Mark Knows It All

When my grandmother arrived in the United States in 1905, they asked her where she was going. “I’m-a gonna Yoongs-a-town,” she replied. The industrial revolution in American paved our streets with gold. More than 100 years later, all roads are “gonna Yoongs-a-town” once again. In another stunning statistic, the Vindicator reported last week that Youngstown-Boardman-Warren leads the nation in percentage increase of exports…up 30%. The figures are staggering. Exports make up 15 % of the area’s economy, those exports equaling $2.9 billion (with a “B”). That makes the area 75th in exporting areas in the list of top 100 metropolitan areas in the United States, which is remarkable because media statistics dropped Youngstown out of the top 100 ranking on anything several years ago. The article pointed out metal products accounted for 27% of exported goods, and the bulk of those metal exports are due to RTI International Metals in Niles. The article failed to mention is that Youngstown is als...