YOUNGSTOWN — For parts or all of three centuries, the city’s business community’s influence has been — and continues to be — in a state of flux, with its presence dipping in and reverberating through many arenas, a longtime area historian says.

“He was influential not only here in Youngstown, where he was born, but in Warren, where he lived his early life,” H. William Lawson, the Mahoning Valley Historical Society’s executive director, said.

Lawson was referring to David Tod, a 19th-century industrialist whose entrepreneurial hands also reached into the region’s political, legal and civic circles and beyond. Specifically, Tod served as postmaster beginning in 1832 in Warren before residing in Youngstown, and his notable business ventures were largely in the coal and iron industries, which included developing iron ore and coal material locally, then shipping the latter to Cleveland and other markets.

In the early 1840s, Tod inherited his father’s farm, where he started mining seams of coal. That initiative propelled the growth of the Mahoning Valley’s iron industry. The mineral later became known as Briar Hill coal, according to the Ohio History Connection.

Tod also became president of the Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad, which was established in the 1850s in Cleveland; then he was a key player in building the Brier Hill Iron & Coal Co. in 1859.

“It was the first rail service in and out of Youngstown,” Lawson said, adding that Tod also was part owner of the Akron Manufacturing Co., which he brought to Youngstown.

Tod was among the Valley’s premier business movers and shakers. In addition to his business interests in making the region grow, he also dipped into politics via serving as a special envoy for President James K. Polk and, in 1847, as ambassador to Brazil, Lawson noted.

In 1860, Tod was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention and threw his support to Abraham Lincoln and the Union portion of a split Democratic party, Lawson said. Two years later, Tod began a two-year term as Ohio governor.

After serving in that capacity, Tod returned to the Valley to tend to his business affairs and spent his last years with family before his death in 1868, Lawson explained.

“He grew up in Niles and was President (William) McKinley’s childhood friend,” Lawson said about Joseph G. Butler Jr., another business leader, who founded the Butler Institute of American Art in 1919 in Youngstown. “He was well known for his collection of art.”

The museum bearing Butler’s name also became the first of its kind dedicated to collecting and exhibiting exclusively American art, Lawson noted. He added that the museum was borne from tragedy, because Butler had lost much of his artwork in a house fire, so the museum was established with the remainder of his personal collection.

Butler, who was from Mercer County, Pa., was a key player in the transition of the iron industry converting to the region’s steel production and, in the late 1800s, was a shareholder in the Brier Hill Iron Coal Co. In addition, the prominent industrialist and philanthropist played a pivotal role in building the McKinley National Birthplace Memorial in Niles, Lawson explained.

The early 20th century also saw the start of the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. in 1900 along the Mahoning River in East Youngstown (now Campbell), and eventually it became known as the Campbell Works. According to www.youngstownsheetandtube.com, 55 area residents pledged $600,000 to install their vision that manufacturing should be locally owned and managed.

In 1955, the inaugural Fortune 500 list was formulated, and Sheet & Tube ranked at No. 70, with revenue of more than $600 million and more than 30,000 workers, the website shows.

The company later merged with the Brier Hill Steel Co. and became one of the nation’s top five steel producers, Lawson said, adding that the business also immersed itself in the region’s civic life via supporting the local arts, education and cultural sectors.

“They were a true corporate citizen,” he said.

In May 1969, Sheet & Tube merged with the Lykes Corp., a New Orleans-based shipbuilding company, and became a subsidiary of the Lykes-Youngstown Corp. On Sept. 19, 1977, a day known regionally as “Black Monday,” the Lykes Corp. closed the Campbell Works, idling between 4,000 and 5,000 workers. Most consider this the beginning of the steel industry’s demise in the Mahoning Valley.

As a result, many people moved elsewhere to search for work, but that didn’t mean all was lost.

In subsequent years, businesses such as General Fireproofing Co. a leading manufacturer of office furniture that was established in 1902, and Commercial Shearing and Stamping Co., which started in the 1920s and is now Commercial Metal Forming on Logan Avenue, provided good paying jobs. Lawson said. The latter business specializes in manufacturing tank heads and accessories.

The DeBartolo and Cafaro families also played a pivotal role in shaping the business landscape. Edward J. DeBartolo was one of the nation’s largest mall developers, including the Southern Park Mall in the late 1960s in Boardman, and the Cafaro Company, based in Niles, is one of the biggest real estate development and property management businesses in the U.S. and is responsible for developing the Eastwood Mall.

Many contemporary businesses grew and flourished as the 21st century dawned, including B.J. Alan Fireworks Co. owned by Bruce J. Zoldan, which has become one of the country’s top fireworks wholesalers and importers since it opened in 1977.

Another is Warren-based AVI Foodsystems Inc., a 65-year-old business John Payiavlas owns that has evolved into a highly respected food-service company locally and nationally, Lawson noted. AVI has an estimated 8,500 employees and provides food services in about 47 states, according to its website.

Youngstown also has become a technology hub, with the Youngstown Business Incubator acting as a hub for new businesses. In addition, many nonprofit agencies continue to play vital roles in government relations, civic engagement and community betterment, he added.

Other key players that continue to contribute to the area’s business environment include the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber and the Western Reserve Port Authority, which offers partnership opportunities and consulting services to develop solutions for business, government and nonprofit entities, Lawson said.

Most recently, Youngstown was selected as the fourth innovation hub in Ohio, a move designed to transform the Valley into a global epicenter for additive manufacturing. Officials have said they hope it will bring up to 450 new jobs to the area.