Many other prestigious Colleges and universities, are within an easy driving distance from the Youngstown area. The list includes schools such as the University of Akron , Mount Union , Hiram and, Westminster College , as well as the N.E. Ohio College of Medicine at Rootstown. Local Industry Congressman Traficant. Thanks in part to our congressman Jim Traficant , and to our new generation of local officials, we now have many cooperative development efforts underway. Our airport is home to the 910th Airlift Wing which operates one of the largest Air Force Reserve bases in the country.
Work is now underway to expand our regional airport into an international air cargo hub.
We now have the longest runway in the state, and can accommodate any type of aircraft under all weather conditions, and improvements to the airport area located just north of Youngstown are underway now, to help us ensure that our local area will stay competitive in the global marketplace. Many large companies have opened distribution centers here due to our centralized location and prime interstate highway access. Although our area is well known for its long history in steel production, with our 25 industrial parks and a state of the art business incubator which provides free rent and high speed Internet access, we now have a wide diversity of companies working in everything from electronics to plastics. Industry Week Magazine has rated the Mahoning Valley as the 12th best region in the nation for manufacturing. It is very good news to have gone from being devastated as a steel producing center in the late 1970's, to now being rated into the top dozen manufacturing areas in the nation.