YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Connor Porterfield unspools and wraps corrugated cardboard around two recently cut coils of metal stacked on top of one another. The packaging material is intended to protect metal surfaces from any abrasions or defects as the coils are prepared for shipment.
Meanwhile, several more coils are in queue, as the packaging line that Porterfield works on at Uniserv LLC kicks into high gear. It is a busy, noisy, Tuesday morning at the Brookfield plant.
Just what end products this metal will be used for isn’t clear. Uniserv, which began as a steel processing company in 1968, has diversified its customer base to include a variety of industries such as aerospace, medical, oil and gas, infrastructure and automotive.
“We have such an order flow that we’re a six-day operation at this point and time,” says Jeremy Kerola, Uniserv’s vice president and an owner of the family-operated company. “We have a strong customer base, and our services are very high in demand.”
Business on the Rise
Uniserv has since matured from a traditional steel processor to a company that provides slitting and cutting operations for titanium, carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, brass and other metals, Kerola says. “Just about every kind of metal you can think of,” he adds. “We’re incredibly busy.”
Uniserv’s business is indicative of an overall manufacturing sector in the Mahoning and Shenango Valleys that has demonstrated resiliency despite challenges related to the labor market and volatility tied to trade policy.
Kerola says for example the company isn’t directly exposed to the protective tariffs enacted by the Trump administration last year. “We do not buy and sell steel,” he explains. “Our customers do, and we provide the service to our customers.” Rather, he relates that some of the company’s clients might be impacted – more so by the uncertainties of the on-again, off-again trade penalties announced on certain countries last year.
“You kind of see inventories increase or decrease, depending on whether the tariffs are on or off,” Kerola says. “But they [customers] control their inventories very well.”
The Kerola family – Jeremy’s father, Joe, is chairman – acquired Uniserv in March 2023 as part of a vertical integration strategy to complement the family’s long-standing transportation business, PI & I Motor Express, in Masury. “We take master coils, slit them to customer specifications, package them as the customer needs, and ship them out, hopefully on PI & I trucks,” Kerola says.
Since the purchase, Uniserv has invested in upgrades to three of its 10 overhead cranes, as well as the main production line’s programmable logic controller, or PLC, system. Uniserv’s light-gauge slitting line is also slated for upgrades this year. “We’re focused on upgrades and optimization of our equipment and processes,” he says.
Moreover, Kerola reports that since the acquisition, Uniserv has successfully recouped business from customers who had left years ago. “We’ve been able to bring back some of these customers and add new customers,” he says.
The company’s customer base appears to be strong across all sectors of the economy, Kerola says. Funds allocated from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, passed during the Biden administration in 2021, are still circulating through the economy and helping customers with business in public infrastructure, such as those who manufacture roadway guardrails. Other indicators point to a stronger oil and gas market, while aerospace is also performing well.
“It’s really all across the board,” he says.
Charlie Pitts, Uniserv’s president who has spent 39 years with the company, says that many of the metal processed at the plant turns into tubing, while others might be stamped for automotive parts. Metals such as titanium often find their way into the aerospace and medical markets, he says.
“Thiry-nine years ago, we were basically a carbon slitting house,” Pitts recalls. “Our founders then decided to get into specialty slitting.”
Pitts says Uniserv employs approximately 104 people but acknowledges that the company could use 20 more to accommodate its bustling order flow. “That seems to be everybody’s problem right now.”
Sector Stabilizes
Employment in manufacturing interests across the Mahoning and Shenango Valleys have remained relatively stable over the last year compared to 2024, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of those employed in manufacturing in December in the Youngstown-Warren metropolitan region stood at 19,200, down from 19,700 during the same period in 2024, a decrease of 2.5%, according to BLS preliminary data for the month. However, it does demonstrate an overall improvement compared to prepandemic levels, data show. In December 2019, for example, just 16,500 were reported working in the manufacturing sector. December 2025’s numbers represent a 16.3% boost in sector employment compared to the same period six years earlier.
Manufacturing is still a major employer throughout the four-county Lake to River Economic Development, one of seven districts affiliated with JobsOhio, the state’s economic development arm.
In Mahoning County, manufacturing represented 9.9% of all jobs during 2023, according to a 2025 analysis commissioned by the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association using the latest data available. In Trumbull County, 14.6% of all jobs were manufacturing positions, while in Columbiana County, 22.1% of all those employed were in manufacturing. Ashtabula County, which is part of Lake to River Economic Development, 24.7% of all those employed had jobs in manufacturing.
Some of these figures, especially in Trumbull County, are likely to be impacted by downsizing at major employers such as Ultium Cells LLC in Lordstown, which placed more than 430 on permanent layoff beginning in January 2026. Another 800 were placed on temporary layoff at the beginning of the year. However, new manufacturing ventures such as Kimberly-Clark’s $800 million investment in a new production facility in Warren is likely to boost employment in the sector once the plant is operational sometime in 2028.
