On Thursday at the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber meeting, Mayor Tito Brown and other city leaders gave updates on some of the latest projects going on and also spoke about what’s to come in the future. 

Completed projects Mayor Brown highlighted were conducting active shooter trainings and putting defibrillators on every floor in City Hall to assist in the event of an emergency. 

“We truly believe that we have to protect our location and our place of business,” Brown said. 

He also commended the completion of the speed cameras in school zones across the city.

“Our babies deserve to be safe going to school,” he said. 

Brown also gave an update on some projects the city is still working on such as the joint fire and police department campus. He said they are still surveying areas to try and find a place to build it. He said the city hopes to put it in an area where they want to “start developing” and added that they are exploring a program to bring in Harvard fellows to make a plan to develop the Crab Creek Corridor.

Another project Brown said the city is working on is a social service navigator. The service would connect people with resources to help in situations such as homelessness, mental health needs, and more. 

He stressed the importance of working together to move the city forward and said the city is “moving in the right direction.”

“The key to a successful team is not liking one another, but respecting each other. We must ensure to become a better team Youngstown so that we can compete at the local, regional, state and the federal level,” Mayor Brown said. 

Justin Jennings, Superintendent of Youngstown City Schools also spoke at the meeting. He said his motto for the year is “results over adults.” He highlighted how his staff feels it's important to retain their students after graduation to help continue to create a workforce in Youngstown. Jennings noted how the schools literary score are low but are improving.

He also spoke about completed projects the city schools have done such as the pediatric and dental programs they’ve developed to get children healthcare needs. The schools are also working to develop ophthalmology and audiology programs. 

“We have a lot of students who sit in our classroom who don’t see well and they don’t hear well and if we don't offer that service they won't be the students that we need them to be,” Jennings said. 

Guy Coviello, CEO of the Regional Chamber, mentioned the potential for the city to receive part of the $2.4 Billion All Ohio Future Fund that was proposed by Governor Mike DeWine. If the city does receive the funding it will help develop areas that the chamber chooses. 

 “The city of Youngstown will soon be on everyone’s radar,” Coviello said.