V&M STAR STEEL EXPANSION | Time line

Here are key points that led to the announcement by V&M Star Steel that it is building a major expansion project in Youngstown.

September 2008: V&M and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency officials begin discussions on an expansion project near the company’s location on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Youngstown, near the Girard line.

December 2008: Youngstown signs purchase option deals with three companies to provide about 125 acres worth of land for V&M’s proposed expansion project. V&M agrees to reimburse the city for the purchases, which cost about $5 million.

February 2009: The project hits a snag as the company struggles to sign a deal with Norfolk Southern to relocate a railroad line that runs through the site of the planned expansion.

March 2009: V&M delays its decision on the expansion project till early 2010. The company had expected to decide by September 2009. Facing financial struggles, V&M laid off about 50 local workers and cut the hours of most of its other employees. Also, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approves discount electric rates for the V&M proposed site and allows FirstEnergy Corp. to recover money from its other customers.

April 2009: The state announces it would provide close to $20 million from the federal stimulus package to buy the Norfolk Southern property and to make improvements to the land needed by V&M for an expansion. The city comes to a deal two months later for the needed railroad property.

August 2009: Youngstown and Girard officials hit a major snag in negotiating the transfer of property in Girard to Youngstown for the expansion project. V&M insists that all of the land be in Youngstown. The problem is some Girard city officials, most notably Mayor James Melfi, are upset about the amount of land his city will lose. It ended up being about 191 acres. The deal calls for the two cities to split a 2.75-percent income tax to be accessed on all employees at the proposed new facility and a 2.75-percent profit tax on V&M’s expansion plant. A tentative deal between the cities is reached toward the end of the month.

October 2009: Melfi objects to the language in the deal between the two cities and says he won’t rush an agreement that is bad for Girard even though V&M officials wanted a deal done by late August. After further negotiations, a deal is approved in mid-October.

November 2009: Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams meets in Paris with officials of V&M’s parent company, Vallourec Group. The mayor said the meeting went well and says the Mahoning Valley location is the company’s preferred site for an expansion.

December 2009: The U.S. International Trade Commission votes to impose duties on pipes from China used mostly in the oil and gas industries, V&M’s business. V&M and other companies testified that the Chinese government had been subsidizing its pipe industry so it can unfairly dump products in the U.S. market.

February 2010: V&M announces it’s building its expansion facility in Youngstown.

Sources: Vindicator files