Lake to River Makes Progress on Its Goals

YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO – More Vibrant Community grant announcements such as the $1.3 million awarded to East Liverpool in October could be forthcoming in the Lake to River Economic Development region.

The new four-county JobsOhio district has been moving “full steam ahead” since Gov. Mike DeWine announced its creation in April, Alexa Sweeney Blackann, interim CEO, said. The district is composed of Ashtabula, Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties, which previously had been part of the 18-county Team NEO JobsOhio region.

“There are active projects we are managing,” Blackann said, and she anticipates “lots of exciting things for 2025.”

Since Lake to River’s launch, much of its focus has been on startup activities, such as organizing its offices, learning the JobsOhio program, introducing the new organization to stakeholders in the region and conducting business retention and expansion visits across its four-county footprint.

“We are taking on projects now with a lot of supervision from JobsOhio, and they’re teaching us and coaching us through the process,” Blackann said. “We’ve got a lot of coaching and teamwork going on behind the scenes to make sure we’re ready and that when we’re taking these leads [and] building the projects out.”

JobsOhio, a private nonprofit economic development corporation created by the state in 2011, is excited to have Lake to River as its “boots on the ground” in the region, said Terry Slaybaugh, vice president of infrastructure and sites for JobsOhio.

“It affords us the opportunity to have an organization in the [Mahoning] Valley that’s focused on sites and our programs in that region,” he said.

Despite JobsOhio’s efforts, the organization has “struggled for quite a while” to get projects to come forward in the Youngstown market. Even with successes such as the Ultium Cells plant and the new main gate project at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, there was recognition that the organization “had not done a lot of work” in the area.

“The Lake to River team is out meeting with companies, getting to know decision-makers to find out what their three-, five-, 10-year plans are and how Lake to River and JobsOhio might be able to support or fit into their growth plans for the future,” said Angela Hall, senior communications manager for JobsOhio.

The organization added sites from Ashtabula and Columbiana counties to the existing site database compiled for Mahoning and Trumbull counties and announced “a handful of projects,” including the two JobsOhio Vibrant Communities grants for East Liverpool and another $50,000 JobsOhio grant to conduct a strategic reboot plan for downtown Youngstown.

The downtown Youngstown planning grant could lead to Vibrant Community or other state funds being awarded, which is “always a possibility,” Blackann said. The grant is “a first step” to bring together the stakeholders, identify properties and any potential zoning issues, see what is available and identify what might be eligible for a small business grant or Vibrant Community project.

The process also could lead to private developers and investment coming together, without the need for state investment.

JobsOhio representatives have calls every two weeks with its network partners, Slaybaugh said.

“We go over the portfolio of projects they’re working on. We provide technical assistance to them and then we can also provide additional resources,” he said. The organization has consultants it works with to help with due diligence so it can deploy resources on things like wetland studies, archaeological studies and engineering, and it coordinates with utilities to ensure sites have adequate gas or electric.

JobsOhio and Lake to River information programs held Nov. 7 and 8 outlined JobsOhio’s Vibrant Communities and Small Business Grants programs. They represent “the kind of partnership we were hoping for” when local business and community leaders pitched Gov. Mike DeWine on creation of the new JobsOhio district, Blackann said.

High inflation and interest rate pressures have weighed on company decision-making related to whether to move forward with new projects, said Ryan Squire, director of communications for JobsOhio. With some exceptions, the time between when a company initially contacted a JobsOhio partner and when it decided to move forward on a project has expanded from 250 days to upwards of 500.

“They’re holding on decisions to invest tens and hundreds of millions of dollars or billions of dollars because it’s just more expensive to do that right now,” Squire said. “That’s a trend that started last year and continues this year.”

It’s a situation he insisted isn’t unique to Ohio, which remains in the top five states for projects. Also, the electric vehicle segment has taken “a little pause” because the market “isn’t quite ready yet,” he said.

“They’re kind of through that initial customer that was ready to do that. Now to bring in the other 70% of automobile owners, there’s more work that needs to be done, but that’s a good thing.” It’s a good thing for Ohio because the plants located here that supply the EV industry also supply traditional internal combustion engine vehicle manufacturers.  

“And in the meantime, they’re supplying the hybrid that the market is signaling that [people] are ready for and want to use,” he said.

JobsOhio also is working with Lake to River on three or four sites in the four-county region that potentially could become Ohio Site Inventory Program or All Ohio Future Fund projects, Slaybaugh said.

Progress on those sites is being made, Blackann reported. 

“One of the things that is a big priority in the state of Ohio and one of the things we recognize can give the state a real competitive edge is the availability of good sites and good buildings when companies are considering to locate in Ohio or to build in Ohio or to expand in Ohio,” Slaybaugh said.

Pictured at top: Alexa Sweeney Blackann, Lake to River’s interim CEO, and Terry Slaybaugh, vice president of infrastructure and sites for JobsOhio, speak after the announcement of Lake to River’s creation in April at the Eastwood Events Centre in Niles.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.