NILES, Ohio – Junior Achievement of Eastern Ohio plans to open an educational center and offices on the second floor of Eastwood Mall, its president said.
Expected to open in spring 2026, the proposed JA BizTown/Finance Park center would provide educational resources for a population ranging from JA’s traditional school-age demographic to young adults, Michele Merkel said. The JA chapter serves Ashtabula, Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties, though the new center is expected to service students in a 60-mile radius.
The lease for the 15,000-square-foot space is being finalized, Merkel said.
“We would certainly welcome JA at Eastwood Mall. It would be a great fit for both organizations,” said Joe Bell, director of corporate communications for the Cafaro Co. The Niles-based real estate developer owns Eastwood Mall, where JA has hosted several Youth Market Days and Young Entrepreneur programs in recent years.
The JA BizTown program offers students usually in grades six through eight – following about 20 classroom sessions – the opportunity to explore roles as business owners and consumers by participating in a simulated town environment where they will apply financial principles in real-world scenarios. Finance Park is JA’s program for personal financial planning and career exploration aimed at students in grades seven through nine.
In that spirit, the Educational Service Center began exploring how to expand its existing partnership with JA and came across the BizTown concept.
Career counselors associated with the Educational Service Center of Eastern Ohio work in districts in a five-county area, introducing students to potential careers as early as elementary school, said Traci Hostetler, superintendent of the ESC of Eastern Ohio and a member of the local JA board.
“Their intention is obviously to allow kids to explore various career options that they may not see on a regular basis from their family or their communities,” she continued.
Financial awareness is “a topic that has been lacking in our schools for some time,” said Michael Kurish, president and CEO of Associated School Employees Credit Union. A former member of the local JA board, he was invited back to participate as part of the steering committee for the project.
“Various [Ohio] general assemblies have recognized this and have mandated that this type of curriculum be placed in our schools, but with so many of the schools concentrating on [science, technology, engineering and mathematics], sometimes financial literacy is not something that you see the emphasis that it needs to have,” he said. Also, many parents feel “ill equipped” to provide those skills to their children.
“Our students really live in a world that is virtual when they’re at home,” Hostetler said. The personal touch of handshakes and phone communication have been lost, and students are unfamiliar with situations that don’t involve school or meeting with friends, and don’t have the experience of seeing successful people who look like them.
Merkel took a group of educators and JA board members to the BizTown near Pittsburgh for a site visit, which spurred conversations about bringing the concept here. Local representatives also visited BizTown and Finance Park locations in Columbus; Kansas City, Kan.; and Lexington, Ky.
“I’m in the service industry. I’ll help whatever kids need help however I can,” Hostetler said. “I’m proud to be around other people that have that same philosophy.”
Most of the past year was spent identifying potential local sites, she said. Eastwood was selected from five sites they identified.
The goal was not only identifying a location that would be central not only to the four counties her JA office serves but school districts in a 60-mile radius. On the day they visited the Pittsburgh center, students from Hermitage, Pa., schools were there, about 80 minutes away for a simulation that lasts 4 1/2 hours, she said. The Akron-Canton JA office now sends its students to the Columbus BizTown.
Larger markets typically have separate BizTown and Finance Park centers; smaller markets use a “flex facility concept” to use the same space for both programs, such as is being planned for Eastwood, Merkel said.
The concept envisioned for the mall will include 15 storefronts, each sponsored by a local business, surrounding a multipurpose space, as well as meeting and classroom space, Merkel said. JA of Eastern Ohio also plans to relocate offices from its current space in Girard to the mall.
As part of the BizTown simulation, students will interview for positions, be hired and follow the scenario outlined by the curriculum. Typically, businesses in each BizTown include a grocery store, financial institution, medical/health care facility, insurance provider, clothing retailer and other product or service providers, Merkel said.
Through a relationship with Youngstown State University required to secure some of the funding, the center will have interns on-site who also will benefit from JA’s educational resources through programming targeted to individuals age 18 to 25, she said.
Megan Wine, a business development associate for Servpro Team Dobson and a local JA board member, said she found the concept Merkel presented “very exciting” and was enthusiastic about the financial education element.
“This is a valuable, hands-on experience that they’re going to be able to build,” she said. “It’s very overwhelming and just tremendous for [Merkel] and Junior Achievement.”
So far, Junior Achievement of Eastern Ohio has accumulated about $1.2 million for the project, which Merkel estimated should cost about $2.5 million. She expects to kick off a two-part capital campaign in the next month or so, one for building out the physical space and the other to support operations. She is optimistic that local businesses and other funders will support the project, especially if they see other centers in operation firsthand.
“It’s a great addition to our community. It helps draw in people and revenue, and it’s a great learning tool for our children, which is obviously our future,” she said.
Pictured at top: From left are Megan Wine, a business development associate for Servpro Team Dobson and a Junior Achievement of Eastern Ohio board member; Michele Merkel, president of JA of Eastern Ohio; and Matt Boarts, leasing director for the Cafaro Co.