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A Site To Behold
Valley garners another Governor’s Cup
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NEW FACILITY: Construction on V&M Star Steel’s $650 million expansion will start next month, company officials said. The blue section of the drawing is the addition location.
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ALREADY OPERATING: This is the site of V&M Star Steel’s current mill on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Youngstown. The mill also is near the city of Girard.
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Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
Ohio can give a tip of the cap to V&M Star Steel’s $650 million project in the Mahoning Valley for the state’s winning its fourth-consecutive Governor’s Cup award from Site Selection.
The magazine, which focuses on real estate and economic development, awards its Governor’s Cup to the state with the most new or expanded private-sector capital projects of at least $1 million, the creation of at least 50 jobs and/or at least 20,000 square feet.
At the top of the magazine’s list for Ohio is the V&M project — the largest financial investment project in the state.
V&M’s investment is so great, it is more than three times the amount of the next project on the list, a $200 million research and development investment by Honda.
The magazine listed the 21 largest financial investments in Ohio. The bottom 12 on that list equal $652 million, only $2 million more than the V&M project in Youngstown and Girard.
“There are two resounding messages that come out of this,” said Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams. “One is the message to the rest of the state of Ohio that Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley are as relevant to the success of the state as any other community in Ohio. The second message is to the folks in Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley. In order to remain relevant to the success of the state of Ohio, we should use the successful collaboration of the V&M deal as a continued model of behavior for future economic development.”
If that collaborative spirit remains, Williams said, V&M won’t be the area’s last success story. Other projects may not be as big, but collaboration is the best way to land them, he said.
“These rankings are important as Site Selection is well respected,” said Walt Good, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber’s vice president of economic development. “From a local perspective, it’s outstanding to have a project so far ahead of other ones reported.”
Ohio had 381 projects on Site Selection’s list. Texas was second with 374, followed by Michigan with 371 and Pennsylvania with 333.