Desperation Town
How Youngstown Gave Itself Away for the Promise of Jobs
The Business Journal and ProPublica are investigating how Ohio’s Mahoning Valley has used financial incentives in hopes of an economic comeback in the heart of the Rust Belt.
The City That Pinned Its Renewal on a Self-Chilling Beverage Can Wants Its Money Back
A company promised to create 237 jobs making the first ever self-chilling beverage can, winning big public subsidies in return. Four years later, there are no jobs and you still put your beer in the fridge. The city may demand the subsidies back.
Ohio Just Ordered GM to Repay $28 Million in Tax Breaks for Closing the Lordstown Auto Plant
General Motors received more than $60 million in tax credits to operate a massive assembly plant in Lordstown until 2040. But after the facility closed last year, the state says GM must pay back roughly half of those tax benefits.
Republicans and Democrats Agree: GM Should Pay Back the Taxpayers of Ohio
“Ohio welcomes its long and continuing relationship with GM, but we want our money back. It’s just business,” wrote Attorney General David Yost.
GM Closed the Lordstown Auto Plant. Now Ohio May Force a $60 Million Repayment.
General Motors received tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks to operate a massive assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, until 2027. The plant closed last year, and the state may force a repayment of more than $60 million, documents show.
We Reported on Corporate Tax Breaks in the Rust Belt. Now Officials Want Tougher Enforcement.
Ohio officials are calling for stricter regulation of corporate tax breaks after a Business Journal and ProPublica investigation found half the projects that received tax abatements in Youngstown since the 1990s failed to deliver the jobs promised.
These Companies Got Millions in Tax Breaks to Bring Jobs to Youngstown. They Created Next to None.
When the American steel industry collapsed, few places were hit as hard as Youngstown, Ohio. Desperate for investment, officials awarded millions in property tax breaks to companies promising new jobs. But those efforts have largely failed to deliver.
Why a Struggling Rust Belt City Pinned Its Revival on a Self-Chilling Beverage Can
Welcome to Youngstown, Ohio, home of Chill-Can, the self-chilling beverage container you’ve probably never heard of. Officials have gambled millions of dollars and demolished a neighborhood for the product. Not one job has been created yet.
