Let private-sector surge grow in 2015

This week, the Valley begins to ramp up for the opening of the $125 million Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course.

I’m no gambler, and no believer of immense community riches from gambling that government still touts — like it’s 1995.

But I’m hardly offended by gambling at all.

It’s an entertainment and economic option for the area. It’s 400ish jobs. It means my mom will be happier when she comes to visit.

What I like most is the positive enterprise option that Hollywood is, and its role in a 2014 expansion surge that the Valley is experiencing.

Reality has set in that shale natural gas will not be the boom we had hoped. Shale gas, overall, will instead be a nice revenue stream.

And that could be, for some, a time to panic. We planned for a shale economic boom, and instead we just got earthquake rattles.

But examples such as Hollywood give reason to think otherwise. There are more.

Youngstown Business Incubator’s expansion into 3-D manufacturing and the resulting America Makes concept continues to show great promise.

In August, hundreds enjoyed a 3-D fest of sorts that was hosted downtown, surprising organizers of the event that the public even cared. They were there to watch and test new 3-D printers at work in a city that wants to be a hub.

An extension of that new technology is the SmartPark being shopped around by local business leaders.

As proposed, it could encompass 15 innovation centers for the development, design and engineering for the 3-D printing industry.

That group’s shyness to date might be frustrating to some. But I tend to find that more comforting and promising than the leaders who cannot find enough microphones to pitch their latest dreamland.

Downtown business leadership continues to evolve with great promise. NYO Property Group landed a huge economic tool with state and federal tax credits totaling $9 million for the Stambaugh Building renovation. The state portion of that — $5 million — is the most allowed by the state.

And in an extension of their effort, NYO official Dominic Marchionda Jr. continues a sturdy effort to organize and rally private and public leadership to draw up a 21st century downtown that serves businesses, generates residents and lures a lucrative leisure population.

And of all the private-sector surges of 2014, I still like most the stake in the ground that was planted by 32 business leaders who got behind U.S. Rep Tim Ryan’s press for Jim Tressel to become the next president of Youngstown State University.

It was bold and game-changing. It was also a risk. This is a Valley that loves to knock a power play almost as much as it loves to celebrate one. Lending your name to such a public spectacle is not as easy as donating for a fireworks display.

All of the above share a common theme: private-sector dominated.

None of it was without government assistance. But it was certainly government in the sidecar and not the driver’s seat.

Government leadership in 2014 has been dominated by embarrassing episodes such as councils wanting to sue mayors; counties wanting to dump port authorities; judges who can’t serve each other, let alone the public; school boards at odds with their administrations; and more.

We’ve needed stronger private-sector cohesion for some time.

I think 2014 has been a good year for that.

Perhaps 2015 will be a year when the private-sector surge can be joined with improved government leadership, and we can create not just a Smart Park, but also a Smart Valley.

Todd Franko is editor of The Vindicator. He likes emails about stories and our newspaper. Email him at tfranko@vindy.com. He blogs, too, on vindy.com. Tweet him, too, at @tfranko.