YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – With several projects on the horizon, Phillips Sekanick Architects Inc. should have a strong 2026, says Bruce Sekanick, principal of the Warren firm.
This year’s projects include expansions to the Trumbull County Historical Society’s Morgan History Center and the National Packard Museum.
Sekanick and representatives of other small businesses in the region expressed optimism about their prospects for the new year, even as they navigate higher costs and a business environment affected by tariff policy.
“We see a lot of opportunities for this year,” Sekanick says.
That’s an optimism he didn’t necessarily feel entering 2025. Both he and his firm’s president, Kim Phillips, were unsure about the year’s prospects – some clients are hesitant around a big election such as 2024’s – but business picked up throughout the year.
“Last year turned out to be our fourth best in terms of billing,” Seckanick says. “It turned out to be a pretty good year.”
In addition to the TCHS Packard museum projects, Phillips Sekanick is involved with the Warren City Schools’ stadium project.
The firm also is working on a potential multiphase project on a 50-acre site. Seckanick hopes to be able to say more about it soon.
About half the firm’s projects are outside the area, and include Dunkin’ locations from Columbus to Cleveland, Firebirds restaurants in and outside Ohio and replacement facilities for Panera Bread cafes. Downturns in the local economy might not be reflected in the other markets the firm serves.
Tooling Up
“My goal is to shoot for a 20% increase over 2025’s sales,” Kyle Kiraly, controller at Kiraly Tool and Die Inc. in Youngstown, remarks.
He is optimistic about the impact of potential onshoring by businesses, as well as companies like Kimberly-Clark Corp. – which is constructing an $800 million plant near Warren – looking to “tool up” their facilities.
“Companies like ours are certainly going to see an uptick,” he predicts.
Last year represented an improvement from 2024, when the tool and die shop experienced a 10% decline in business, Kiraly says. In 2025, the company “gained that right back.” Last year, he says, was “a learning year for us,” as events made the company focus on how it wanted to adapt to the future.
Only a few weeks into 2026, business is running at a good pace, Kiraly reports. “I think a lot of my concerns through ’24 and ’25 are all going to go away this year,” he predicts.
Pondi’s Restaurant & Market in Lisbon had a record-breaking year in 2025, says co-owner Matt Borza.
“It was our busiest year in the history of Pondi’s,” he says. Over the past three years, growth has been “astronomical.”
Both Borza and Treg Steves, operating partner, attribute the past year’s success to Pondi’s staff. “The team that we put on the field, they rock it,” Borza says.
“We’re very fortunate to have the level of staff and the quality of staff that we have, and we spend a lot of time building that staff, training the staff, and investing in that staff so that we have a very high retention rate for the industry,” Steves says.
Pondi’s takes pride in treating staff as the establishment’s “most important resource,” Borza says. That includes accommodating workers’ family events in scheduling so that all employees can enjoy a good work-life balance. Some employees have been with the business for nearly three decades.
Business wasn’t booming but remained stable in 2025, Kyle Mitcheltree, president of Mitcheltree Brothers Logging & Lumber Inc. in Pulaski, Pa., says. The company’s business primarily revolves around housing and manufacturing.
“Much of our grade lumber is used in the housing sector for products such as flooring, trim, furniture and doors,” Mitcheltree says. The low-grade side of the business is driven primarily by manufacturing firms – such as steel mills – that utilize items such as dunnage (material to secure cargo during transport), pallets, crates and boxes.
Changes, Challenges
Kiraly says he is concerned when there is a slowdown in new production tooling, which normally is “our key indicator” of what the market is going to do.
“Right now, we have more new tooling inquiries in than I believe that we could even have the support to quote, so we’re going to be really picky and choosy on which projects we want to go after,” he says. “But seeing that there’s an abundance of inquiries coming in for new tooling, it’s pointing to good things in terms of the overall industry and market.”
Pondi’s customers are looking for “quality for the dollar,” Borza says. Steves acknowledges margins get tighter every week on the “center of the plate items” such as seafood, beef, chicken and pork.
