O’Brien meets with Chinese officials

O’Brien meets with Chinese officials

WARREN

Mayor Michael O’Brien met with 13 companies over seven days last week while visiting the city of Dezhou, in Shangdong Province, China.

O’Brien also met with five government and trade ministry officials representing other cities in the province, O’Brien said. The mayor accompanied officials from the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber on the trip.

“We were very excited to have met with several companies that were curious about the North American market,” O’Brien said.

“When they heard that our metro area can reach 50 percent of the U.S. population and 40 percent of the Canadian population within a business day’s drive, they sought more information.”

Most of the companies that were interested in Warren are working in solar and solar-thermal technology, said Eric Planey, vice president of international business attraction at the Regional Chamber.

Streetscape 2011 set for today

YOUNGSTOWN

Streetscape 2011 “Flower Power” will be from 8 a.m. to noon today in downtown Youngstown. Volunteers will beautify the downtown landscape by removing debris, trimming, planting flowers and shrubs and mulching planted areas during the 14th annual event.

An estimated 400 volunteers will participate. Focus areas include the West Federal Street median, John Young memorial, the Front Street/South Avenue corner, Smoky Hollow, Harrison Common, City Hall and Wick Park.

In the event of inclement weather, landscaping will take place from 8 a.m. to noon Sunday. The event is a project of Youngstown CityScape, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to revitalize downtown Youngstown and the city’s gateways through beautification, education and preservation.