OH-PA Export Initiative Recognized at Conference

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The OH-PA Stateline Export Initiative was recognized by the Mid-America Economic Development Council at this week’s annual Competitiveness Conference & Site Selector Forum in Chicago.

The council, which represents economic development agencies in 10 states, awarded the initiative created by the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber and the International Trade Assistance Center at Youngstown State University in the awards category for business retention and expansion.

The OH-PA Stateline Export Initiative is designed to bring exporting awareness, foreign direct investment and supply-chain matching to a 10-county region in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Through the program, local partners are encouraging manufacturers and business service providers to take a survey about their exporting experiences, including the number of countries and types of products and services that are exported, and company capabilities.

Compiled aggregated data will be used to generate potential trade opportunities and match companies to potential customers. This year’s results will be presented in the Regional Chamber’s first international report card in early 2016.

“We are proud that the initiative continues to receive recognition, this time from a large group of our peers. The effort is a unique approach to not only increase the number of exports in the years to come, but foreign direct investment as well,” said Sarah Boyarko, senior vice president of economic development at the Regional Chamber.

The initiative, which launched earlier this year, previously earned recognition from the Brookings Institution and was cited by Global Trade Magazine for Youngstown’s ranking as a “Best City for Export Assistance” in its annual “Best Cities for Global Trade” issue in October.

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