Manufacturing also represents a significant portion of the workforce across Mercer and Lawrence counties in western Pennsylvania, according to statistics from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry. In 2024, for example, Mercer County reported that its manufacturing sector employed a total of 8,214 people, or 19% of the total employed labor force. Meanwhile, Lawrence County manufacturers employed 3,270, or 12.2% of the workforce. Both counties exceed the commonwealth’s average of 9.4%
Ellwood Group
It’s in this climate that some manufacturers are moving forward with major expansions to meet demand in new markets.
“If anyone is driving past our facilities along Moravia Street in New Castle, they’ll see a significantly large building going up,” says Anna Barensfeld, vice president of strategic initiatives at Ellwood Group. The building is a 70,000-square-foot expansion that will house a new 20-ton vacuum induction melting furnace, she says. “We’ll be able to melt nonferrous, high-performance alloys for aerospace and other applications.”
The project was first announced nearly two years ago, and the objective is to melt and then process clean, precise materials that are used in critical applications such as rotating engine components, Barensfeld says. “We do see a significant need in the market for those materials,” she says.
Ellwood, with corporate offices in Ellwood City, Pa., is a multidisciplined manufacturer that operates 18 different business units in 25 facilities across the country. Ellwood’s holdings include forge operations, quality steel manufacturing, aluminum processing, engineered casting and specialty metals operations. It has locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Michigan and Canada. The company employs 2,100 people across its locations.
“Our business is complex,” Barensfeld says. “So, there’s always going to be niches that are up, some are down, and some are flat. But, generally speaking, we see some momentum coming out of 2025.”
Among these opportunities is the energy market, Barensfeld says. Growing demand for data centers and support for artificial intelligence systems has driven the need for additional power sources, including conversations over the development of small and large nuclear reactors. Microsoft, for example, in 2024 acquired Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania for the sole purpose of restarting its operations to supply the tech company’s AI data center ventures.
In November, the Trump administration tendered a $1 billion loan to project partner Constellation Energy to restart Unit 1, which closed in 2019 because of economic conditions. Three Mile Island’s Unit 2 has remained shuttered since 1979, after it experienced a near meltdown during the country’s worst nuclear power accident. There are no plans to reopen that unit. Moreover, the Trump administration has moved to rein in regulations associated with developing nuclear power as part of the White House’s effort to quadruple U.S. nuclear energy capacity by 2050.
These reactors will require large forgings to form containment vessels and other components, Barensfeld says, which could stimulate business for Ellwood.
“There’s opportunity there, and should it come to fruition it could mean business for our melt shop and our forging assets in New Castle,” she says.
There are also potential opportunities that might open in the natural gas turbine market, as tariffs could force manufacturers to reshore production of components used in combined-cycle power generation plants, Barensfeld says. “That would be an interesting development, to see that business reshored.”
Many of these projects are speculative, Barensfeld emphasizes. Ellwood nevertheless continues to experience increases in its aluminum business as well as promise in the aerospace and defense industries.
“We’re seeing continued growth in our aluminum,” she says, citing strong business at Ellwood’s casting operation in Hubbard, and investments in its aluminum forging capabilities in New Castle and northern Pennsylvania.
And Barensfeld reports that Ellwood’s work for the aerospace and defense markets continue to grow. “We’re seeing some positive trends,” Barensfeld says. “The challenge is going to be executing.”
Expansion in Youngstown
The energy market has also sparked new investment in one of the region’s most prominent manufacturers.
In November, Vallourec announced it would invest $48 million in a new premium thread line at its tube manufacturing plant in Youngstown. The new line is expected to be finished and commissioned by early 2027, the company said in a statement. However, the first products should roll off the line during the fourth quarter of this year and then move to validation and testing.
Vallourec, based in France, near Paris, is a global manufacturer of steel tubular products. Its Youngstown operation produces oil country tubular goods, or OCTG, pipe that is used mostly for oil and gas exploration. The premium thread line expands the company’s production of high-torque connections, which are increasingly required for onshore operations that use horizontal drilling techniques and longer laterals across the country’s shale basins.
“This investment aligns directly with what operators across the U.S. are prioritizing: dependable domestic supply, shorter lead times, and insulation from tariffs and global pricing volatility,” the company said in a statement. “By expanding its U.S. footprint, Vallourec is reinforcing the regional energy supply chain and supporting long-term manufacturing competitiveness in the Mahoning Valley.”
The project remains on track for completion as scheduled, as new equipment is installed. The project stands to create 40 full-time jobs.
“This expansion strengthens our fully integrated domestic route at a time when operators are increasingly relying on U.S. capacity,” says Jacky Massaglia, senior vice president for Vallourec North America. “It positions us to better support customers with high-performance, tariff-protected products manufactured right here in Youngstown.”
Pictured at top: Jeremy Kerola, vice president of Uniserv LLC, and Charlie Pitts, president.
