2011

Tuesday August 9^th will be a big day of change for former Mayor of Youngstown, Ohio and Partners Trustee Jay Williams. Williams will be taking up his new appointment by President Obama as the Director of the Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers which assists areas of the country negatively affected by the retrenchment of the auto industry to identify federal resources that may be used as part of their recovery efforts. By virtue of his being mayor of the largest community in the Mahoning Valley, Williams has had a front-row seat to the reorganization of the auto industry. 

Jay Williams was instrumental in helping Partners develop its Institutions as Fulcrums of Change program strategy; which focused on how we can use libraries, museums, performing arts centers, boys and girls clubs, and chambers of commerce to reposition communities that have suffered devastation in the downturn and in the new economic order, and how can they use their creativity and neutrality to be centers of excellence, i.e. fulcrums of change. With the focus on utilizing anchor institutions as centers of redevelopment in Youngstown, Williams worked with Partners to spear the Ten Living Cities Network, a consortium working for identity preservation and economic resurgence in the Ten U.S. Cities most affected by the post-industrial age.

Prior to his appointment to the Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers, Jay Williams was the City of Youngstown’s first African-American mayor, and being first elected at 33 years old, was also it’s youngest. Under the leadership of Mayor Williams, the Youngstown 2010 Vision/Planning “right-sizing” initiative has been recognized and rewarded by a number of notable organizations including, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report, the American Planning Association, and Governing Magazine. In August 2009, Entrepreneur Magazine listed the city of Youngstown among the ten best cities in the United States to start a business. Mayor Williams was also recognized in 2009 as one of Governing Magazine’s public officials of the year. He was also the recipient of the 2007 John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award.

You can read more about Jay Williams appointment from the U.S. Department of Labor

This document builds on the planning and research efforts that were reported on at the 2010 M. Powell Lawton Conference on Urban Aging and serves as testimony to the agenda's current success. It is intended to outline the reasons behind the initiative, highlight current collaborations, and provide opportunities for new involvement.

Click here to read the report online.

Click here for a printer-friendly version.

Whether you are engaged in a conversation, changing the song on your iPod, or “trying to make a light” suddenly in the midst and wonder of city excitement you can feel like you are in the middle of a real life Frogger game.  Next time you have the uncomfortable realization of immediate danger in the middle of a busy intersection, put yourself in the running shoes of an older adult. 

Take a moment to envision what it would be like to go about your daily activities with a more gentle and careful step to get an understanding of the true accessibility of a city for people of all ages.

Peter Stein, 2010 recipient of Partners’ Bridge Builders Award, sat down recently with Hanover’s local newspaper to talk about his work at the Lyme Timber Company.The article explores Stein’s use of public-private partnerships in conservation efforts and his take on how preserving nature can be good for investors' bottom line.

You can read more of the article at the Valley News.

Also, check out our Bridge Builder award for Peter Stein.

 

Partners’ board member Mick Fleming, President of American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE), contributed a cover article to the Winter edition of their publication, Chamber Executive.  Mr. Fleming sought to contribute to the thinking and discussion around what makes a person influential.