Let growth and optimism guide Valley through 2016

At first glance, one would be hard pressed to rank 2015 among the best years in recent Mahoning Valley history.

All too familiar stories of political corruption and economic upheaval captured many a headline in 2015. The Oakhill Renaissance Place scandal marched inexorably toward resolution at trial come March. The resignation of a decades-long Austintown state representative in disgrace and a budding investigation into seedy politics in the cash-strapped city of Niles further blackened the eye of the Valley from insiders’ and outsiders’ perspectives alike.

Economically, it was a depressing year for the oil, gas and auxiliary industries in our region. The steep decline in global oil prices and the resulting slowdown in domestic production cost at least 400 Valley workers their jobs. The immediate future looks just as glum as oil prices are projected to remain low through much of 2016.

In other arenas, it was much of the same including crime where Youngstown’s homicide rate bumped noticeably upward and the environment where years of neglect in updating sewer systems resulted in pollution-caused closings of the once-pristine recreational lakes of Mill Creek Park.

REASONS FOR OPTIMISM

Yes, downers abounded in 2015, many of which we’ll continue to face in 2016. But on balance, 2015 produced a variety of uplifting, encouraging trends that collectively bode well for a stronger, more prosperous year ahead for the 600,000 residents who call the Greater Youngstown metro area home.

Nowhere is such optimism brighter than at the Valley’s largest private employer, the General Motors Lordstown Complex. After closing out a remarkably successful six-year run of its Chevrolet Cruze, the automaker and its 4,500 workers in Lordstown are rolling out the newly designed new-generation model for showrooms this spring. If early reviews of auto analysts serve as any indication, sales of the updated Cruze will soar, keeping the local assembly lines humming for years to come.

Another buzzing engine of the Valley economy – the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna – jumps into this leap year in a growth mode. Final congressional approval last month means construction should begin soon on a $9.4 million state-of- indoor firing range for the base. The investment is an acknowledgment by the federal government of the importance of the base and its mission. That will give air base officials and their allies momentum to rise to the next level in the air base’s mission toward maximum stability: the campaign this year to modernize the base’s fleet of transport planes.

The Valley’s economic base also stands to strengthen as well from expanding operations at America Makes, the federal government’s model hub for 21st century advanced manufacturing, in downtown Youngstown. Growth is also in the cards for the internationally acclaimed Youngstown Business Incubator as it makes a major expansion this year into the former main office building of The Vindicator Printing Co.

Other major development projects also elicit excitement. Among them is the $2 billion investment in two natural gas to electricity conversion plants in Trumbull and Columbiana counties, an $18.6 million expansion of Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley in Boardman, completion of the $5 million Wells Building renovation in downtown Youngstown coupled with expected groundbreakings for a multimillion-dollar DoubleTree Hotel on Central Square and a $5 million modernization project for the Central YMCA.

GROWTH MODE AT YSU

Construction of two large student apartment/retail complexes valued at $18 million this year in the heart of the Youngstown State University campus could well serve as a metaphor of broader growth in 2016 for the college. Officials are confident that the more aggressive and expansive recruiting efforts in 2015 will end years of declining enrollment in 2016.

And while many eyes will be focused on the politics of the past, we’ll also be looking toward the future as the Valley will no doubt become a must-stop stumping ground for candidates in both the highly competitive U.S. Senate and presidential races. That will provide opportunities to impress upon the candidates that the needs of the Valley cannot be overlooked.

In sum, as our region stands on the threshold of a new year, opportunities abound to rip apart the often unflattering image of our community that too often has defined us in the past. It is up to us to seize those opportunities with gusto.