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Chamber honors Vindicator publisher

Chamber recognizes efforts to save Mahoning’s news source

Staff photo / Ron Selak Jr. Charles Jarvis, publisher of the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator newspapers, was recognized Thursday by the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber with its Spirit of the Valley award in keeping The Vindicator alive after last year’s announcement that the historic newspaper would close.

BOARDMAN — When The Vindicator announced in June 2019 that it would cease production just two months later, the potential of an enormous vacuum in Mahoning County journalism existed.

“People here wondered where they would find their news, obituaries, classified ads and all of the other things they came to rely on from their newspaper,” said Guy Coviello, president of the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber Foundation.

The answer came with the August 2019 announcement that the Tribune Chronicle — descendant of the Trump of Fame, the first newspaper in the Western Reserve, dating back more than 200 years — had acquired The Vindicator name, subscriber list and internet domain. It would start publishing a new Vindicator on Sept. 1, 2019 — one day after the presses stopped in Youngstown.

Leading that charge to fill the void was Charles Jarvis, Tribune Chronicle publisher.

For his effort, Jarvis of Farmdale in northern Trumbull County, whose career in journalism spans more than 50 years, was recognized Thursday by the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber with its prestigious Spirit of the Valley award.

Also recognized at Mr. Anthony’s in Boardman was Michael Schrock, Mahoning Valley regional president for TCF Bank, with the Spirit of the Chamber award.

The awards recognized the work and impact these men made in the community and to the chamber.

Jarvis said the coming together of the two former competitors was “providential.”

“Without the merger, The Vindicator would have been gone and the Tribune Chronicle would have been seriously damaged by the pandemic’s business shutdown,” Jarvis said. “Together, we have weathered the storm over the past six months better than we would have separately. We are happy to continue The Vindicator for its loyal readers. The spirit of community journalism is still alive and, with the support of our readers and business community advertising support, these newspapers will continue to journalize the spirit of this Valley, just as it has for the past 208 years, well into the future.”

He accepted the award on behalf of his management team, many of whom were in attendance, past and present employees, subscribers and advertisers, and thanked his wife, Brenda Jarvis, for her support.

“There are many people more deserving than I for the Spirit of the Valley award, but there is no person more deserving than the newspapers, the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator, which have reflected the spirit of the Valley for the last two centuries,” Jarvis said.

Schrock, of Canfield, has been a member of the chamber’s board of directors for three years and also serves on its executive and economic development committees and the foundation’s board of directors.

“The award to me … this is a long line of people modeling this behavior to me that we need to be part of the community, because all of us together win or make a community better,” Schrock said. “The significance of the award to me is a tribute to all of those who have taught me that.

“This organization, the regional chamber of commerce, I consider to be the leader of coordinating and collaborating with other groups to increase the economic development in the Valley, and being part of this organization and helping it helps you, helps me, helps everybody,” Schrock said. “It’s work that is essential.”

The two keynote speakers Thursday were Steve Winberg, U.S. assistant secretary of energy for fossil energy, and Majida Mourad, vice president of government relations at Tellurian, Inc.

rselak@tribtoday.com

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