Youngstown/Warren, : Poised for Success Have you heard about what’s happening in the greater Youngstown/Warren, Ohio, area? You would be surprised by how different the area is from its past image. Here are just 10 examples of what’s going on in the Youngstown/Warren area that should change perceptions of this community.

1. The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber: A catalyst for renewed economic development as the becomes the Gateway for staging, distribution and manufacturing of all products needed for Marcellus Shale natural gas extraction. More and more companies are looking at and deciding to locate in the Mahoning Valley, assisted by the Valley’s economic development engine, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber. • V&M Star, which employs about 500 workers at its tube-making plant in Youngstown, announced the largest manufacturing project in the U.S. in 2010. The company is building a $650 million pipe mill in Youngstown that will employ 350 people and provide another 1,700 indirect jobs. • The International Economic Development Council honored the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber with its 2010 Excellence in Economic Development Award for spearheading the overall economic development efforts leading to V&M Star’s expansion project. • Ultra Premium Oilfield Services announced in February 2010 it is leasing a factory in Brookfield Township, spending $10 million for a pipe-threading operation and will employ up to 120 people. • VXI Global Solutions created 600 new jobs in 2009 by opening an inbound customer service call center in downtown Youngstown and is in the midst of a $2.7 million expan- sion, creating another 600 jobs in the next few years. • McHenry Industries completed a 40,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art manufac- turing facility in Austintown to expand its operations in the Mahoning Valley and create 15 jobs. • Reinforcement Systems is constructing a new $28 million headquarters and manufacturing facility in Warren, creating 65 full-time jobs. • In 2010, the Mid-America Economic Development Council named the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber a first-place winner for its annual eco- nomic development video and print report. • In 2009, the Youngstown-Warren metro area, for the first time ever, made Site Selection magazine’s Top 10 list for business attraction, retention and expan- sion. • The Regional Chamber also received the top award in the Business Attraction category at Team Northeast Ohio’s (NEO)/Inside Busi- ness magazine’s 2009 Economic Development Impact Awards for its efforts to attract a steel-related company to Mahoning County. Patriot Special Metals built a $64 million, state-of-the-art specialty steel production complex in North Jackson, west of Youngstown, and will create 60 jobs. • In the last 10 years, the Regional Chamber has assisted in bringing about 18,000 new jobs to the Valley. • The Youngstown/Warren Metro area was ranked sixth in the nation in 2010 in the percentage of exports as part of the its Gross Metropolitan Product. The metro area also had the sixth largest drop in jobless rate in the nation in 2010, according to the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

2. One of the best places to start a business: The top 10 communi- ties in the U.S. to start a business, according to the August 2009 Entre- preneur magazine, included the usual economic hot spots, Las Vegas, Atlanta, San Diego and Chapel Hill, N.C. But right there among the top 10 was Youngstown. The factors in ranking Youngstown so high: young, dynamic political leaders and exciting and thriving tech ventures like Turning Technologies and the Youngstown Business Incubator.

3. GM’s top assembly plant: General Motors’ Lordstown Complex, located a few miles northwest of Youngstown, is the largest GM production facility in the U.S. GM has invested $350 million at the Lordstown Complex and added 1,200 workers to produce its new, fuel-efficient car, the Chevy Cruze. Efforts by labor and management working together in an unprecedented spirit of cooperation helped the Valley to retain one of its largest employers. GM Lordstown Complex 11 Central Square, Suite 1600 • Youngstown, OH 44503 • (330) 744-2131, ext. 15 • Fax (330) 746-0330 www.regionalchamber.com 4. High-tech Center: In May 2010, Inc. magazine focused its attention on the city of Youngstown and its push to be a high-tech center. The article was titled: “Semper Youngstown: Youngstown, Ohio, of all places, is attempting to reinvent itself as a tech- nology center.” It’s a dream story for an unlikely community. Turning Technologies, a maker of audience response technology and one of the fast- est growing software companies in the U.S., is anchored in a brand new building in the “Tech Block” in downtown Youngstown. The company, which grew from three em- ployees at its start in the Youngstown Business Incubator to about 200 employees in the new facility, quickly ran out of space in the building and expanded into an adjacent, newly renovated building. A new arrival to the downtown cluster of tech companies is Revere Data, a San Fran- cisco-based company, which opened a new research office and is creating 50 jobs over three years.

Taft Technology Center, Home of Turning Technologies

5. Advanced Energy in Warren: The newly formed Warren Incubator — now called the TechBelt Energy Innovation Center — will serve as the center for engineering, prototype development and testing as part of the Energy Regional In- novationCluster (E-RIC) in the Cleveland-Youngstown-Pittsburgh TechBelt region.

6. Young Local Leadership: Elected leaders like U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams and State Sen. Capri Cafaro, all in their 30s, are changing the perceptions of what a Mahoning Valley politician can be. • Tim Ryan is a member of the House leadership team. He is one of the leaders of the Cleveland-Youngstown- Pittsburgh Tech Belt initiative. In the last seven years, Ryan has brought back nearly $150 million in worthy economic development and other projects to the 17th Congressional District. • Jay Williams, the first African-American mayor of Youngstown and its youngest ever, is much acclaimed for his out-of-the-box approach to trying to solve the enormous problems facing Youngstown. In 2007, Williams was the recipient of the 2007 John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award given each year to two exceptional young Americans under the age of 40 Ryan whose contributions in elective office, community service or advocacy demonstrate the im- pact and value of public service in the spirit of President John F. Kennedy. In 2009, Gov- erning Magazine named Williams one of the nation’s top public officials. • Capri Cafaro is serving her fifth year in the . In January 2011, she was again sworn in as Senate Minority Leader, the first leader in the Ohio General Assem‑ Williams bly from the Mahoning Valley in nearly 20 years.

7. Youngstown 2010: This innovative “shrinking city” plan has caught the attention of urban specialists and the media all over the world. It is considered a model plan for communities dealing with population loss and blight. Cafaro

8. Cleveland-Youngstown-Pittsburgh Tech Belt: The Tech Belt Initiative is an economic development strategy designed to reinvigorate the region by building on its unique civic, educational, healthcare and industrial institutions. Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley sit at the center of this initiative, which covers an inter-state region of 7.2 million people that would be the fourth-larg- est industrial/technology region nationally, with a potential economic impact of more than $1 billion in annual academic R&D.

9. Youngstown State University: Under the past leadership of Dr. David Sweet and now under Dr. Cynthia Anderson, the university has seen its enrollment increase more in the last few years than any other public college or university in Ohio, and its campus is expanding by leaps and bounds. A new $34 million Williamson College of Business Administration opened in August 2010, linking the university with downtown Youngstown. Youngstown State University

10. Most Affordable Place to Live and Work: The Youngstown-Warren region is the second most affordable place in the nation for housing, according to the 2010 National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index. Also, Forbes magazine ranked the metro area as one of the “Best Bang for Your Buck” metro areas in the country.

11 Central Square, Suite 1600 • Youngstown, OH 44503 • (330) 744-2131, ext. 15 • Fax (330) 746-0330 www.regionalchamber.com