Huntington CEO Highlights YBI During ‘Mad Money’ Interview

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The value of having the Youngstown Business Incubator mentioned on CNBC’s “Mad Money” show this week can’t be quantified, the incubator’s CEO said Friday.

The brief shout-out came courtesy of Steve Steinour, chairman, president and CEO of Huntington National Bank. During a “Mad Money” segment Tuesday, host Jim Cramer asked about communities that had lost manufacturing jobs. 

“During the presidential election, I think you’re going to hear a lot about towns that have been left behind, towns where they lost their manufacturing base. Are you seeing any comeback personally? Because you’re in the heart of it,” Cramer said.

Steinour responded by talking about partnerships between business and government entities that can help spur economic development.

“If you look at Youngstown, a city that was really hard-hit over the last couple of decades, it’s coming back with one of the best business incubators in the country, and it has a variety of other businesses, and we’re financing a lot of that,” he continued.

Steinour’s comments on the cable network create a path for YBI that it wouldn’t have had previously and is allowing the incubator to reach “the people we want to reach,” including potential investors and people interested in additive manufacturing, Ewing said Friday.

People with whom Ewing has shared information about the segment are “genuinely excited,” she said. Because YBI is in Youngstown, outsiders often don’t pay attention to it or “give us the credibility that we’ve earned,” so having this occur in such a public forum matters a lot. National attention is one of the metrics that YBI uses. 

“I can’t overstate how much earned media matters in this industry. There is no way of putting a price on publicity like this,” she said. “It is instant street cred. It gets the attention of many who just have not paid attention to us or have ignored us.”

Huntington is one of YBI’s major donors – providing funding for the Minority Business Assistance Center, the annual Shark Tank competition and other programs – and Steinour has visited YBI on several occasions, she added. There also is “just miles of difference” between being mentioned on “Mad Money” and having that mention come from the CEO of one of the most successful regional banks.

“Steve is well known within the industry, and we have a close relationship not just with the local office,” she said. “He is involved enough in the community in this market that he truly knows us, as evidenced by this,” she said.

“This is not a talking point somebody gave him. This is a result of him being part of our community, part of our network.”

Pictured at top: In this image captured from video, “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer, right, interviews Steve Steinour, chairman, president and CEO of Huntington National Bank. (CNBC)

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