Staff photo / Patrick E. Litowitz Anthony Trevena, executive director of the Western Reserve Port Authority, at podium, details improvements made to the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in 2025 during the board’s joint meeting with the Trumbull and Mahoning county commissioners Friday at Covelli Enterprises Enterprises in Warren.

WARREN — Anthony Trevena passed off the playbook highlighting the Western Reserve Port Authority’s success in 2025 to the Mahoning and Trumbull county commissioners during their joint meeting Friday at Covelli Enterprises.

“These are your talking points,” the port’s executive director said.

Created in 1992 to run the Youngstown-Warren airport, the port authority has grown beyond its original mission and promotes economic activity in Mahoning and Trumbull counties. Its mission is funded by a bed tax levied in the two counties. Last year, the port received $2.42 million in lodging tax.

Among airport highlights last year, Trevena noted:

•$12.66 million in Airport Improvement Program grants were received.

•98.5% airport hangar occupancy rate was obtained.

•Approximately 28,000 landings took place.

•$297,239 in total revenue generated.

•100% availability rate achieved.

Trevena said those numbers should dispel the notion that nothing takes place at the airport.

“If you write nothing down today, write this one down. If somebody says to you, ‘Why don’t you guys reopen that airport?’ Say, ‘In 2025, there were 27,867 landings at Youngstown.”

The port’s influence extends beyond the Vienna airspace.

The agency has opened, managed or secured approximately $76.5 million covering more than 46 grants; manages 120 parcels of land over 18 sites (Mahoning, 51, and Trumbull, 69); and manages 29 buildings.

“How about the next time somebody asks you, ‘How about stop wasting my tax dollars on that closed airport. Tell him unless you’re staying at hotels and motels in Mahoning Valley, you haven’t paid a dime to run that airport,” Trevena said. “That’s the truth. The dollars are all produced by bringing back revenue in federal dollars.”

Other projects highlighted were Kimberly-Clark, the airport’s Aviation Education Center, the airport runway rehabilitation project, the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission and the airport flight school.

“I could have never imagined seeing this about 20 years ago,” Mahoning County Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti said. ” Everybody that’s there (on the port authority) have done great work for the (counties).

“I’d say in four to five years, you’re going to see a lot of difference. All we got to do is get the politics on the same page, which is not really easy sometimes.”

Trumbull Commissioner Denny Malloy said the area continues to attract positive attention.

“It just seems like everybody’s buying into this new thing we got going here in the Mahoning Valley,” he said. “You know, it’s like we have an open door now right to Columbus. We have an open door to D.C. with fly-ins.

“Everyone sees what’s going on here. They want to be a part of it.”