YOUNGSTOWN — As inflation held steady at the end of 2025, high prices continue to weigh on consumers and businesses alike — even those who don’t import their supplies from abroad, according to Youngstown Clothing Company co-owner Matt McClure. 

“Even with products that are made in the USA, like all our products are, we've seen spillover from all the tariffs,” McClure said. 

McClure was one of several small business owners who joined former U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown in Youngstown Thursday for a roundtable discussion on affordability. 

Brown, a Democrat who represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate for 18 years before losing his seat to Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno in 2024, is currently running a comeback campaign against Sen. Jon Husted to fill the seat vacated by Vice President J.D. Vance. 

“I don't do the big town halls where people scream at each other. I don't see a lot of value in that,” Brown told reporters at the event. “But these kinds of discussions, I will have stories to tell in other communities, in the campaign and in the Senate come this next year.” 

The conversation largely centered on inflation, tariffs and healthcare costs. Business owners shared how increased prices of supplies and premiums for health insurance have forced them to narrow their margins, or pass the costs onto customers. 

Brown said while he isn’t against tariffs outright, President Donald Trump’s use of the import taxes — particularly against Canada — has been “reckless” and Congress should stop them. He also criticized Husted for repeatedly voting against the extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies during the government shutdown that ended Nov. 13. 

In a statement, Tyson Shepard, spokesperson for the Husted campaign, pointed out that the Republican senator introduced a bill which would “freeze” ACA subsidies for two years — though it ultimately failed to pass on the Senate floor.  

"Unlike Sherrod Brown, Senator Husted has actually put forward a proposal to extend the tax credits, eliminate the fraud, and fix the broken system Sherrod Brown created when he was in the Senate. But Democrats blocked it from consideration," Shepard wrote. "If Sherrod read the news, he would be aware of the facts."

The development of data centers, which has increased rapidly alongside the rise of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, has contributed to recent increases in energy prices. Ohio is currently home to 194 data centers, according to the Data Center Map, the sixth-most of any state. 

In response to a question from 21 News about data centers, Brown said it was “not my place to say” whether their construction in Ohio should be encouraged, but that when they are built, the tech companies involved “need to eat all the increased costs — not small businesses, not customers.” 

Debra Woodford, president of metal fabrication company 4s Company in Austintown, told 21 News she has long been a supporter of Brown’s and appreciates his effort to connect with Ohioans face-to-face. 

“I think that a lot of times, they [elected officials] don't speak to enough people on the ground who put their feet on the floor every morning and get out and make it happen, so their solutions are a little bit out of touch,” Woodford said.