[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 18432-18433]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    CONGRATULATING YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I rise to congratulate the community and 
business leaders of Youngstown, OH, for showing the rest of the Nation 
what so many of us in Ohio already know: Youngstown is one of the 
Nation's best places to start a business.
  I have held some 140 community roundtables across Ohio's 88 counties 
at least once since I have been in the Senate, where I have met with 
educators, students, community and business leaders, and entrepreneurs 
and workers.
  I have held a half dozen roundtables in the Mahoning Valley, 
including two in Youngstown, and have traveled across towns along the 
Mahoning River and across its valley.
  From the autoworker in Lordstown to the electrician in Warren, to the 
technology entrepreneur in Youngstown, to the small business owner in 
Salem, I am impressed by their unwavering commitment to rebuilding this 
region.
  Youngstown remains a great city in the face of many challenges, and 
its dedicated and talented workforce is driving today's innovation and 
ingenuity.
  Each time I visit Youngstown, I learn something new--from Mayor 
Williams, the fine, aggressive, very bright, young mayor of Youngstown, 
to Chamber of Commerce leader Tom Humphries, to dozens of teachers, 
small business people, workers, and citizens.
  It is easy to see why Entrepreneur Magazine lists Youngstown as one 
of the top 10 U.S. cities to start a business. On the cover it says: 
``Youngstown, Ohio, anyone?''
  In their August issue, Entrepreneur Magazine describes Youngstown as 
a ``dreamer,'' where technology innovation is driving job growth and 
sustaining economic activity.
  Bold plans and visionary leadership have set the stage for sustained 
economic growth. Youngstown's healthy dose of all-American grit and 
hard work will turn economic potential into economic reality, driving 
regional economic expansion that can strengthen Ohio's middle class.
  It takes what Entrepreneur Magazine called a ``concept revolutionary 
enough to help ignite a renaissance in this small city.''

[[Page 18433]]

  It takes a community that understands a transformation must take 
place from within--from the educators to innovators, from community 
activists to the industry leaders. Faced with a choice, it takes the 
foresight to invest in the future and not dwell on the sometimes 
troubled past.
  Today, we are seeing the results of a decade-long process of renewal 
and rebirth for Youngstown, in Warren, and the entire Mahoning Valley.
  More than a year ago, I made my first trip to the Youngstown Business 
Incubator, which is an example of community and business leaders 
nurturing startup companies that can strengthen the regional economy.
  Nurtured in the Youngstown Business Incubator in 2002, Turning 
Technologies, for example, has become one of the fastest growing 
technology companies in the Nation, according to Entrepreneur Magazine.
  This is no accident. Mike Broderick, from Turning Technologies, and 
other emerging businesses, say they have relied on the affordable 
startup costs, accessible resources, the transportation network that 
criss-crosses western Pennsylvania and Ohio, and the community 
involvement that allowed businesses to thrive.
  An important part of Youngstown's favorable business climate is 
access to talented workers and students. Kent State's Trumbull campus 
is a model for workforce training among Ohio's colleges and 
universities. Their educators are training a legion of highly skilled 
workers for Ohio's emerging high-tech industry.
  But more must be done to close the gap between high unemployment in 
that part of Ohio. My whole State is still afflicted by high 
unemployment and this terrible recession. More must be done to close 
the gap between the high unemployment and the shortage of skilled 
workers and emerging industries.
  Congressman Tim Ryan, with whom the Presiding Officer and I both 
served in the House of Representatives, and who represents Youngstown 
in the House, and I recently introduced the Strengthening Employment 
Clusters to Organize Regional Success, or SECTORS Act.
  SECTORS would help allow businesses, workforce development boards, 
labor unions, and community colleges to connect skilled workers with 
workforce and community needs. We will see that with Youngstown State 
University in Youngstown, and with the Trumbull County branch of Kent 
State University.
  SECTORS is not only a jobs skill bill, but an economic development 
bill. It is only one part of the citywide strategy to harness the 
talented workforce and students.
  Youngstown State University is training engineers and contributing to 
workforce needs of an emerging advanced materials sector, involving 
advanced chemical and composite engineering and nanotechnology. I have 
seen some of this technology in the Mahoning Valley, and it is ready to 
take off.
  YSU's science, technology, engineering, and math program, or STEM, 
teaches students the critical skills in the fields of advanced 
sciences, information technology, and engineering.
  If our students succeed in the 21st century global economy, we must 
invest in our young people, who will create the businesses and 
opportunities for future growth.
  We must also ensure that our communities are part of economic revival 
around the State.
  I met with the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative at one of my 
roundtables. We sat for an hour and a half in the basement of a church, 
with 15 community activists, who have a focus you wouldn't believe. 
This is a collective effort of neighborhood groups, churches, and labor 
unions. It is another example of citizens taking ownership of their 
community. It is revitalizing neighborhoods, surveying land to 
determine future economic use, and cleaning up crime-ridden 
neighborhoods. Ordinary citizens are organizing to make a difference, 
and it is working.
  Yet another example of strategic economic development is the 
Youngstown 2010 Citywide Plan, which aims to revitalize the city of 
Youngstown with carefully planned economic development and urban 
planning.
  As Ohio cities experience population loss, Youngstown's efforts to 
modernize infrastructure to serve current population needs is a 
harbinger of economic growth in the State.
  All of these efforts are part of a collective strategy by workers, 
entrepreneurs, educators, and elected officials to tap into the 
region's rich resources and innovative spirit. That is why Entrepreneur 
Magazine wrote about Youngstown, calling it the ``dreamer.'' Out of 
these 10 cities, the other 9 are significantly larger than Youngstown, 
but none could equal Youngstown in hope, focus, and energy.
  I will read some things they said:

       In the last decade, something special happened in this 
     northeast Ohio city. A new generation is envisioning things 
     we wouldn't have talked about 10 years ago. ``Let's clean the 
     slate and start over again'' is the radical transformation 
     going on in Youngstown right now.

  Mike Broderick, of Turning Technologies, said:

       I believe in most places we wouldn't have been able to 
     expand with the speed we did. The affordability here really 
     helped fuel our growth. I found Youngstown to be a brilliant 
     place for a startup.

  It has been my pleasure to work with Congressman Ryan, Mayor 
Williams, the Youngstown Business Incubator, Turning Technologies, and 
all of the community activists who are working hard to create new 
opportunities for a better and stronger Youngstown.
  Ohio's dedicated workforce and hard-working community leaders are 
leading examples of how we can turn around our economy, create new 
jobs, and how we can, across my State, and across the Mahoning Valley 
in Ohio, and across this country, rebuild our middle class.
  Mr. President, before yielding the floor, I add that all of us who do 
this work and are, frankly, blessed enough to get to serve in the 
Senate spend much of our time away from home or our families are back, 
in my case, in Ohio, or in Washington. Either way, we are away from 
families more than we would like. I would like to, because today is my 
wife's birthday, wish her a happy birthday, if she is home watching 
this. If she is not, I will tell her later. I could not be with her 
today in Ohio. I look forward to coming home this weekend.
  I yield the floor.

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