SitemapEastgate Regional Council of Governments, the lead applicant for a $155.7 million state grant to help fund projects in Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana and Ashtabula counties, provided more details Monday on the mega project. Mahoning County leads the way with 17 projects, followed by Ashtabula County with 12 projects, Trumbull County with 10 and one in Columbiana County. There also is one project that benefits all four counties – to develop a workforce talent retention and attraction ecosystem that’s led by the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber.
The 41 individual projects focus on investments in downtown and riverfront revitalization, health care and / or workforce development. The submission, made Friday to the state’s Appalachian Community Grant Program, is “aimed at creating a regional, transformative change for future economic and community development within our Appalachian region,” Kathy Zook, Eastgate’s Appalachian Regional Commission program manager, said. In Trumbull County, the largest request is $28 million to help fund a $37.5 million project to redevelop the peninsula in Warren, according to Eastgate’s document. The peninsula is a stretch of land along West Market Street named that way because the Mahoning River wraps around it. The land stretches from Main Avenue SW to South Street, is largely vacant and is prime for redevelopment. A group, Fund for Warren’s Future, is leading the effort. According to a request for some of Warren’s American Rescue Plan Funding, the group wants to develop the land to have more than 200 market-rate housing units and more than 100,000-square feet of commercial and retail space.
Also included are infrastructure improvements, the reduction of West Market Street to two lanes and other enhancements. Messages seeking comment were left Monday with Dennis Blank, administrator of Fund for Warren’s Future. Also in Warren, BRITE Energy Innovators has requested $5.5 million toward a $10.4 million project to reconfigure its downtown headquarters to add more workforce training space, and the Trumbull County Historical Society is asking for $4 million of an $8 million project to help stand up a science fiction and fantasy museum downtown.
In Girard, there are two requests — one for $3.5 million toward a $5 million downtown streets improvement project, and $694,440 toward a $22.9 million project to develop the Leatherworks Trailhead, the document states. The Western Reserve Port Authority is also among the requests, asking for $2.5 million toward a $12.4 million workforce development project, the YNG Aviation Education Campus.
In Mahoning County, the Youngstown Business Incubator submitted a $10 million request to help pay for a $30.2 million Graduate Additive Manufacturing Facility project. YBI CEO Barb Ewing said Friday said at least two of the incubator’s portfolio companies are ready now to move into a larger space, “so we need to get space they can grow into.” The funds would be used to renovate the building to accommodate the companies, which Ewing did not want to identify. There are several building options, but two are concrete, including the building previously owned by The Vindicator newspaper in Youngstown. That site, Ewing said, is the preferred site. Youngstown submitted three requests, including one for $5.5 million of a $28.1 million project on downtown streetscape enhancements; the Youngstown Flea has a $5.2 million request toward a $12 million project for building redevelopment; and Mercy Health-Youngstown has a $5 million request to help pay for a $114 million thrombectomy capable stroke center.
Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation has a $4.9 million ask to help pay for a $10.3 million project to continue its work on improving Glenwood Avenue in Youngstown.
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