More Kudos For Mahoning Valley

Imagine Greater Cleveland looking at Greater Youngstown with envy. Well, that is exactly what is going on. Why? The Mahoning Valley is doing more than just talking about regional collaboration:

“They kicked butt. I don’t know any other way to put it,” remarked Chris Thompson, spokesman for the Fund for Our Economic Future.

That the two Mahoning Valley projects claimed two of the three grant awards came as no surprise, Thompson said. He recalled a meeting early on in the process with area government officials, during which one of them told his colleagues that they would support any local projects that made the cut, regardless of where they were located within the Valley.

“It was clear to me that the government officials there had each other’s back, for lack of a better term, and there was a real interest in making government collaboration real,” Thompson said.

I'd bet Valley residents are more accustomed to reading about the dysfunction of local government. Collaboration between political entities is very much the exception to the rule, especially in the Rust Belt. There is something special brewing in the area.

Outsiders are already noticing. We've got more initiatives in the works. The worm is starting to turn.