We’re on a roll.

That was evident at the beginning of the month when Kimberly-Clark announced it would build an $800 million facility employing nearly 500 people on property that straddles Howland, Warren and Warren Township.

This surpasses the recent Foxconn investment of $500 million, creating more than 400 jobs. Kimberly-Clark represents the largest economic development project since 2020, when Ultium Cells announced a $2.6 billion factory that now employs 2,200 workers.

It’s not just Kimberly-Clark, Foxconn and Ultium. Amazon broke ground on a facility in Bazetta that will result in 400 jobs.

Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel announced the creation of the Youngstown Innovation Hub for Aerospace and Defense that will result in 200 jobs downtown and another 500 indirect jobs throughout the Mahoning Valley.

And the cranes are busy constructing the $1.2 billion Trumbull Energy Center.

There’s also all the smaller stuff. We recently welcomed new companies like defense contractor Ursa Major. We witnessed the groundbreaking for new industrial space in North Jackson and Warren’s west side.

And more.

Did you notice all this happening without a single turf war?

Turf wars riddled our past. Local communities battled vociferously over who would provide water to Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course in Austintown. The company eventually decided to drill a well and produce its own water.

Local communities battled so fiercely over forming a joint economic development district when Vallourec built on land that straddles two jurisdictions, we made national news and nearly lost a 1,000-worker employer.

Kimberly-Clark straddles three jurisdictions. A fourth is providing services. No turf war.

Amazon officials said we have one of the most business-friendly communities.

An official from Kimberly-Clark shared a similar sentiment, saying publicly the company, a Fortune 500 maker of personal care and hygiene products, “felt very welcome, very impressed with the community business climate.”

We’ve come a long way.

And it’s not just projects that are worth celebrating. We’re moving the needle. Our population is increasing. Our median age is decreasing. Our labor force is up. Our crime is down.

Some of these changes are minimal and results may vary depending on the source, but it has been more than 40 years since we’ve seen stats like this.

Speaking of a stat we haven’t seen in a long, long time, I still savor the moment last fall when Ultium Cells became the largest employer in Trumbull County, surpassing the Youngstown Air Reserve Station.

I savor that moment because someone became the largest employer by growing, not by someone else closing or shrinking.

There’s more to come. Graphite One, for example, which wants to build a large factory in Weathersfield, received a tremendously good feasibility study on its proposed operation.

And even more companies will be announcing expansions and relocations.

But we’re not taking a victory lap. Instead, it’s time to focus on new priorities, including continuing to increase the population, improving the labor participation rate and expanding the housing stock.

Here are some stats that aren’t so good.

According to JobsOhio, we need 20,000 more people in the lake-to-river region to fill “priority occupations.” The number is 540,000 statewide which means we have competition.

45% of STEM graduates in Ohio leave the state. These are the people ready to fill “priority occupations.”

According to the Federal Reserve, the trend among prime workforce age individuals is to move first and find the job later. That means we won’t retain and attract people by marketing our good jobs. We need to compete in quality of life.

I often think about the problems my predecessors faced.

The problems our community has faced over the last many decades.

I count my blessings that our problems are recruiting enough people to take all the jobs and building enough houses for their families.

Guy Coviello is president & CEO of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.