While the Mahoning Valley “boasts a healthy stock of land for industrial purposes,” the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber is hoping to bring more of them up to “shovel-ready” status with the help of a new state program, The Business Journal reports. The chamber submitted 40 sites for review by SiteOhio, a new program from JobsOhio, “to determine what’s needed to qualify” them to be certified shovel-ready by the state, according to the article. Such certification is an advantage when marketing properties to developers. The Trib Today reports that the submitted sites were selected based on “three initial program requirements: availability of at least a 30-acre site,” industrial-quality access roads, and proposed truck routes “free of weight or height limitations/restrictions.” Further evaluation will determine whether the sites meet additional requirements. Sites that do not qualify as shovel-ready “would be provided with a list of criteria that need to be addressed,” according to The Business Journal article. In that article, Sarah Boyarko, senior vice president for economic development for the Chamber, called state certification “the end-all, be-all of shovel-ready sites.” For more, read the full Business Journal article.
Youngstown Warren Chamber using new JobsOhio program to make more sites “shovel-ready”
