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Regional Chamber Sets Funding Goal for Capital Campaign
By Dennis LaRue BOARDMAN, Ohio -- The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber is looking to raise just over $4 million in its third capital campaign since it was formed 12 years ago, its president and chief executive officer announced this morning.Thomas M. Humphries reported the Pride in Progress effort has raised $2.1 million so far, as much as the first capital campaign, Building Momentum, and has a firm goal of $3.1 million. An additional million dollars "might be a bit of a stretch," the chamber CEO allowed, as he briefly reviewed the achievements of the previous campaigns.Nearly all tables were filled at Mr. Anthony's this morning as the regional chamber held its annual "Salute to Business" breakfast where John L. Pogue, Richard J. Schiraldi and Leonard J. Fisher were recognized.The breakfast has also been the backdrop where the business community supports the Canfield Fair, which opens today, and observes the kickoff of Youngstown State University's football season. The YSU Penguins open tonight at Stambaugh Stadium against Slippery Rock University.The fair's board of trustees was present as was Penguins football head coach Jon Heacock.Also on hand were Col. Timothy J. Thomson, commanding officer of the 910th Air Lift Wing at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Vienna, who recounted his adventures being interviewed Aug. 18 on CNN when Paula Zahn hosted a town meeting.And the audience listened attentively to the observations of Nicholas Cragg, who is leading a delegation of nine from the Rotherham Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom to the Mahoning Valley.The similarities between Youngstown and Rotherham -- their heritages as steel-making centers and subsequent efforts to overcome the effects of a transformed industry -- prompted the Rotherham chamber to initiate an e-mail correspondence with the regional chamber and their sharing of information. It culminated in the Rotherham's visit this week and a regional chamber delegation visit to Rotherham next spring.Pogue, a partner in the law firm Harrington, Hoppe & Mitchell, was recognized as business professional of the year. He credited his partners for allowing him the freedom and the time to be as involved in so many efforts that support the quality of life in the Mahoning Valley. "Most of my clients are my friends," he said, an aspect of his work that has made it easier to promote economic development.Schiraldi, a lawyer, certified public accountant, and partner in the Youngstown office of Cohen & Co., was recognized as business advocate. He credited the late Bill Knecht, owner of Wendell August Forge and heavily involved in the community, for his firm "getting into non-traditional endeavors. Knecht said, 'We've got to leave this place better than we found it,' " and Schiraldi has led many of his firm's efforts to rebuild the economic base here.Fisher, named "Business Person of the Year," is president of Handel's Homemade Ice Cream & Yogurt, Canfield He transformed an ice cream stand on Youngstown's south side into a chain of stands and franchises that extends to Indianapolis.Col. Thomson reviewed the procedures the Base Realignment and Closure commission takes before recommending to the Department of Defense which military and naval bases to keep and which to close.How BRAC operates is a question he constantly gets from reporters, Thomson noted, and it's important to separate fact from fiction and rumor. First, he stressed, the commission gathers as much information as it can on each installation. To that end, he has been asked to provide, and he has forwarded, considerable data both on the base itself and the surrounding community, to the Air Force. "My staff has done an absolutely superb job gathering the data," he said.BRAC makes its recommendations in 2005 to Congress, which in turn must vote the entire package up or down -- Congress cannot modify or amend the package, nor can the president.The 910th Airlift Wing, Thomson, said, "has been fighting the war on terror." One of its line units, the 757th Squadron, has been demobilized and its members have returned home. The other, the 773rd Squadron, remains in Europe as part of the Joint Forge exercise supporting U.S. forces in Iraq.And the 910th Airlift Wing continues its missions of spraying insecticides over the eastern United States. With the havoc wrought by the hurricanes in Florida so early this season, "We'll be ready to go to Florida" if called upon, Thomson said.Visit the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber at www.regionalchamber.comContact Dennis LaRue at [email protected] "