Campbell aims to woo businesses

April 19, 2016 at 12:04a.m.

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Mayor Nick Phillips, a Campbell native, remembers a time when his city was bustling with commerce.

One of his primary goals in office, he says, is to bring back business.

“Campbell has been down for a while,” Phillips said. “It’s our time now.”

He acknowledges, however, that realizing his ideal is not without its challenges.

“It’s a lot of work, trying to make our city what it once was,” Phillips said. “When the mills left, the businesses left. There wasn’t really much foresight into the future.”

Depopulation is an obstacle, as well. Like much of the Mahoning Valley, Campbell continues to bleed residents.

In 1960, Campbell’s population was 13,406. In 2014, the most-recent year of available data, it was 8,033.

From 2010 to 2014, the population continued to decrease, though at a less-pronounced rate of 2.5 percent.

Close to 20 percent of Campbell’s residents are 65 or older, according to the most-recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Phillip’s said he’s confident the population of Campbell will support businesses.

“We’ve got a hard-working, diverse base of people here,” Phillips said. “People are hungry for business to come here, and I think they want to shop in their own community.”

In recent years, the city has lost several commercial establishments, including a branch of PNC Bank, which was formerly down the street from city hall on Tenney Avenue.

On the bright side, the city heralded the grand opening of a Dollar Tree on McCartney Road this January. Former Campbell Mayor William VanSuch announced plans for the Dollar Tree, built by Cocca Development of Youngstown, in May 2015.

Phillips said Campbell is hoping to sell a piece of city-owned vacant land adjacent to the Dollar Tree on McCartney Road. Phillips added he’s reached out to several business owners about the plot.

City Council President George Levendis noted businesses could expect a low price for city-owned land, much of which the city obtained through a grant from the Mahoning County Land Bank.

“The city is willing to sell land basically for pennies on the dollar,” Levendis said.

Phillips added: “We not in a position to say we want millions of dollars for our land. We’re in a position, like, ‘Please come to our city and build a business.’”

The mayor said, in addition to courting potential buyers of city property, he’s reached out to private landowners to try to persuade them to sell to business developers.

“Hardly a week goes by when the mayor’s not out beating the phones, trying to get businesses to come to our city,” Levendis said. “One of the first calls he made in office was to Dunkin’ Donuts.”

The mayor argues the city has plenty to pitch to commercial developers. He cites beautification projects, including street paving and blight elimination, and notes that U.S. Route 422 and state routes 289 and 616 are main thoroughfares for commuters and others passing through Campbell.

A few of the areas he’d most like to see developed are Robinson Road and Route 616, Phillips said. And he’d like to reel in a grocery store – the lack thereof is one of the most-frequent complaints from Campbell residents.

Phillips said he looks to Struthers as a model for Campbell’s commercial future – he’d like to see Campbell’s downtown area look similar to Struthers.

Struthers has a population of 10,441 and a median household income of $36,819, according to the most-recent census information. Campbell has a median household income of $32,154.

Campbell resident Irene Serrano said she’s eager for more businesses to come to her city. She particularly wants a grocery store.

“I’m getting of sick of going to Boardman whenever I need something,” she said.

She added, however, that she believes the city administration is on the right track.

“I know the mayor and the police and council are all out there fighting for us,” Serrano said.

Ultimately, Phillips hopes the addition of few new businesses will set off a chain reaction.

“If you look at Boardman: prime example,” Phillips said. “Business just flocks there. They’re like magnets to each other. Money goes to money.”