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Commerce Department Nomination Advances Williams' Political Ascent
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Jay Williams’ nomination Tuesday to head the Economic Development Administration in the U.S. Department of Commerce advances a rapid political ascent that began less than eight years ago with his election as the city’s first black mayor.
Reached by phone Tuesday evening, Williams told The Business Journal he could not comment on his nomination, announced earlier in the day, to serve as assistant commerce secretary. If confirmed by the Senate, Williams' title would be assistant secretary for economic development in the Commerce Department.
President Obama also announced Tuesday that former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has been appointed as alternate representative to the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Before to his single term as governor, Strickland represented portions of the Mahoning Valley in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In 2005, Williams, who had been a key architect of -- and garnered visibility as lead spokesman for -- the city’s Youngstown 2010 plan, stepped down from his post as community development director to run as an independent candidate for Youngstown mayor, providing the major challenge to the Democratic nominee, then-state Sen. Robert Hagan. In the general election that fall, he handily defeated Hagan, becoming the first independent to win the seat since 1922.
Barely two years after taking the reins as Youngstown’s mayor, Williams, who only weeks earlier had appeared uncertain he would offer an endorsement in the 2008 presidential contest, questioning the value of such an endorsement, threw his support behind Obama, then Illinois’ junior U.S. senator, in the Democratic primary against U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.
At that point in the presidential campaign, the outcome of the contest was far from certain, but Williams told The Business Journal in a January 2008 interview that Obama’s candidacy represented “a unique opportunity." He had met privately with Obama at a local fundraiser and said the senator understood the Mahoning Valley’s struggles.
“You can stand on the sidelines, or you can take a risk for something you believe in,” he said.
Williams was sent to battleground states to campaign on behalf of Obama.
In July 2011, he was named executive director of the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers. The former mayor, who also served for a time as deputy director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House, returned to Youngstown in June for a ceremony marking the dedication of the Vallourec Star – V&M Star’s new name -- pipe mill.
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-13 Ohio, praised William's nomination. "President Obama couldn’t have chosen a better or more qualified person to take over the immense responsibility that comes with this job," he said in a statement released by his office. "Whether it was as mayor of Youngstown or director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers at the Department of Labor, Jay has consistently impressed and exceeded expectations, and I am certain he will find success in his newest endeavor as he works to better the lives of Ohioans and Americans across the United States. I look forward to continuing our working partnership in the effort to bring the same successes we have seen in northeast Ohio to the nation," Ryan said.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown also issued a statement praising the nomination. “As President Obama’s top adviser for auto communities, Jay understands how to strengthen the economies of the Mahoning Valley and United States. Jay was instrumental in helping communities take the next steps following the auto rescue, which helped save the one in every eight Ohio jobs connected to the auto industry. In fact, industry sales in August were at a post-recession high of more than 16 million. If appointed, Williams would continue to serve his country and hometown honorably," Brown said.
Williams is a graduate of Youngstown State University with a bachelor's degree in business administration. Before serving as community development director, he was an executive with First Place Bank in Warren, and as an examiner for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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