40 Years Reflection: Humphries Answered the Call to Duty

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Tom Humphries spent more than 20 years as president and CEO of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, but 40 years ago he was the general manager of United Telephone in Warren.

When he was leaving Sprint, which United Telephone had become, he was approached by the chairman of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber and was asked if he’d consider becoming its president. That was in 1997.

Humphries had played a role in the 1993 consolidation of the Warren, Youngstown and Niles chambers into the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber. He remembers getting  a call from the Packard Electric general manager inviting him to a meeting with leaders from other companies. “We were all writing checks to these organizations, and the return on it was minimal because of the division of the dollar,” he says.

Rather than one organization getting a larger dollar amount, each of them was getting a smaller cut.

“And so the discussion centered around, let’s get the business organizations together and establish one organization to service business,” Humphries explains.

He’s seen a lot of change, much of it similar to what’s happened in other communities.

“We’ve seen the sprawl from the center of the cities,” Humphries says. “Every city has shrunk in northeastern Ohio. We’re no different. I think our area’s cleaner. I know the pollution is far less.”

And the quality of life in the area has improved.

“Our diversification of industry has significantly changed,” he adds.

Humphries is disappointed that Eastern Gateway Community College is closing. Between 70% and 80% of the population doesn’t need a bachelor’s degree, he says. “They need advanced education, meaning beyond high school. And we are the largest population in Ohio that now does not have a community college again.”

He also points to K-12 education.

“Warren’s done a fairly good job of improving, but Youngstown is still an unacceptable situation,” he says. “They’re failing the youth. If you look at all of Ohio, all eight metro areas, they are all failing. We have 20% of our workforce coming from those metropolitan areas. And they’re not educated.”

Pictured at top: Tom Humphries holds a vintage telephone reminiscent of his career with United Telephone.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.