On September 9th, Eastgate was notified of its successful grant for the Warren LiveZone Infrastructure Improvements Plan by the Economic Development Administration (EDA). The EDA’s $75,000 investment will be matched locally dollar for dollar enabling $150,000 to go toward developing the Warren LiveZone Infrastructure Improvements Plan, which will guide the LiveZone’s expansion into historically underserved parts of the city of Warren, Ohio.
The plan will include a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis, a capital needs assessment, connectivity, and utilities infrastructure studies, and a funding strategy to understand the next steps to improve the region’s economic competitiveness through infrastructure investment. Once completed, the project will create an economic development roadmap to diversify and strengthen the regional economy.
On September 10th, the Western Reserve Port Authority (WRPA) received notification that their application to the EDA for $2.2 million in grant funding to construct an aviation education center at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport (YNG) was successful. WRPA will also match this award with funding of their own creating a $4.4 million total project. The funding will assist with developing a new generation of pilots and aerospace workers through the establishment of the YNG Flight School and Aviation Training Center in Ohio.
The new flight school will help address a large projected shortfall of trained pilots in the coming years and help house an expansion of the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics airplane mechanic training program and the new Aviation Training Center. Each year, the Center expects to train 76 graduates for in-demand high-wage commercial airline pilot positions. Once completed, the project will bolster economic growth and resiliency, and spur private investment to an area that has been impacted by the decline in the coal industry.
Overall, the region successfully brought in $2,275,000 in EDA funding across these two projects which will have a transformative impact on the regional economy by creating economic diversity and taking steps forward to attract new business while continuing to assist current businesses as they look to expand and retain their operations.
Eastgate looks forward to continuing to work with our communities on developing projects that are a good fit and competitive for EDA funding as future opportunities become available.