By Guy Coviello
President & CEO, Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – As the Valley embraces the opportunity to grow a thriving and resilient economy, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, too, has grown into its role as a strategic economic leader and steward of initiatives intended to pave the way for the Valley’s economic success.
We couldn’t have gotten to this point in our development without cooperation from our business, economic development, government, nonprofit and philanthropic partners, the latest of which is Mahoning Valley Young Professionals (MVYP).
In a move that lays the foundation to keep young professionals in the Valley and to make the region attractive to employers across the U.S. because of its abundance of talent, the chamber welcomed into its fold MVYP as an affiliate organization. Under the chamber’s umbrella, MVYP intends to advance new programs to help local employers recruit and retain young professionals, welcome post-secondary students into its ranks and breathe new life into its annual 25 Under 35 event.
The relationship is in line with regional efforts to grow the Valley’s population, especially in the prime workforce ages of 24 to 44, as well as aligning with the chamber’s priority of developing the next generation of business and community leaders.
We also created the Center for Nonprofit Excellence under our umbrella to provide training, resources and consulting services to maximize the impact of nonprofit organizations on the community.
And soon, we will launch in the Valley the CEO Forum, a dynamic program designed to provide business leaders in Ohio with a network of peers who are similarly committed to growing their business while helping their fellow C-suite executives succeed.
Speaking of launches, last year we had our first event of what we plan to be many in Ashtabula County. Our salute to elected officials in Ashtabula, held at the impressive Lodge at Geneva-on-the-Lake, gave business leaders the opportunity to connect in-person with local, state and federal government officials.
Our future also sees the chamber growing our presence in Mercer and Lawrence counties in western Pennsylvania, where we are partners with two like-minded economic development agencies: Penn-Northwest Development Corp. and Forward Lawrence Chamber and Economic Alliance.
We will collaborate with them both to increase the population and improve the housing in the region. We also will collaborate with the Export Assistance Network at Youngstown State University and Lake to River Economic Development to expand international trade with Iceland, which could be a source of economic opportunity due to Icelandair’s direct flights to Pittsburgh International Airport.
Penn-Northwest and Forward Lawrence were partners with us and several others in forming the Shenango-Mahoning Valley Business Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. With the new council, the Cleveland Fed will consider real-time, qualitative data from companies in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys, amplifying their collective voice when the Fed considers monetary policy.
We are pleased with the progress we’ve made so far to build coalitions and lay the foundation for economic growth in the Valley, But much work remains – on our part and on our partners – to realize the full potential of our initiatives for our community and our businesses.