Calling it a pivotal step in the rebirth of the Mahoning Valley’s economy, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber lauded Vallourec & Mannesmann’s announcement that the company will invest $650 million to build a new state-of-the-art small diameter rolling mill in Youngstown, Ohio and create 350 direct high-paying jobs in advanced manufacturing.
“It’s truly fantastic that as the U.S. emerges from a very difficult recession, the Mahoning Valley is selected as the site for one of the largest manufacturing expansion projects in the country,” said Tom Humphries, President and CEO of the Regional Chamber.
“We believe this project will not only significantly transform a once-proud steel-making area in Youngstown and Girard, but will be a catalyst for spin-off jobs while boosting the Youngstown-Warren area worldwide as a great place to locate or expand a business,” Humphries added.
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Vallourec, the Paris, France-based Parent Corporation of V&M, said the new mill, totaling more than 1 million square feet of space, will initially produce 350,000 tons of steel tubing per year for the drilling of shale gas in the U.S. and particularly in states like Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. The annual rolling capacity of the new mill will reach 500,000 tons of seamless tubes. Operations are expected to start by the fourth quarter of 2011, the company said.
The major project by V&M also will spur V&M’s plans together with community organizations to transform the old industrial area along U.S. Route 422 to a green industrial zone that will be a model for industrial developments in the U.S., the Chamber President said.
Humphries noted that the Regional Chamber worked closely with V&M officials for nearly two years to bring this multi-faceted economic development project to fruition and praised the diligent work of the Chamber’s Economic Development Team headed by Walt Good, Vice President of Economic Development, Business Retention and Expansion.
“A project of this magnitude is a game changer. This state of the art, one million plus square-foot-facility positions the Youngstown area at the forefront of today’s global advanced manufacturing environment. V&M evaluated sites throughout North and South America for this project and they decided to invest here. That says volumes about the strategic advantages our area affords,” Good said.
The agreement, which included annexation of Girard land to Youngstown, will result in the two communities sharing income tax revenues from V&M employees working in the new plant. The two cities also will share income tax revenue from the estimated 500 construction workers who will be working at the expansion site over the next two years.
The Girard City School District will receive more than $1 million annually in new property tax revenues because of the expansion.
Humphries also said the Ohio Department of Development, Ohio Department of Transportation, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Public Utility Commission of Ohio played important roles in approving decisions that made the V&M expansion project possible.
VALLOUREC & MANNESMANN TUBES, a Vallourec Group Company, is world market leader in the manufacture of seamless hot rolled steel tubes for all applications. The Company operates production sites in Europe, Brazil, USA and China. V & M TUBES supplies the world’s largest and most comprehensive range of seamless steel tube sizes and has an annual output of up to three million tons.
For Information: VALLOUREC & MANNESMANN TUBES
Tony Paglia Vice President, Government Affairs, Tony@regionalchamber.com
Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber
www.regionalchamber.com
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