Defense and Aerospace Hub Eyed for Former Vindicator Building
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Youngstown Business Incubator has plans to lease the former Vindicator printing building at 107 Vindicator Square and convert it into a center for defense and aerospace manufacturing, research and development, a YBI executive said Tuesday.
“This is a true investment in our downtown,” said Barb Ewing, YBI’s CEO. “We want to use this as an opportunity to really ramp up the already strong impact the U.S. Department of Defense has through its presence at America Makes.”
The new center, tentatively named the Youngstown Innovation Hub for Defense and Aerospace, hinges on a $26 million grant from the Ohio Department of Development toward the development of an Ohio Innovation Hub, Ewing said. That grant would be augmented by $11 million in local matching funds, she said.
The project is estimated to have an economic impact of $191.7 million, according to Ewing. Job creation is estimated at 271 full-time jobs with an average salary of $81,806, and another 481 indirect jobs.
Should the effort prove successful in securing the state funding, a portion of the money would be used to renovate the former Vindicator building to accommodate the expansion of JuggerBot 3D and Ursa Major, two portfolio companies that have outgrown their space in Tech Block Building No. 5. What is now Tech Block Building No. 5 was also once part of the Vindicator’s operations.
The larger space would be able to house more companies and additional research and development initiatives related to advanced manufacturing in the defense and aerospace industries, Ewing said.
“The Department of Defense has a hard push to re-shore the U.S. manufacturing base,” Ewing said, “and we have the opportunity to be a part of that.”
Ewing said that she anticipates a decision on funding could come before the end of the year. The project was given a deadline of last week to raise at least $4.3 million in local matches; it raised $11 million, she added. “We far exceeded what their expectations were,” she said. “We’re optimistic and hopeful.”
City Council next week will consider enabling legislation that allows the Board of Control to enter into a development agreement with YBI to provide a $1.35 million site grant to assist the project. The grant would be paid over four installments beginning in January 2025, according to a prepared ordinance.
The center’s name would most likely be rebranded to another name, Ewing said. The current plan is to lease space as needed in the building, she added, with the eventual goal of obtaining control of it.
“You’re going to have the very best and very brightest either coming to town or staying in town because they want to be a part of this,” Ewing said.
Pictured at top: The Vindicator building at 107 Vindicator Square.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
