Big Day in Mahoning Valley for Development Initiatives
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Today will see significant milestones for two key development initiatives in the Mahoning Valley -- the Mahoning Valley Race Course and the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute.
During a news conference this morning at Youngstown State University, representatives from Siemens Corp., a U.S. subsidiary of global electronics and engineering giant Siemens AG, will join U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan, D-13 Ohio, and Bill Johnson, R-6 Ohio, YSU President Cynthia Anderson and Tom Humphries, CEO of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, to announce a $440 million in-kind grant to YSU (READ STORY).
The grant, to YSU’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, will be used prepare its students for advanced manufacturing and engineering jobs through a collaboration with the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute.
The Obama Administration awarded the contract to establish NAMII last August to a public-private consortium crossing Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. NAMII officially opened its doors last September in downtown Youngstown, at the Youngstown Business Incubator campus (READ NAMII UPDATE).
The Siemens announcement will be followed this afternoon by the long-awaited ceremonial groundbreaking for the Hollywood at Mahoning Valley Race Course, a $125 million racino to be built on the former Centerpointe Business Park off Route 46 in Austintown. Scheduled to open in mid-2014, according to the most recent advisory from Penn National Gaming Inc., which is developing the project, the racino will feature a Hollywood-themed video lottery terminal facility with up to 1,500 VLTs along with a variety of food and beverage options, a 1-mile thoroughbred racetrack with climate-controlled grandstand and simulcast wagering theater.
Tim Wilmott, president and COO of Penn National Gaming, is expected to join elected officials, community leaders and members of the construction team for the press event. The $125 million construction project, which does not include the $125 million in license and relocation fees, is expected to create 1,000 construction jobs and 1,000 direct and indirect jobs once completed.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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