WARREN — The Western Reserve Port Authority officially accepted a combined $2 million Wednesday from county commissioners from Trumbull and Mahoning counties for the Valley Vision 2050 economic development project.

The group hopes to stabilize and expand existing businesses; increase public awareness of arts and cultural industries; increase public participation in workforce training; expand education and employment opportunities; and increase stability of nonprofit organizations and businesses.

The economic and recovery plan is being developed through the Mahoning Valley Partnership, which includes the Western Reserve Port Authority, Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, Valley Partners, Youngstown Foundation, the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber and others.

“This is a really exciting moment in my lifetime,” Anthony Trevena, executive director of the port authority, said. “This is really unprecedented to see our community coming together the way it is.”

Guy Coviello, president and CEO of the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber, said his organization as well as the others involved in the partnership had become dissatisfied with certain metrics regarding the direction of the local economy.

“We just kind of decided ‘Let’s figure something out,'” Coviello said.

The organizations commissioned Ernst & Young to determine why the Mahoning Valley was not competing at the same level as some of its peers across the United States.

“They really landed on two key items,” Coviello said. “One, you don’t invest as much in your economy as your peers do, and you guys don’t work together as well as your peers do.”

That plan was written after an information-gathering process from August to December 2022 that received input from eight local focus groups, 38 interviews involving 80 local participants and 60 organizations, as well as input from JobsOhio, the state’s private, nonprofit economic development corporation and its Northeast Ohio partner, Team NEO.

Coviello said the Ernst & Young report led to the creation of Valley Vision 2050.

Coviello said the support from commissioners from both counties was something he had never seen before.

“As a collective group of elected officials, they looked beyond the election cycle,” Coviello said. “We’ll have some small results to deliver before they’re getting reelected, but what we’re going to do today is plant something that they won’t see until after the election cycle. That’s unusual to get elected officials to think that far ahead.”

Both county commissioner boards committed $1 million to Valley Vision 2050.

The Trumbull commissioners split their commitment into two separate payments of $500,000, one this month with another coming in June 2024 contingent upon a performance review.

“This is a great day for Trumbull County, a great day for the Valley because we get to reinvest back into our community,” Trumbull County Commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa said.

Mahoning Commissioner Anthony Traficanti said he was glad to support Valley Vision 2050 as a way to look to the future.

“If we do not set our sights on the future, then we’re going backwards,” Traficanti said. “There are going to be generations that are going to come up behind us. If we plant the seed now, we will see the germination of all the fruits of our labor … On behalf of Mahoning County, we’re ready to work with you.”

Trumbull County Commissioner Denny Malloy and Mahoning County Commissioner David Ditzler also attended the meeting, and both expressed ddssupport.

BDM Site

The port authority board also approved a motion to acquire oil and gas wells and rights at the former BDM Warren Steel Holdings and legacy Republic Steel site.

Trevena said the acquisition makes the site more marketable for future development.

“Almost any company that is going to look at a property that size is going to (want) to have control of the property not just on the ground and the earth but below that and what goes on below that,” Trevena said. “They’re going to want to see that you have control of any exploration or drilling, things like that.”

Trevena said the oil and gas rights, shallow rights and depot rights of the property all date back to the 1970s. He said sifting through the records and titles to determine “who owns what,” has been an extensive process.

“We’ve talked to numerous companies about the property and any company that’s going to do significant development is going to require having control of oil and gas leases,” Tevena said. “This is a pivotal moment for us to capture those so we can market the property to any end user.”

Trevena said the port authority is hopeful that gaining control of the oil and gas well rights will open opportunities to talk more about the property in the near future.

mcole@tribtoday.com