy for future generations.

These people were honored Thursday at the Regional Chamber’s Salute to Business breakfast:

Ed Muransky

Award: Business Professional of the Year.

Title: Chairman and founder of Muransky Companies, which operates the Surgical Hospital at Southwoods in Boardman, 36 Auntie Ann’s pretzel stores and the Lake Club, which is the former Fonderlac Country Club in North Lima.

Comments: Muransky, who employs 700, said many people think the key to success in business is having a focus on their product and customers. That focus must be coupled with a concern for employees, he said.

Quote: “You have to love them. You have to know their names,” he said of his employees.

Bill DeCicco

Award: Business Advocate of the Year

Title: DeCicco retired in July as executive director of CASTLO Community Improvement Corp., an industrial park in Struthers that has 20 tenants.

Comments: DeCicco asked those in attendance to be advocates for the Mahoning Valley. He listed 12 initiatives that he thinks will improve the area, including restoring the Mahoning River and placing the area on a proposed high-speed rail network.

Quote: “Like the Canfield Fair, the Mahoning Valley is something to crow about.”

Germaine Bennett

Award: Nonprofit Professional of the Year

Title: Educational human resource consultant and retired assistant supertintendent of labor relations for Youngstown city schools.

Comments: Bennett, who serves on 10 nonprofit boards, explained her love for the Valley.

Quote: “I love what I do. I want to make the Valley a viable place to live.”

Larry Fauver

Award: Salute to Labor Achievement

Title: Vice president of Mahoning-Trumbull AFL-CIO

Comments: Fauver talked about improved labor-management cooperation in the area, including having a labor representative on the board of the Regional Chamber.

Quote: “The main thing we have to concentrate on is bringing in jobs, more jobs and more jobs.”