Staff report

To help address the area’s housing needs, the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber has established a 24-member board to assist with the Mahoning Valley Regional Housing Strategy.

“Not only is the cost of homes rising, but so too are taxes, including property taxes, both of which are creating huge challenges for homeownership,” said Brenda Linert, the chamber’s director of community impact.

“We also need to build our neighborhoods back up, so we need to find ways to improve the quality of existing homes, develop new units and make it easier to attain housing for a growing local workforce.”

The board will help work toward improving the quality, accessibility and attainability of Valley housing, the chamber said in a news release last week.

Members include:

Jason Altobelli, Altobelli Real Estate; Ian Beniston, Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation; Krista Beniston, Western Reserve Port Authority; Floyd E. Cline II, Huntington National Bank; John Demmler, 717 Credit Union; Tony DiTommaso, Carpenters Local 171; Gregory Ensley, Farmers National Bank; Lena Esmail, QuickMed; Tricia Ferry Frate, VEC Inc.; Debora Flora, Mahoning County Land Reutilization Corp.; Roberta Hiller, Youngstown Columbiana Association of Realtors; Tricia Howe, Home Builders and Remodelers Association of the Valley; Ryan Kelly, Pantheon; Joseph Koch Jr., Koch Construction; Mark Lamoncha, Humtown Products; Erik Liber, HSH Drywall; Jeff Magada, Flying High; Kareem Maine, Ultium Cells; Matt Martin, Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership; Moshood Martins, business owner and investor; John Masternick, Windsor House; Justin Mondok, Eastgate Regional Council of Governments; Doug Rende, Shapes Unlimited; and Don Thomas, Platz Realty.

Presented in January, the housing strategy details recommendations to stabilize and strengthen the Valley’s housing market through collaborative and coordinated efforts among economic development agencies, governments, nonprofit groups, the private sector and other stakeholders.

The chamber created the housing council of its board of directors and other members to work to enhance quality, accessibility and attainability of local housing. It will focus on improving existing stock, developing new residential spaces and leveraging available resources.