EDA Approves $1.9M for Youngstown Business Incubator

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The U.S. Secretary of Commerce announced this afternoon that the Department’s Economic Development Administration has appropriated $1.9 million in CARES Act Recovery funds to renovate the Youngstown Business Incubator’s Tech Block No. 5 building.

The EDA grant is expected to create or retain 70 jobs and generate $4.5 million in private investment. The grant is matched with $475,795 in local funds.

“President Biden is committed to harnessing the full power of the federal government to ensure our nation not only recovers from this pandemic but builds back stronger,” Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo said in a statement. “As an additional space for incubation activities and services, the newly-renovated facility will complement current Youngstown Business Incubator facilities and build upon ongoing partnerships with America Makes and the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, which are located on campus.”

The 65,000-square-foot Tech Block building, which formerly housed the Youngstown Vindicator, is dedicated to housing companies using additive manufacturing technology.

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-13, also announced the grant during a press conference at the YBI via Zoom.

“Life beyond the COVID-19 pandemic holds much promise and the federal government must do all it can to make U.S. advanced manufacturing more competitive in a global world. The crisis underscored advanced manufacturing’s role in pivotal domestic industries and the need to invest and modernize cutting edge technologies is more crucial than ever. With forward-thinking leadership from President Biden, we’re on a clear path to build back better than ever before, and the Youngstown Business Incubator is going to help lead the way,” Ryan said.

U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, also praised the effort.

“These funds will provide the Northeast Ohio region with additional tools and resources to address the economic fallout from COVID-19,” Brown said. “Not only will this investment build up local infrastructure, but it will develop programs to help Ohioans find good paying jobs.”
 
“This is exciting news for the Youngstown Edison Incubator Corporation. I’m pleased to see this $1.9 million federal grant go towards helping to spur entrepreneurship and innovation in the Youngstown region,” added Portman. “This grant, provided through the CARES Act, will help provide assistance to entrepreneurs and is expected to create jobs while spurring millions in additional private investment. I was proud to support the bipartisan CARES Act last year, and I am glad to see that it continues to help local communities in our state return to normalcy as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.