Economic Forecast

The Regional Chamber is excited to have the international spotlight shine on the Valley during our final signature event of the year! We hope you will join us on the world stage and help us put the Valley's best foot forward for this unique lineup:

• German public television broadcaster ZDF will be filming at the Forecast for a 60-minute documentary, to be aired in February, examining U.S.-China relations as they pertain to electric vehicles and fossil fuels. The documentary will feature 30 minutes from the Chinese perspective and 30 minutes from the Youngstown perspective.
• Internationally acclaimed journalist Salena Zito will visit the Valley to interview the keynote speaker at our Forecast breakfast live, on stage—a first at a Chamber event! Zito, who has interviewed every president and vice president in the 21st century, will engage George Brown, Executive Director, Ohio Oil & Gas Energy Education Program with insightful Q&A around workforce development in the energy industry, as well as other topics.
• We will welcome back First National Bank's Ahmed El Nokali, Managing Director of Capital Markets, to forecast the regional and national economy.
• The Regional Chamber and partner MAGNET will present the fifth annual Excellence in Manufacturing Award to Commercial Metal Forming, which celebrated 100 years in business in 2020 and is the leading manufacturer of tank heads in the nation.
• And, we will present our inaugural Valley Champion Award to Pro Golfer and Valley native Jason Kokrak! This award was created to honor Youngstown-Warren area natives who have gone on to achieve greatness nationally and/or internationally and made our Valley proud. Kokrak, who plays on the PGA Tour, currently ranks 11th and won two tournaments in 2021—the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas and The CJ Cup Shadow Creek—and had five top-10 finishes.