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Valley Leaders Agree: 'The Sky's the Limit'
By George NelsonVIENNA, Ohio -- Community leaders on hand yesterday for the unveiling of a marketing initiative for the Youngstown/Warren Regional Airport and the "New Mahoning Valley" were encouraged by what they saw."We need to marshal all of our resources to market this community, not just for the airport but for economic development, for travel and tourism. These materials and this effort is a great first step," said state Sen. Marc Dann of Liberty, D-32. Dann was among several public officials from Mahoning and Trumbull counties, business and labor leaders, and other community members on hand for the news conference at the airport.The marketing and sales campaign is being conducted by Rubenstein Associates of Liberty, using funds provided to the port authority by the Trumbull 100. The promotional materials for the campaign, "The Sky's the Limit," include a short video and a spiral-bound brochure that promote the airport itself and the "New Mahoning Valley." The campaign's purposes are twofold, agency owner Vic Rubenstein said: to detail the "incredible assets" of the airport -- which include two runways, facilities and land for business and industry growth -- and to redefine the image of the valley, or "Ohio's growth corridor," as he put it, highlighting various quality-of-life and business issues. "This is not an advertising effort. This is a hard-core marketing and sales effort," he explained. "It is identifying decision-makers and going after them, communicating at the highest possible levels." So far, more than 500 such contacts have been made with decision-makers in the airline, cargo and related industries as well as businesses that might be interested in locating near or at an airport, Rubenstein said. Of those, active discussions are under way with 40 prospects. He said they are currently working with two major aviation schools, which are considering the airport. At the news conference, Rubenstein also announced what he described as a 90-day international press blitz, during which the campaign will "reach out to consumer, business and industry magazines, and network and cable television shows to tell the story of this airport. We are all dressed up and we are ready to go somewhere." In addition, he announced the formation of Regional Airports Moving People, a coalition of small airports formed to help market routes. "When this program goes out, people are going to see the resources we have available to us," said William Reali, chairman of the Western Reserve Port Authority, the two-county entity that operates the airport. This is the start of what we really need to do, to regionalize in the sense of letting people know what we have available." Reali said he was pleased with the direction the initiative provides the airport staff on how to contact and address the various aviation businesses, and he was pleased with what he has seen of the campaign so far. Several of the officials attending the news conference praised the cooperative aspects of the campaign. "The key to this would be the marketing strategy to the other airports and getting the smaller airports to work together. We've got as lot of good stories to tell about our area," said Warren Mayor Michael O'Brien. Commissioners in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, which both allocate bed tax funds to the airport, expressed optimism about the campaign. Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti, who noted he was there both as citizen and to protect the county's investment in the airport, was happy to finally see a marketing program to promote the value of the airport. "It seems like every time something starts here, that we get the ball rolling, something seems to stop it," he remarked. "Both counties should be stepping up to the plate with this."State Sen. Robert Hagan of Youngstown, D-32, said that he and his colleagues Eric Fingerhut and Dann have offered proposals that would offer incentives to communities that regionalize and consolidate some government operations."This has to be pushed by elected public officials in a concerted way, and that's what they're asking us to do today," Hagan said. "Any time you can approach government at a regional level, I'm for it."Dann noted that communities in the region have no alternative but to cooperate regionally, and said marketing the community on a regional basis makes perfect sense. He also said he has put a plan before commissioners in both counties to expand the role of the port authority, possibly absorbing convention and visitors bureau responsibilities and taking the Western Reserve Film Commission under its wing. Mahoning County Commissioner John McNally said he would like to see the port authority expand its horizons beyond just operating the airport, citing the greater role played by port authorities in Cleveland, Toledo and Akron, and acknowledged the port authority's recent decision to act as sponsor of the Mahoning River cleanup. With regard to filling the role of a convention bureau, McNally said he wants Mahoning County to resolve its lawsuit with the former convention bureau first, though he agrees that its time for the two counties to have "serious discussions" about possibly developing a joint bureau. Contact George Nelson at [email protected]"