Staff file photo.....Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown

YOUNGSTOWN –Youngstown has faced and continues to face challenges, but through collaboration and hard work, it is achieving success, Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said during his State of the City address Thursday.

Among those issues were the COVID-19 pandemic followed by a lengthy — and delayed — downtown street improvement project and then the Realty Tower explosion in May that killed one and displaced hundreds of people while the Central Square building was demolished.

“Those have been difficult times for the city of Youngstown,” he said during the address. “Those are challenges that we decided to face together, and I truly know that as mayor, it’s because of you and because of this community that we were able to continue to meet those challenges.”

He added, “It is because of your hard work and dedication to this community that we were able to persevere.”

Brown delivered his speech at the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber’s Good Morning, Youngstown event at Stambaugh Auditorium to an audience of about 200.

The city’s crowning economic achievement is a $62.2 million Youngstown Innovation Hub for Aerospace and Defense – that received $27.2 million in state funding – in downtown Youngstown that state and local officials say will bolster the area’s economy and create up to 750 jobs during the next four years. It was announced Feb. 27.

“This aerospace defense is an opportunity for the next generation — our children and grandchildren (to do) things we may not be able to see, but with more experience, they will,” he said.

Brown said: “Additive manufacturing is a new world for downtown.”

Noting that it’s been almost 50 years since the collapse of the steel industry in the area, Brown said, “Now, we’re saying, ‘Here’s what we can do in the city of Youngstown.'”

The city also is using a new economic incentive tool to attract and expand businesses: an income tax refund.

The city has used it three times to help Steelite International relocate its headquarters from New Castle, Pa., to downtown Youngstown; for Trivium Aluminum Packing USA Corp. to add 90 jobs; and for P&S Bakery to add 40 jobs.

“If you’re a business out there, we’re figuring out ‘How do we get better?’ and keep the businesses that are here, but also see ‘How do we interact with those who want to come to downtown Youngstown?’ ” Brown said. “So we can see partnerships are strong; our opportunities are there.”

Brown said the failed Chill-Can property that the city bought Feb. 18 at a county sheriff’s sale is “a great opportunity for the city.”

The city has not received title to the 21-acre site on the lower East Side yet, Brown said.

“We need to see the property,” he said. “I have no idea what it looks like inside, but I want to make sure that the No. 1 priority is that it benefits the citizens of Youngstown, Ohio, and that’s what I’m looking forward to. We want it to be a catalyst for economic impact.”

Brown said that affordable, quality housing is his top issue.

That’s why, he said, the city allocated $27,538,965, about one-third of its American Rescue Plan allocation, toward neighborhood and economic development.

The city selected the 717 Credit Union to administer three housing programs, totaling $13 million, to improve the housing stock with $8 million of it for new construction and / or rehabilitation of quality affordable housing.

There also is $5 million for the At Home in Youngstown program, which covers up to $10,000 for down payments and closing costs and up to an additional $15,000 limit for energy-efficient upgrades after a house is purchased.

The city also spent $3.0 million for residential roof replacements, $2.9 million to demolish vacant properties and $2 million for a small business revolving loan fund as well as smaller amounts for property acquisition, a mobile grocery market and commercial property site readiness.

“As mayor, I recognize that our strength as a community is rooted in our ability to collect and compete for resources and share financial interests,” Brown said. “These shared values will remain my priority in my administration. If we’re going to retain and attract the next generation to call Youngstown home, it’s going to depend on us together.”