Williams: Obama to see Valley successes

By DAVID SKOLNICK

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

President Barack Obama’s visit Tuesday to the Mahoning Valley is an opportunity for the area to showcase its economic revitalization, said Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams.

“The Mahoning Valley is redefining itself to the nation and the world,” he said. “When you talk about a place that has been a model for using federal stimulus money, a place to invest, a place that’s reinventing itself, the Mahoning Valley and Youngstown are high on that list.”

Williams, a Democrat, rattled off a number of economic-success stories in his city including V&M Star’s announced $650 million expansion, planned expansions by VXI Global Solutions and Exal Corp. and growth in the city’s high-tech area.

The mayor said he’s not at all surprised that Obama is coming here.

Actually, Williams said several months ago that he expected the president to visit the Youngstown area in the spring or summer.

The mayor has met several times with Obama administration officials and said they’ve praised the Valley’s economic accomplishments.

The president’s visit “gives us the world’s largest platform to tell our story to the president, the nation and the world,” Williams said. “This will serve as an inspiration to us here to continue the collaboration and the hard and necessary work we’re doing to rebuild this community.”

Details of the visit to the Youngstown area haven’t been released by the White House.

But local political insiders expect Obama, a Democrat, to speak at a local manufacturing facility as the president did during a Thursday visit to Buffalo, N.Y., as part of his “White House to Main Street Tour.”

“It is evident that our local economic-development strategy is bearing fruit; residents, businesses and local governments throughout the Valley and the [17th Congressional] District stand to reap long-term benefits from a number of recent positive investments in our economy,” said U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th.

During the past three months, the Valley has received positive economic news.

That includes announcements by V&M Star, General Motors and other companies about major financial investments and job growth in the area.

“Youngstown is the right place for President Obama to visit to talk about jobs and the economy,” said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Avon. “The Mahoning Valley has been home to some encouraging signs of economic recovery over the last few months.”

But unemployment in the Valley is still high: 14.5 percent in March in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. Also, Youngstown’s 15.1 percent unemployment rate in March was the city’s highest in 15 years.

“We’re not oblivious to the unemployment rate, and the challenges are still present,” Williams said. “But we are not being defined by our challenges. We are being defined by our successes.”

U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson of St. Clairsville, D-6th, said he’s “excited” about Obama’s visit.

“I believe in this area, and I believe jobs will come back here,” he said. “It means a lot that the president feels that way too.”

This will be Obama’s second visit to the area since he took office in January 2009.

Obama spoke about the economy during a Sept. 15, 2009, speech at the Lordstown General Motors complex.

“It’s great he’s coming back. They know we vote for Democrats here, and he’s coming to make sure we continue to do so,” said state Rep. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th. “We’ll have our hat out and look for good tidings. He can’t continue to come to the area and make promises and not deliver.”

During his speech at the GM plant, Obama touted the facility as an example of American automakers making a comeback.

It was the first time that a sitting president delivered a speech in the Valley during an odd-numbered, nonelection year.

“To have the president visit us two times in eight months is huge,” said Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman David Betras. “Our region is re-establishing its luster. I couldn’t be happier that he’s returning.”

But Mark Munroe, Mahoning County Republican Party vice chairman, isn’t impressed.

“I assume the president is coming to the Valley to apologize for the sorry state the economy is in,” Munroe said.

MAHONING VALLEY Economic development

President Barack Obama will visit the Mahoning Valley on Tuesday to talk about jobs and the economy. In recent months, a number of companies have announced plans to expand, reopen or relocate to the Mahoning Valley. Here are some of them.

V&M Star: A seamless-tube company announcing it plans to build a $650 million expansion in Youngstown and Girard that would create about 350 jobs.

General Motors: Adding a third shift of about 1,200 workers at its Lordstown complex, the home of the Chevrolet Cruze.

Revere Data: A high-tech research firm, planning to relocate operations from New Delhi, India, to downtown Youngstown, starting with 10 workers and possibly reaching 100 in two years.

Seversta: A steel mill in Warren, recently reopened with about 500 workers recalled. The facility had been down since October 2008.

TMK IPSCO Koppel Tubular: It opened a new steel-pipe finishing facility in Brookfield that employs 120.

VXI Global Solutions: It opened a call center in downtown Youngstown that employs 450 with plans to hire another 200 shortly. Also, the company is strongly considering an expansion to add 500 jobs.

Exal Corp.: It is planning a $44 million expansion project in Youngstown that would employ 400 more workers.

Source: Vindicator files