DeWine: Mahoning Valley’s Future is ‘Very, Very Strong’
HOWLAND, Ohio – Gov. Mike DeWine sees good things in store for the Mahoning Valley.
“Let me just say how excited I am about what’s going on in the Mahoning Valley,” DeWine said Monday evening at the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber’s Salute to Elected Officials event at the Grand Resort.
Chamber leadership approached him a few years ago and pitched the idea that the Mahoning Valley should have its own economic development unit, he said.
“And I listened to them, and I thought, you know, they’re absolutely right,” DeWine said. “The Valley is unique, has unique assets, and it needs to be together.”
Chamber leadership committed that if the governor permitted an economic development entity for the Valley, they would make it work, he said.
Earlier this year, the Lake to River Economic Development formed. It’s a new district that covers Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana and Ashtabula counties and is the seventh piece of the JobsOhio network.
The chamber has since invested about $500,000 into the plan.
“Business people have come together,” DeWine said. “They’ve got an amazing head in Alexa [Sweeney Blackann], interim CEO.”
He praised Blackann’s work.
“She’s got the passion; she’s got the drive; she’s got the energy – and this takes work from everybody,” the governor said. “So thank you for supporting her. Thank you for supporting what we call Lake to River Development District. It’s going to continue to take off and to move forward.”
He and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted will continue to work with the district and with the Valley, DeWine said.
“We’re seeing businesses that want to come in here. You have unique things to sell. We’re seeing a turnaround,” he said.
“Lake to River has been instrumental in helping the city of Youngstown navigate the Vibrant
Communities Grant Program, having worked with JobsOhio and the Regional Chamber to invest
$100,000 in a planning grant to help rebuild downtown,” DeWine said. “And there are
more projects in the pipeline.”
Much of the Valley is also seeing some population growth, the governor pointed out.
“We can do this,” he said. “The future, I think, is very, very strong.”
Matt Blair, president of the board of directors of the Chamber Foundation, LeeAnn Johnson, board member of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, and chamber CEO Guy Coviello presented DeWine with a $12,000 check for the Imagination Library. It’s a program that provides free books to children.
“Fran will be very, very happy,” DeWine said of his wife, who is a strong supporter of the program.
The program sends books to more than 400,000 children each month.
The governor also lauded the Warren City Schools’ Student Recreation and Wellness Center, which he visited earlier Monday.
“It’s phenomenal,” DeWine said. “It is absolutely phenomenal, a great opportunity to inspire kids. One of the things we’re seeing around the state is more and more partnerships with hospitals, clinics right there in our schools. And that’s what they’re doing. They have a partnership with Akron Children’s Hospital.”
It’s available to all children in the Valley.
Other state officials who attended Monday’s event included Husted; Attorney General Dave Yost; Treasurer Robert Sprague; Robert McColley, president-elect of the Ohio Senate; and former Ohio Republican Party Chairwoman Jane Timken.
U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-6th, was honored as the Government Achievement Award winner. The award was presented by Jackie Stewart of Encino Energy. Stewart said Rulli truly encompasses the spirit of the Valley.
Rulli, whose family business is Rulli Bros. grocery stores, told the crowd at Monday’s event that he was working at a store cash register earlier in the day.
“The common people are really hurting,” he said.
He saw single mothers buying less than what they need because they can’t afford more.
“This is a salute to elected officials, so this is a call to arms to elected officials,” Rulli said. “Now that the election is over, I really don’t give a crap what party you’re in. I want to talk about what it means to be an elected official.”
Officials are elected to be the last stop when there’s a problem, he said.
“You’re elected to do good for the people,” Rulli said.
Pictured at top: From left are Lt. Gov. Jon Husted; Gov. Mike DeWine; Chuck George, president of Lake to River’s Board of Directors; and Alexa Sweeney Blackann, interim CEO of Lake to River.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
