Neighborhoods

Private companies invested more than $173 million in the Mahoning Valley last year, many with the help of regional economic development agencies, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber reports.

According to data compiled by the Regional Chamber and its economic development partners, and published in the 2018 Economic Development Report Card, a total of 102 projects resulted in $173,364,100 invested, 1,157 new jobs and another 3,271 retained jobs.

That compares to 367 company projects resulting in $216,256,009 of investment and 926 new jobs in 2017.

Economic development agencies assisted with 75 projects in 2018, resulting in more than $155 million in investment, creation of 1,016 jobs and retention of 2,914 jobs, according to the report card.

The Regional Chamber, in partnership with 15 other agencies, gathers data on economic development investment in the valley annually. The entities’ combined resources assist companies with infrastructure investment, tax incentives, loans, project coordination, grant oversight, technical advisement, property development and other services. Each individual agency provides project investment for business attraction, retention/expansion and/or startup; job creation/retention; and notable activity that occurred within its reporting year.

The collective efforts of the agencies are screened for duplication and then presented in the report card. Among the projects specifically identified in the report card are the opening of the DoubleTree by Hilton Youngstown Downtown hotel which opened last May, renovation work on the former Harshman Building for use by Eastern Gateway Community College, the opening of the Youngstown Business Incubator’s fifth building, and the award of a $10.8 million federal transportation infrastructure grant for downtown Youngstown. To read the full story from The Business journal, click here. 

The prime spot for people watching on the newly bustling Elm Street is a table inside Culturehouse Coffee.

Even on a blustery day, people passed by the shop amid the swirl of snowflakes. A pair of Youngstown State University students studied at one of the tables in the well-lit shop marked by bright wooden floors, clean white walls and sea-foam green accents.  Culturehouse Coffee is one of four businesses that opened on the block in 2018, along with Her Primitive Ways Red Road Apothecary and two art studios. A man walked into the coffee shop with his son last week and expressed surprise that businesses sprouted amid the block’s familiar blight. “I graduated from YSU in 2006, and it hardly looks like the same place,” he said. The North Side, known for its once stately mansions and wooded parks was home to Youngstown’s wealthiest families during the height of the steel industry.  Many years later, after the steel industry collapsed, Elm Street acquired a reputation as a dangerous part of town. “It was quite literally the ‘Nightmare on Elm,’” said Jonathan Blackshire, president of the Wick Park Neighborhood Association. Despite the surrounding blight, two anchor businesses have continued to thrive: Edward’s Flowers, which opened in 1947, and Full Circle Florist, which opened in 2005. Blackshire described the area’s redevelopment as “a continual effort with a lot of setbacks.” Common Wealth Inc., a non profit community development organization, has been at the helm of the work. The organization formed in the mid-1980s. For the last 30 years, Common Wealth has worked to spur housing and business development throughout Youngstown.  In 2013, the organization opened Common Wealth Kitchen Incubator, a shared-use commercial kitchen on the block between Baldwin Street and Park Avenue that aims to lower the cost of starting or expanding local food businesses. Common Wealth’s second, related venture was the opening of Cultivate: a co-op cafe in 2016, right next door.  Since the start of the new year, Elm Street Diner has been open across the street from Cultivate. A vintage clothing shop is expected to open on the block this spring. 

“I’m shocked there’s a lot of enthusiasm,” said Ron Heinbaugh, the owner of Elm Street Diner. Stephen Protheroe, the owner of Culturehouse, echoed the sentiment. “The overall welcome reception has been really, really good,” Protheroe said. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here. 

Public and private entities engaged in economic development are eagerly anticipating the new federal Opportunity Zones as a tool to enhance available incentives.

The state of Ohio chose 15 census tracts in the Mahoning Valley and the commonwealth of Pennsylvania chose six in Mercer and Lawrence counties. The program allows taxpayers to defer any tax owed on capital gains by investing the realized gain in the Opportunity Zone, which are in low-income census tracts. Rules are still being completed for the program, approved as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in 2017. “It’s designed to attract equity investment into eligible communities,” says Lauren Johnson, business development manager for the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber. The 15 tracks in Mahoning and Trumbull counties are primarily along the Mahoning River, Johnson says. The chamber has received a handful of inquiries from developers interested in projects in those areas. “We’re definitely seeing a lot of interest,” she says. “One of the things we’re working on now is putting together a marketing prospectus that would include information on all of the zones designated in the Valley. And we anticipate rolling that out in May or June.” The Regional Chamber already uses a variety of tools to help companies looking to locate or expand here, says Sarah Boyarko, chief operating officer. These include research on local supply chains and materials, help finding and selecting a site in partnership with Team NEO and JobsOhio and coordinating help offered by local, state and federal government. “The knowledge that we have internally to understand what programs are complementary to a company’s investment, as well as what programs can and can’t be used together, is helpful,” Boyarko says. She makes it a point to mention data collection by the chamber as helping to convince the Ellwood Group to build its $60 million aluminum slab and billet plant in Hubbard Township. To read the full story from The Business Journal, click here. 

