Chamber to stay in Youngstown

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber will keep its offices in downtown Youngstown.

The chamber announced Monday it has a pending agreement with Youngstown First National Holdings LLC of New York, N.Y., to remain on the 15th and 16th floors of the First National Bank Tower.

The chamber’s lease with First National expires at the end of the year, and for the past six months it has explored several leasing and building options for its office’s location in either Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

The options included leasing and building in Mahoning County for the Youngstown office team, as well as consolidating Youngstown and Warren offices into one at Eastwood Mall in Niles.

“We feel that our presence is critical to each county we serve, and that has been our position since the [Youngstown and Warren] chambers merged in 1993,” said Tom Humphries, retiring president and CEO of the chamber in a statement.

Humphries expressed gratitude to Cafaro Co., which runs Eastwood Mall, for making first and “very generous” offer to the chamber.

“That offer spawned a number of competitive proposals from others in the Valley,” Humphries said in a statement.

With a new agreement pending, the chamber’s Warren office at 197 W. Market St. will retain the chamber’s economic development department, while incoming president and CEO James Dignan plus the finance, sales and services, events and marketing staffers will remain in Youngstown.

While details of the agreement with First National will be finalized in the next 30 days, the 10-year lease will result in “significant” savings for the chamber.

Humphries retires at year’s end.