Metro Monthly

Area Agency on Aging relocates to Eastwood Mall

The Area Agency on Aging 11, Inc. will move its main office from downtown Youngstown to the Eastwood Mall in Niles.
Donald Medd, chief executive officer of the Area Agency, said the organization recently signed a lease with mall management. The agreement calls for a complete renovation of the facility, to be constructed by Eastwood Mall in accordance with the agency’s specifications.

“At this time when every state and federally funded agency is looking at cuts to funding and programming, we had to look for a deal that will save us money in order to preserve services to seniors as well as jobs within the agency,” Medd said.

The agency’s office will be located on the second floor of Eastwood Mall above the newly renovated food court. The space previously was occupied by National Security Consultants, a portion of the former Kahunaville restaurant and various second floor offices.

“We’re very pleased to be able to provide a contemporary facility that will serve the agency’s clients at a location that has long been a convenient gathering spot for so many people in our region,” said Eastwood spokesman Joe Bell.

The Area Agency on Aging 11 serves Ashtabula, Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

The search for a new location had been under way since the summer of 2008, and numerous locations were viewed by a committee, including space in downtown Youngstown, Boardman, Niles and Warren.

The agency sought information from the Regional Chamber, planning commissions from Mahoning and Trumbull counties as well as the economic development offices of Youngstown and Warren.
The Area Agency on Aging 11, Inc. is a non-profit corporation serving nearly 145,000 older adults in Ashtabula, Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

The agency’s responsibility is to plan, coordinate and develop services by contracting with organizations that provide direct services to older adults. The Area Agency on Aging 11 also monitors contracted service providers and advocates for the needs of older adults.

The Eastwood Mall Complex is owned and managed in association with Cafaro affiliated companies, based in Youngstown.

Organizers expect 3,000 for YSU English Festival

This year’s Youngstown State University English Festival, featuring guest speeches by two renowned authors, a dramatic book representation by the Oakland Theater, essay and art contests, and poetry, prose and journalism workshops, will be April 1 to 3 in Kilcawley Center on the YSU campus.

From a record 185 schools in Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, more than 3,000 junior and senior high school students are expected to attend the 31st annual festival.

Under the Blood–Red Sun – Authors featured at this year’s festival are: Graham Salisbury, Thomas and Carol Gay Memorial Lecturer. Winner of both the Scott O’Dell and Nene Awards for his book, Under the Blood–Red Sun. His books, Under the Blood–Red Sun, Blue Skin of the Sea, and Eyes of the Emperor, are on the English Festival student reading lists.

Jim Blasingame, James Houck Memorial Lecturer. Assistant professor of English Education at Arizona State University and co–editor of The ALAN Review, a journal devoted entirely to young adult literature.

Keith Mann of the Ohio Historical Society and Gail Okawa, YSU associate professor of English, also will be guest speakers. Mann will discuss child labor the focus of a required reading, Susan Campbell Bartoletti’s Kids on Strike! Okawa will discuss her childhood in Hawaii and her grandfather’s experience in a Japanese interment camp during World War II, topics common of Salisbury’s work.

High school students are scheduled to attend the festival on Wednesday, April 1, and junior high school students will attend Thursday and Friday, April 2 and 3. Festival activities will last from 9 a.m. until 3:45 p.m. each day at various locations on the YSU campus.

For more information, contact the YSU English Department at 330–941–3414.

DiversityInc Media chief to speak at Williamson

Luke Visconti, partner and co–founder of DiversityInc Media LLC., will be featured as part of Youngstown State University’s Williamson Symposium Speaker Series at noon, Thursday, April 2, at the Youngstown Club in downtown Youngstown.

A student session open to the public will be at 2 p.m. April 2 in the Cope Suite on the second floor of Williamson Hall.

Visconti directs all editorial operations of the magazine, which has a circulation of more than 200,000, and the Web site, which reaches more than a million unique visitors monthly. He also oversees marketing and circulation.

Visconti developed and directs the methodology for The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity. His blog, “Ask the White Guy,” is a top draw on DiversityInc.com. He is a frequent senior–level lecturer on the business benefits of diversity to corporations, business groups and nonprofit organizations.

He has appeared on FOX, MSNBC, CNBC and National Public Radio and is regularly quoted on diversity issues in publications such as The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, BusinessWeek, Fortune and The Wall Street Journal.

Visconti received the “Bridge Builders Award” from the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the Wall Street Project conference in January 2006. He was also recognized with the “Legacy of Leadership” award from Dr. Beverly Tatum, Spelman College in May 2006.

He was named Member of the Year of PRIMER in January 2007 and Distinguished Alumnus, Rutgers University in May 2007.
The Williamson Symposium Series is an “executive on campus” program designed to bring corporate leaders to the Williamson College of Business Administration.

For more information, call Christine Shelton, coordinator of external relations for the Williamson College of Business Administration, at 330–941–3068.