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

The J. Ford Crandall Memorial Foundation awarded YNDC a grant for  $14,477 to acquire a 14-foot, high-walled dump trailer that will be hitched to our dump truck and used to clean up and haul overgrowth and debris from vacant properties in Youngstown’s neighborhoods.

The dump trailer will significantly increase the amount of brush and debris that YNDC can clean up. A huge thank you to the J. Ford Crandall Memorial Foundation for this award. REVITALIZE!

Friday, March 8, 2019

ServeOhio awarded YNDC a $1,000 grant to engage volunteers in a service project in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr..

YNDC engaged approximately 30 volunteers in the cleanup of multiple vacant properties in the Newport neighborhood on Youngstown's south side, where volunteers cleared nearly 40 cubic yards of debris and overgrowth from vacant properties to improve neighborhood safety and quality of life. Volunteers installed solar security lights to vacant properties to help improve neighborhood safety. ServeOhio is Ohio's commission on service and volunteerism.

Friday, March 8, 2019

Members of YNDC's team, leaders of multiple neighborhood organizations, and faith leaders from ACTION participated in a seven-day, intensive training on leadership and neighborhood organizing hosted by Gamaliel, a nationally-renowned community organizing network.

Team members worked to build clarity around their self-interest, learned how to conduct effective one-to-one and public meetings, and learned how build power by organizing both people and resources to achieve community objectives. 
The training was sponsored by ACTION, a coalition of congregations and community organizations, of which YNDC is a member, working to address social justice issues affecting our neighborhoods.

As Judge Carla Baldwin took the roll during the Community Initiative To Reduce Violence call-in at the municipal court recently, I made a mental note of all the names I knew.

After covering crime in Youngstown for 20 years, a lot of the names were familiar.

If the message they received stuck, then perhaps they would avoid, for now, appearing in the newspaper, whether it be in the news or in the obituaries.

That was the gist of the message I got as the only local reporter allowed to witness the call-in, where people who are considered at risk for the gang or criminal lifestyle are “invited” to attend.

It’s all part of the Community Initiative To Reduce Violence, which has seen about 400 people in the program since its inception.

CIRV is one of several ways the city looks to cut violent crime. The department is also participating in year two of the Community Based Crime Reduction patrol, part of a $2 million grant the city received with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and Youngstown State University. The program relies on police statistics to identify the area of the city with the highest crime rate.

Police used five years of call data to determine the hours with the most crimes on specific days of the week, then an extra two-officer car is assigned to that area for that block of time.

The high-crime area targeted by the grant is the South Side, specifically from Cottage Grove Avenue to Zedaker Street and East Florida Avenue to East Midlothian Boulevard. Statistics show most categories of crime in that neighborhood declined between 2017 and 2018.

RIDE ALONG

The sun had just gone down on the South Side but Lt. Ramon Cox did not forget the promise he kept.

Earlier, as part of a special detail patrolling the area of the city with the highest crime rate, Cox and Capt. Jason Simon had stopped at the Crim’s Corners plaza at South and East Indianola avenues and had spoken to several business owners there, to see how they were doing, what problems they were having and if they needed anything from the police.

Cox promised he would be back, and true to his word, a couple of hours later he drove through the parking lot, much to the delight of an older woman who came outside to smoke a cigarette. She was beaming as the cruiser went through the parking lot.

“I told you I was coming back,” Cox told her.

“God bless you,” she said.

MEASURING CRIME

Since the program started in April 2018, crime in the target area in categories such as murder, felonious assault, robberies, theft and motor vehicle thefts have declined from 2017 levels, as crime in the city declined overall.

Statistics provided by the police department show there were no murders in the target area in 2018 after there were two in 2017; felonious assaults declined 15.8 percent; robberies declined 20 percent; thefts declined 7.2 percent and motor-vehicle thefts declined 28.6 percent.

Arsons increased 50 percent in the target area, however, and burglaries increased 7.9 percent.

But besides crime, the grant also encompasses blight reduction and programs for kids to keep them occupied during the summer.

Tom Hettrick of the YNDC said YNDC knocked on about 1,300 doors and asked residents to fill out a survey on their views of the major problems in the neighborhood.

The criminal activities people were most concerned about were drug-selling, gunfire and people squatting in vacant houses, Hettrick said, while an overall concern was having activities, such as sports leagues, available for kids so they could have something to do to stay out of trouble.

“If you want to address crime, you have to attack it from different angles,” Hettrick said.

STILL WORK TO DO

Victoria Allen, head of the ICU Block Watch, said she likes the program overall, but she added there is still work to do on the crime-fighting end. She said gunfire and drug-selling in the area are still common. She said she would like to see more houses that draw a lot of police attention for drug sales shut down as nuisances.

Simon said there’s at least one house in the target area where that process is taking place now through the city’s law department.

Allen said the houses have to be closed for at least a year because just serving warrants and arresting people do nothing because they often just return. She said at one house in the area, a warrant was being served and customers kept showing up to buy drugs while the police were there.

