Following the Regional Chamber’s much publicized and successful Annual Meeting last week, the Chamber today released its Economic Development Report Card for the years 2009 through 2011. The Report Card shows that the work of the Chamber's Economic Development division led to companies investing $1.06 billion in new and expanded facilities in the Valley and creating 2,914 jobs. In addition, the Chamber helped to retain 4,232 jobs over the three-year reporting period.

Chamber President & CEO Tom Humphries said the job and investment totals were “well above the goals set by the Chamber for economic development activity.” As the national economy continues to recover from the 2008 downturn and the Valley readies for a great boon, it is appropriate for the organization to take stock of its recent successes and look ahead to tremendous growth opportunities in the future, Humphries said.

“In fact, the three-year job creation total was 12 percent above the goal of 2,300 jobs that the Chamber had set for this period, and investment totals during this time frame were 304 percent higher than the set goal of $80 million per year, or $240 million over the full three years,” he added.

Humphries continued, “We are extremely proud of our track record as the private sector economic development agency in the Mahoning Valley. The job creation and investment numbers show significant and ongoing economic development activity that has propelled the Youngstown-Warren area to be one of the top jobs and manufacturing growth areas in the nation.”

Here are the economic development results by year:

2009
Actual investment: $80,812,287 (20 projects)
Investment goal: $80,000,000 (25 projects)
Jobs created: 1,050
Jobs goal: 800
Jobs retained: 1,685

2010
Actual investment: $775,591,000 (19 projects)
Investment goal: $80,000,000 (30 projects)
Jobs created: 1,029
Jobs goal: 800
Jobs retained: 1,499

2011
Actual investment: $207,638,000 (20 projects)
Investment goal: $80,000,000 (30 projects)
Jobs created: 833
Jobs goal: 1,000
Jobs retained: 1,048

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