43
Eastern Gateway, WRPA celebrate Health Workforce Building
Facility will allow college to expand its programs, vice president says
By Ed Runyan
YOUNGSTOWN
Eastern Gateway Community College, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary this fall, now has its “showcase building” at 101 E. Champion St.
“This building allows us to grow the college,” Arthur Daly, Eastern Gateway vice president, told the Western Reserve Port Authority on Wednesday in the Health Workforce Building, formerly known as the Harshman Building.
Also at the meeting, officials discussed upcoming efforts to attract air service to the port authority’s Youngstown- Warren Regional Airport in Vienna.
The port authority’s economic- development arm, the Northeast Ohio Development and Finance Authority, purchased and renovated the Harshman Building and has leased the first floor and basement to Eastern Gateway Community College.
The college also has signed a letter of intent to use the second floor for its offices.
Eastern Gateway started last month to move into the building, which is across Boardman Street from its main building and parking deck, recently renamed Thomas Humphries Hall. But the four new classrooms, offices and basement in the new building will be used day and night this fall.
The basement will be used as meeting and office space for the college’s baseball team, the Gators, and other future sports.
The room where the port authority met has big windows facing Champion and Federal streets, providing a “showcase” look into the facility’s medical lab.
The facility will house programs such as medical assisting, phlebotomy and state-tested nursing assistant but also will allow Eastern Gateway to expand into additional programs, Daly said.
Meanwhile, John Moliterno, port authority executive director, has meetings scheduled with about six airlines at the Volaire Air Service Forum in Tucson on April 24-26 to talk about bringing air service to the port authority’s Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.
Moliterno also attended the Ohio Aviation Association conference April 6 in Columbus, where Russell Mills, a Bowling Green State University professor, talked about the need for smaller airports to provide incentives to attract airlines.
“We have to be in a position to assist an airline to come here,” Moliterno said.
“Hopefully, we are getting closer to getting an airline back in this airport,” Moliterno said. He hopes to report on the outcome of the Volaire conference at next month’s meeting, he said.