Midway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and situated on the Mahoning River, Youngstown, Ohio, has a population of about 60,000. A one-time industrial powerhouse behind America’s manufacture of steel during the early-to-mid 1900s, the effect of global competition and outdated technology eventually led to the decline of Youngstown’s steel industry, population and economy beginning in the 1970s.

However, many positive revitalization efforts and new construction projects are happening throughout the city, including the United Way’s new Volunteer Resource Center. “Joe” Dickey Electric Inc., in collaboration with United Way of Youngstown and IBEW Local 64, built an expanded and multipurpose facility where volunteers can meet, organize activities and support local residents in need.

Powering progress

Based 10 miles from Youngstown in North Lima, Ohio, (with a second location in Steubenville), “Joe” Dickey Electric is a third-generation electrical contracting firm founded in 1957 by Joe Dickey Jr. that primarily serves customers in northeastern Ohio.

“We’re extremely versatile and handle a broad range of residential, commercial and heavy industrial projects, from changing a light in a customer’s home to building substations for factories and engaging in design-build construction,” said Eric Carlson, “Joe” Dickey Electric president and owner. “We currently have 157 employees, including a separate sister company called DataComm that specializes in voice/data/video [VDV] services.”

“Though it was among the top 100 cities in the country in the 1920s and 1930s, Youngstown took a downturn when the steel industry collapsed here beginning in the 1970s,” he said. 

He noted that a bevy of construction activity is now helping to revive the city, adding that, “In 2022, General Motors built the first battery plant in nearby Warren, and we have two new power plants here: a pipe mill for oil and gas and new A.I. data center manufacturing within the GM auto plant that closed in 2019, so we feel like there’s a huge resurgence of industry coming and a rebuilding of old into new.”

There was a large need for a new resource center so United Way's volunteers could better serve residents, including during the “Satur-­Day of Caring” program, where volunteers package and deliver food and other necessities to local residents who are in need but unable to get out to a food pantry or food drive. 

Launched during the pandemic, “the program occurs on the third Saturday of every month, when 150 United Way volunteers come out to package and deliver food and other supplies to community members who are ill, elderly and otherwise homebound,” and grew from feeding 100 people to serving nearly 500 families, Carlson said. 

“Volunteers were originally relegated to organizing and packing deliveries under the parking canopy of a local office complex because that was the best space we could secure, and it was especially difficult for them in the winter and in other inclement weather conditions,“ he said. “But after the pandemic ended, the team wanted the program to carry on because the need was still so great, so we worked to secure a grant to help fund construction of the Volunteer Resource Center, a building volunteers could work out of to store and package food and other supplies for delivery to recipients.”

The team secured a federal grant for $1.5 million to build the Volunteer Resource Center, Carlson said, who was already a member of United Way of Youngstown’s Board of Directors when he and his wife Bethany were asked to become campaign chairs of the construction initiative. 

“Our campaign ultimately raised $3.7 million plus an additional $1.5 million … from separate donations,” he said.

Following development of “Joe” Dickey Electric’s design-build plan, construction of the new 12,000-square-foot center began in November 2023.

The team’s activities included installing energy-­efficient LED high-bay lighting to HVAC systems, emergency backup provisions, low-­voltage systems and more. In support of the project, the company donated all of its design work and more than $75,000 of in-kind electrical services, including labor, change orders and overhead, as well as $10,000 in VDV services from DataComm, to the cause.

Construction was completed in just nine months thanks to the electrical contractor’s use of its preconstruction and prefabrication departments, which helped with scheduling and efficiency and ensured deadlines were met, he said. 

“In addition, our underground electrical and lighting layouts, aided by our use of Trimble Total Station surveying technology, allowed us to speed up installation and support our fast-paced construction schedule,” Carlson said. 

While there were luckily no major supply chain issues slowing down the progress, the weather created difficult conditions for the five-person crew working in the 2023–2024 Ohio winter.

“Our team members were often out in the mud and cold that winter, sometimes in 10°F temperatures with freezing winds, but they understood the larger purpose and never complained,” Carlson said. “They knew that we needed to get this building completed and that every day it wasn’t open was a day we weren’t impacting the community, so they refused to take a hiatus due to the weather.

“Our bigger focus was making sure that the client, United Way, was happy with everything and that the space met their needs,” he said. “We donated change orders to ensure that the building fully supported the activities that would be taking place there and we added extra outlets and other features/capabilities at no charge because it was the right thing to do.”

The Volunteer Resource Center was completed in 2024.

Serving the community

Officially opened in July/August 2024, “the Volunteer Resource Center is a pre-engineered metal building with 9,000 square feet of warehouse space and 3,000 square feet of office space that’s fully cooled and heated,” Carlson said. “It’s pretty simple in design, but what makes it special is the role all of the participants played in the process and what the building is able to do for the community.”

Carlson said volunteers can store a range of products in warehouse space, refrigerators and freezers, work to assemble bags of supplies and then load the bags into cars for delivery to more than 460 families year-round. 

“United Way volunteers are among the few people that many of our recipients see on a regular basis,” he said, “so this program is also a relationship-­building effort in that we’re not only delivering food, but all-­important social interaction and community caring as well.”

“Since it’s been open, it’s been great to see how it’s evolved into a resource center for our whole community—from a space for partner agencies to hold meetings, conduct community blood donations, offer free tax preparation services for residents and more—which helps build the whole economy,” Carlson said. “These activities were previously held in other ad hoc locations such as schools, hallways and even storage units, so this new building is just exploding with opportunities, ideas and ways to help.”

He said clear and frequent communication was key to success.

“We had weekly construction meetings, met as a board every two months, and met as a building committee every 3–4 weeks or more frequently to ensure that we hit our marks,” he said. 

He noted the importance of asking the client the right questions—especially those with less experience in construction—to help them define their current and future needs. 

“We had a great GC on the job, but our team took extra time to talk to our United Way colleagues about their needs and processes to help them think ahead and ensure that the space would support their growth over time,” Carlson said.

Team members installed underground conduit/service during construction.

Empowering a mission

Carlson sees his company’s work on the new Volunteer Resource Center as more than just another project.

“We didn’t just install wire or meet a schedule—we empowered a mission and helped create momentum and build a future for the Mahoning Valley,” Carlson said, who encourages other ECs to take the time to offer their services as a way of giving back.

“Knowing that our company was involved in something that will hopefully serve our community for the next 100 years is really special,” Carlson said. “We’re proud to say that the new Volunteer Resource Center isn’t just a community building but a community engine, and ‘Joe’ Dickey Electric powered it from the inside out.”

“Joe” Dickey Electric Inc.