According to research conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s Community Development team, the disconnect between where jobs are and where people live continues to grow.

And, according to Fed research, our region’s slow post-Great Recession housing recovery means that some homeowners, because home prices have remained lower here, are unable to use home equity as a tool to build wealth.

This data, and other studies, reassures us at the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber and our partnering agencies that our strategic economic development priorities are the correct ones.

Our top priority going into 2025 is talent expansion. We have partnered with Youngstown Area Goodwill Industries to create actionable recommendations aimed at helping marginalized individuals overcome their top four barriers to education, training and employment. No. 1 — transportation.

The Fed research tells us low-wage workers face lengthy transit commutes. This limited job access poses a threat to employers. If we don’t build economic opportunities for people, we can’t prosper as a community.

It’s not just transportation. The other three major barriers to employment are childcare, behavioral health and addiction. Fed research tells us, “… higher levels of opioid prescriptions are associated with lower employment and labor force participation rates and that prescription opioids account for 44% of the realized decline in prime-age men’s labor force participation from 2001 to 2016.”

We are confident that over the next five years we will add thousands of workers to the labor pool by focusing our collective energies on these obstacles, and in the process build economic resilience throughout the Valley.

Talent expansion goes beyond uplifting the marginalized. It also means overall population growth. That’s why we are focused on what we call the three Rs — retain, return and receive more talent.

Our second priority going into 2025 is increasing the housing stock. Too many Valley employers complain that too many members of their teams reside too far from the workplace. In addition, our success in growing population and shifting more individuals from the sidelines into jobs, means opportunities to expand the housing market.

We have assisted the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments in creating a two-county housing strategy. We have formed a housing council that will work closely with Eastgate’s newly formed housing consortium. We will add the Western Reserve Port Authority and Valley Partners as additional players focused on this issue.

We are confident that by 2030, tens of millions of dollars will be invested to stimulate the housing market. More highly paid workers in the Valley will also reside in the Valley meaning they will pay taxes here, spend discretionary dollars here, send their kids to schools here, and support nonprofits here instead of in places like Hudson and Cranberry.

We are confident that by 2030 our seniors will have more downsizing options, our youth will have more trendy neighborhoods to choose from, and our urban cores will experience infill investment.

These top two priorities — talent expansion and housing stock increase — feed into all of our other strategic priorities.

•   Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. We want to help more minority-, women-, veteran- and disabled-owned businesses seize supply chain and vendor opportunities, especially in the defense industry.

•   Leadership. The Valley has a disproportionate number of baby-boomer CEOs and executive directors. We want to make sure the next generation of corporate and community leaders are ready to move us forward.

It’s truly a Happy New Year. We closed 2024 on the upswing. 2025 could be even better.

Guy Coviello is president and CEO of the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber.