Russo Reflects on Valley’s Recovery

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – In the wake of the steel shutdowns, community leaders launched initiatives to attract new business as larger manufacturers closed their doors. “Youngstown was never going to truly recover,” says John Russo, the visiting fellow at Kalmanovitz Center for Working Poor at Georgetown University, “but would it be enough to stop the hemorrhaging?”

It did – or at least these efforts slowed the process, Russo says. Skilled workers who were veterans from the metals industries found jobs at smaller manufacturers while new industrial parks provided space for more diversified employers – both manufacturing and distribution companies.

Still, the number of workers that manufacturers employed continued to drop while employment in other sectors of the local economy – specifically health care and education services – increased substantially.

“Service jobs, the health care jobs that replaced manufacturing jobs,” he says, “didn’t pay as much.”

Listen to the full conversation HERE.

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