“We have great vendor relationships, which helps us tremendously,” Borza says. “We’d rather be a really good customer to a prime vendor who will take care of us, rather than be an average customer to six vendors.”
The restaurant is seeing challenges from increases in other expenses.
“Utilities are up. Minimum wage went up,” says co-owner Jessica Borza, who is married to Matt.
High consumer costs had a negative effect on the lumber business.
“The housing market faced affordability challenges as mortgage rates – though stabilizing compared to 2023 highs – remained elevated,” Mitcheltree says. “This resulted in decreased demand for our grade lumber used in cabinetry, flooring, doors and trim.”
Industrial sales of wood products to regional manufacturers remained steady, he continues. Customers’ reluctance to maintain high inventory levels led to an increase in just-in-time deliveries. While some manufacturers remained busy throughout the year, others experienced a more significant slowdown.
“I expect to see similar activity levels in our business and industry throughout the beginning part of 2026 as we experienced last year,” Mitcheltree says. The trend likely will continue for much of the rest of the year, he says.
Mitcheltree sees the housing market as still being in a cooling period as it adjusts from the 2021 boom triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Any growth in home construction or renovations will be gradual throughout 2026, he predicts.
Kiraly Tool and Die is considering a new approach to training.
“In terms of getting qualified machinists in and what the local trade schools were producing, we kind of see where there’s gaps now, whether it be in terms of supply or skill set, so we’re looking to do some of our own in-house training, maybe work with a couple of the local places like YBI, Magnet, Lake To River [Economic Development], and putting together something like that,” Kiraly says.
The past year also forced the company to look at its expenses, he continues.
“There’s not too much fat we could trim, but it really made us look at how we wanted to pursue the future from this point in terms of the scope of work that we do to the type of equipment that we purchase,” he says.
Pondi’s Matt Borza says off-premises consumption has grown dramatically in recent years, whether catering or carryout sales. Customers can pick up carryout orders at the restaurant’s meat market counter, so they don’t have to wait upstairs in the restaurant.
He and Steves are optimistic about Pondi’s growth. They see opportunity in the meat market and catering but also want to be cautious.
“We don’t want to get to the level where we’re dis-servicing customers because of the volume and accelerated growth,” Steves remarks.
“Just make sure the quality stays up,” Borza says. “The other stuff usually takes care of itself.”
Tariffs
Tariffs are behind the decision of a Phillips Sekanick client outside the United States to build in the area, Sekanick says. Once that project moves forward, the hope is that it will drive several other related projects.
When the U.S. imposed tariffs on Chinese lumber products such as cabinets and furniture, China retaliated by banning U.S. hardwood log shipments and imposing tariffs on U.S. lumber, Mitcheltree says.
“Although other species were affected, this specifically impacted red oak and cherry – the two primary species consumed by China – making both difficult to sell and leading to a decline in pricing,” followed by a temporary increase in shipments to Vietnam.
“With that said, I believe much of our industry supports the reasoning for the tariffs that have been enacted,” he continues. “Due to higher labor and operating costs alongside increased foreign competition, the hardwood lumber industry currently produces only one-third of the volume that it produced 30 years ago.”
Many secondary manufacturers, such as furniture and cabinet companies, have either closed or relocated due to foreign competition, he says. Many U.S. companies face increasingly higher operational costs – including wages, insurance, regulations and permitting – that make it difficult to compete against foreign players, many of which are subsidized by their governments.
Kiraly acknowledges some materials he uses have been hit with tariffs but it hasn’t affected his company in terms of costs.
“A lot of that was offset pretty rapidly by our material suppliers in the area,” he says. If the tool and die shop has to pass along increased costs, many customers say they expect it because they’re seeing increases from other vendors.
Pictured at top: Kiraly Tool and Die’s Kyle Kiraly shares optimism for the year ahead amid rising demand for new tooling.
