By Samantha Smith
Ohio’s Lt. Gov. Jon Husted visited the Youngstown area Tuesday to discuss his investment to the community and Youngstown State University.
Three weeks ago, Husted invested $12 million into the Mahoning Valley for General Motors’ repayment of tax credit incentives. $5 million of the investment will go to YSU for workforce development and creating the YSU Energy Storage Innovation and Training Center.
He believes the center will bring advantages for the university and overall community in Youngstown.
“The creation of the YSU Energy Storage Innovation and Training Center is exciting,” Husted said. “This community should be excited about what it’s doing to position itself and its people for the future of the economy.”
With this, Husted went on to talk about what a thriving economy needs to continue to grow and advance: innovation, investment and talent.
“Three important things. Innovation. You got to have three new ideas … It requires investment because those great ideas must have fuel of investment to take them from an idea to a reality. And it requires talent. You got to have talented people, both on the innovation side and on the delivery side of those great ideas,” he said. “The three of those will prosper and create prosperity for the community, for the state.”
Alongside Husted, YSU President Jim Tressel; Lydia Mihalik, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency; and Jennifer Oddo, executive director for the Center of Workforce Education and Innovation, stepped up and spoke about what this investment means for the community.
The conference was held in the soon-to-be Excellence Training Center in Youngstown. This building is a part of Husted’s vision and investment in workforce development.
“All of those investments and innovation, you need to leverage for the betterment of this community, but we have to do our part to find that town to prepare people for that future,” Husted said. “That is what we’re here celebrating, the beginning of today.”
