Regional Economic Coordination Plan

In response to the 2019 closure of the General Motors Lordstown assembly plant and the subsequent Cleveland State University (CSU) study, which illuminated the full impact of the economic loss to the region, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments a grant for the Eastgate Economic Recovery Coordination in June 2019.

This award funded a recovery coordination team to work with local stakeholders to develop and implement a strategy to help the region respond to the challenges. The contract to form the recovery coordination team was awarded to Youngstown State University (YSU).

YSU and Cleveland State University’s Center for Economic Development, an EDA University Center, and Kent State University’s Cleveland Urban Design Center (CUDC) approached the diversification challenge as a multi-pronged unit. The team included economic research, urban design and planning, finance, and economic development professionals working in concert to determine where the region should focus its economic resiliency efforts today and in the future. The five critical areas of concern as detailed in the full report are Mitigation of Unemployment Impacts, Strategy Management, Reuse & Redevelopment, Workforce & Industry Assets, and Business Development. 

Read The Full Report