In early 2010, French-owned steel pipe maker V&M Star began building two mills where the Briar Hill works had stood on Youngstown’s northwest side. They were the first new mills in the Mahoning Valley since early last century.

This week, the company signed a 99-year-lease for the last 200 acres of the project.  Youngstown Mayor Charles Sammarone:“The property there, a lot of it was old steel mill property that we owned. And it’s all part of the economic development plan that we’ve been working on with V&M and the city of Girard. It’s kind of a cooperation between two communities, Girard and Youngstown, and working with V&M.”