“As soon as the cops drive away, they’re back,” Allen said. “They just move from one place to another.”

Allen said she does like the sports programs and other services and events for youth that took place last year, and plans are in the works for more this year.

Simon has been attending roll calls for all shifts asking officers to volunteer to coach teams in the youth sports leagues this summer. He said more events, such as last year’s South Side Summer Experience, are planned this year.

Allen said the summer experiences last year averaged about 100 people per event, and plans are underway not just for baseball or basketball but sports such as kickball, something that can appeal to kids of all ages and athletic ability.

“Not every kid’s Lebron James,” Allen said.

LIFE ON THE STREET

Cox and Simon are both veteran officers, and rolling through the streets, the topic comes up of previous calls, mostly homicides or drug raids, they had answered in the area. The amount is staggering. So are the numbers of empty lots and vacant houses.

“I’ve been at every house on one of these streets for something,” Cox said.

One of the things the CBRC patrol can do is show the flag. Because they are not tied down to answering calls, they can be visible throughout the target area, acting as a deterrent.

Simon and Cox check in with several business owners as they start their patrol in the late afternoon, asking them how things are going, what problems they are having and if there is anything the police can do. Simon hands out YPD temporary tattoos to kids at one of the stops, which are a big hit.

They talk to employees and patrons at a laundromat. The two also check two vacant houses on East Philadelphia and East Florida avenues that have been red tagged, or marked by the city as no- trespassing zones. There is no activity at either, although one side of the house on East Florida Avenue is pockmarked with bullet holes, and an abandoned pickup truck in the drive has holes in the driver’s side door and its back window has been shot out.

Simon also talks to a neighbor on the street who comes over to see what is going on. Hettrick said one of the most important things about the program is keeping in touch with residents so they can gauge what is working and what needs to be improved. Residents are also supplied with “Hot Spot Cards,” where they can report a crime or criminal activity anonymously.

“The residents are there 24/7,” Hettrick said.

LESSONS IN LIFE

Back at the municipal court, participants in the call-in program are given access to help for housing, employment, addiction and other issues to help get on their feet.

But there is also a stick wielded by law enforcement, including city police and the U.S. Attorneys office.

At the call-in, U.S. Attorney David Toepfer told them the last thing they want is their cases heard in the federal system, where sentences are longer. Toepfer said people with lengthy criminal records can get 15-year prison sentences just for having bullets or 20 years just for talking to someone about selling drugs. And with federal prisons so far away, he told the men their girlfriends and children will not be able to visit; instead, Toepfer told the men, another man will stay with the girlfriend and raise their children.

Police Chief Robin Lees asked the men to be aware of how their violence affects others, including their own families. He showed a picture of the young woman killed Jan. 24 and then a mother and her infant who were killed in a triple homicide in November. They were “collateral damage,” Lees said, because the gunmen were aiming for the boyfriend and father of her child.

“Why did these innocent people have to die?” Lees asked. “These two women and this baby died because they were hanging out with somebody like you.”

The person who made a huge impression was Amanda Lencyk, an emergency-room nurse at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital and its injury prevention and outreach coordinator. She showed pictures of trauma bays covered in blood from gunshot wounds, bullet holes on the bodies of men who did not survive and the waiting rooms in the ER.

Those rooms, she said, were once filled with plants and paintings and other decorations. But no more. Grieving families destroyed them after being told the news that a loved one did not make it. She said family members beg to see or touch their loved one a last time, but they can’t, because they are now a coroner’s case and can’t be disturbed until an autopsy is completed. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here. 

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

On Tuesday, March 12, AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) team Oak 3 arrived in Youngstown to complete neighborhood improvement projects with YNDC and other partners.

The team is composed of Team Leader Ramon Hilliard, Lynzia Baca, Daniel Coman, Nicole Hertle, Ashlyn Lutz, Matthew Owens, Luke Robbins, Travis Simmions, Hannah Stephens, Brittany Sykes, and Yasith Yasanayake. The team will be cleaning up vacant property in the Newport neighborhood, cleaning out vacant homes in preparation for property revitalization, and assist community partners with improvement projects. REVITALIZE. 

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

On Tuesday, March 12, 65 members of the ACTION Housing Task Force met at Martin Luther Lutheran Church.

The ACTION Housing Task Force is a diverse group of Youngstown residents and faith leaders coming together to ensure all people in Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley have safe, fair, and quality housing. At the Task Force meeting members discussed progress to date in the predatory land contract campaign, reviewed housing quality and rental data, began developing a campaign to hold slumlords accountable, and selected a campaign team to lead the slumlord campaign. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 30, at 6pm at Martin Luther Lutheran Church.

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, announced a partnership between the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps to assist the YDNC in preparing vacant homes for renovation or boarding them up for safety.

The NCCC team will clean up trash and debris, as well as overgrowth from vacant properties and public spaces, and improve public spaces by repairing fences, cleaning up sidewalks, painting building exteriors and landscaping. The team also will work on basic renovation and maintenance projects at the Youngstown Playhouse. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.