Economic Action Group hosts Greater Ohio executive director

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Though downtown Youngstown has an ongoing list of projects and plans, it still needs a central organization to anchor them together.

That’s the thought from Greater Ohio Policy Center, a nonprofit organization based in Columbus that looks to develop and advance policies and practices so urban areas are valued as economic drivers throughout Ohio.

Greater Ohio Executive Director Lavea Brachman talked to those attending the 20th Economic Action Group meeting inside a Youngstown Business Incubator conference room Tuesday about a five-year assessment the group did of Youngstown.

“The argument we always make is our cities drive the economy,” she said. “You want to create that competitive advantage, and a lot of that is going on.”

Greater Ohio was approached in 2010 to look into whether there was a need for a downtown group to centralize plans for the downtown area with the goal of creating a competitive advantage for the area, growing the population and business.

The organization found that there were a lot of efforts being made, but no central place to align those efforts.

“We found that there’s a real need for a Youngstown City Center Organization,” Brachman said.

It also found there’s an opportunity for connection to the anchor institutions downtown, like Youngstown State University.

“It’s not going to happen overnight,” she said. “You cannot have a hole in your doughnut and then hope to see growth other places.”

For more information on the Economic Action Group, including meetings, go to eagyo.org.