DEAR EDITOR:
I am writing you about the availability of good jobs in Trumbull County, specifically Warren and the surrounding areas. With the economy being an important issue during this presidential campaign, I am concerned how it will affect me as a resident of Warren. Many elected officials are riding the claim that they will bring back jobs, but will these jobs pay a wage that will be able to lift a family out of the pit of poverty, or will they be more minimum wage positions with no medical benefits or career advancement, thus simply adding to the working poor?
A lot of the new jobs like the Shalenet or BP are dangled just out of reach for me and many others in Warren. If we all understand and can agree that good wage positions are necessary for the Mahoning Valley to be sustainable, then we should support the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative's Jobs and Economic Opportunity campaign, a multi-year plan to address all aspects of employment for our citizens. Every point of this campaign touches the lives of Trumbull County residents, including hiring locally, creating good jobs that pay a living wage, improving our neighborhoods and schools, and increasing training opportunities.
We must identify, expose, and resolve every barrier to economic growth that denies the residents of Warren sustainable employment. This is a win-win situation for all the current and future residents of the Mahoning Valley and Ohio.
-- Robert Lewis, Warren