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Researchers Say Good Jobs, Equality Matter to Metros
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- In the mid-1990s, the region's economy experienced such a spurt of robust growth that it outpaced the national average.
But such achievements were fleeting. Shortly after the economy peaked, northeastern Ohio and the Mahoning Valley once again slid behind national growth, where it languished for most of the last two decades.
Today, trends are once again pointing to a recovering economy in this area that in some facets fares better than the rest of the country, and a consortium of community, philanthropic and economic development groups want to see the Mahoning Valley seize the momentum and build on these successes, and not fall prey to the old ways of doing business.
That was the impetus behind the "What Matters to Metros" Mahoning Valley Community Forum, held Thursday at the D.D. and Velma Davis Center at Mill Creek MetroParks’ Fellows Riverside Gardens.
The two-hour forum, hosted by the Fund for Our Economic Future, presented the results of a research study that explored factors that are likely to help bring long-term sustainability to communities such as the Mahoning Valley in a post-recession economy.
"The idea of pursuing jobs for jobs’ sake alone perhaps isn't sufficient," said Brad Whitehead, president of the Fund for Our Economic Future. "We found that in those areas that had just grown jobs, there were a lot of negative consequences as well."
A key to developing a long-term plan toward a sustainable, growing economy is to develop a strategy that creates not just jobs, but rather good-paying jobs that bridge into lengthy careers, Whitehead noted.
Emily Garr Pacetti, manager of research grants and evaluation for the Fund, and the chief author of the report, says the study analyzes factors associated with economic growth in 115 mid-size U.S. cities.
Three of these factors were identified and discussed in detail at the forum: the importance of education and innovation, the benefits of entrepreneurial inclusion and diversity, and the risks of creating jobs without addressing economic polarization within these communities.
The study ranked the Youngstown area near the bottom -- 110th, to be precise -- when it came to education and innovation, Pacetti noted. It ranked 83rd in terms of economic polarization, and 104th when considering self-employment, business starts and inclusion.
One of the most glaring findings, she said, is that most of those cities that were successful in creating jobs in the post-recession era did so without improving income equality. Instead, economic polarization remained entrenched.
"It was really a shock to a lot of us to understand that a recovery can't be about jobs, but it really needs to be about good jobs," Pacetti said. "It's also about providing opportunities for the less-skilled and the mid-skilled level workers so they can have career pathways to sustainable jobs and not ones that pay $7 an hour."
Cities such as Denver; Madison, Wis.; Portland, Maine; and Minneapolis were able to sustain job growth and improve income inequality, she added, but most did not. "There were a few that stuck out, but it's really hard. It's not an easy balance to get at."
The purpose of the study was to identify avenues for the organization's grant-making initiatives, and give groups in the region tools to work with as they develop economic and community development strategies for improving the regional economy and the quality of life.
One initiative, the Mahoning Valley Economic Competitiveness program, is now at stage where it can be implemented. The effort is funded by the Raymond John Wean Foundation, the Trumbull 100, and the Fund for Our Economic Future.
"The world tends to break into two camps, 'growth' and 'opportunity,'" said Jeff Glebocki, Wean Foundation president. The growth camp tends to be dominated by businesses and economic development organizations of local chambers of commerce, he said.
The 'opportunity' camp, on the other hand, is composed of philanthropic organizations, community service groups or advocacy organizations, Glebocki added. "What happens is that these two groups often talk past each other, or they don't talk. It's really critical to stitch growth and opportunity together."
There is no time like the present to get started, Glebocki told the audience of about 60 or so. Youngstown, he said, has the highest rate of concentrated poverty in the country. In Warren, more than 42% of families with children under 18 years old have incomes below the poverty level, while more than 50% of those with children under 5 years old live below poverty standards.
Unemployment among African-Americans in Ohio during 2009 stood at 17%, and this year it's 13%, Glebocki said, while noting that Mahoning County led the state in population loss between July 2011 and July 2012.
"These are not just markers that are challenges." Glebocki declared, "These are blaring sirens, these are flashing red lights about our future."
The Economic Competitiveness Project is one way to bring growth and opportunity together, and the initiative is training its focus on developing inclusive talent, Glebocki said. The next step is to rework a steering committee that includes members from both the "growth" and "opportunity" camps.
"We're now at the stage of getting the work done," he said. Action plans moving forward for the group would include gathering data so other organizations can make better informed decisions and finding more efficient ways to align common work.
The initiative also named a new project coordinator, Jessica Borza, who will help guide the road map process, Glebocki said.
Still, the overall objective of the meeting Thursday was to present data in order for groups to ascertain a common set of facts and objectives, says the Fund for Economic Future's Whitehead.
"In order for us make the kind of progress that we want, we need to be working together, and in order to work together, we need to have shared goals," Whitehead said.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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