SPONSORED CONTENT
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – YBI is preparing for one of the largest projects in its history: transforming the former Vindicator building in downtown Youngstown into an innovation hub focused on aerospace and defense.
The project will renovate a 130,000-square-foot building, bring additional companies and workers downtown and expand YBI’s advanced manufacturing programs. It also illustrates how much the organization has changed since its early years when it was primarily focused on assisting software startups.
“People still think about us as just a software incubator, and we are so much more than that,” says Barb Ewing, CEO of YBI.
Today, YBI supports companies in software, health care and advanced manufacturing. It also operates the Minority Business Assistance Center for eastern Ohio and programs that introduce young people to STEM careers.
The new innovation hub adds aerospace and defense to that growing portfolio and will expand YBI’s downtown footprint to six buildings.
Sam Huston, Huntington Bank market president for the Mahoning Valley region, says the project could have an impact well beyond YBI.
“The innovation hub is just such an opportunity for this area,” Huston says. “It’s going to change the landscape, and it’s going to be incredibly impactful for this area for years to come.”
But all that growth has come with greater financial and operational complexity.
Tifinie Lacomb, relationship manager at Huntington Bank, has worked with YBI for about a decade and has managed the banking relationship for six years.
“For-profit financials are a little bit easier to understand,” Lacomb says. “When you look at a nonprofit, the funding is different, the timing is different, and we have to really get to know how that works, what that funding looks like.”
YBI may receive funding through government programs, grants and other sources with different payment schedules.
Ewing says that timing can be particularly important when government reimbursements are involved.
“The money is always coming, but it comes in great big clumps, and you can never be quite sure when the government is going to get around to paying you,” she says.
YBI has used a line of credit to manage those periods between expenditures and reimbursements. Its financial needs have also expanded as the organization has acquired and developed additional real estate.
One example was YBI’s purchase of what is now the Lamoncha Family Center for Advanced Manufacturing. Ewing says Huntington financed the property after examining anticipated occupancy, tenants and the building’s long-term prospects.
The relationship, however, predates those projects.
Years ago, YBI approached Huntington about sponsoring its marquee IT entrepreneurship program, which was funded through the state’s Entrepreneurial Services Provider program.
“We saw ourselves in that light, but we didn’t think anybody else did,” Ewing says. “So having Huntington willing to associate their name with our star program and contribute significant resources, especially back at that time, really made such a difference.”
Ewing says the sponsorship helped YBI demonstrate its value to other potential supporters and became the foundation for a relationship that expanded as the organization did.
Huston recalls Huntington employees teaching classes and supporting YBI programming during those earlier years.
“To see how this organization has grown, not only in its programming and the offerings that it has as a resource to business customers and entrepreneurs, but also its footprint and what it’s actually done here for downtown, it is incredible what this team has done here,” he says.
Another layer of complexity comes from YBI’s work with companies outside the United States.
International companies entering the U.S. market can face practical hurdles ranging from opening accounts to making payroll and converting currencies.
Huntington has worked with international companies associated with YBI to establish accounts and payment services and address currency conversion.
Ewing recalls one international YBI client that needed a U.S. checking account to make payroll and handle daily operations but encountered difficulties because it lacked an established local presence.
“Tifinie made sure that it happened,” Ewing says. “When there were hiccups, and there were hiccups, as the company went along the way, she was making personal phone calls to make sure that payroll was paid and that everything was released.”
The relationship between YBI and Huntington dates back more than a decade and has included financing, banking services, insurance, program support and board participation.
Huston has served on YBI’s board since 2017.
That relationship is again coming into play as YBI prepares to develop the aerospace and defense innovation hub.
“In the very near future, we’re going to begin the construction and renovation of the old Vindicator building,” Huston says. “Right now that is something that we are currently working on getting ready to fund.”
For Lacomb, the project represents the latest stage in a relationship she first became involved with about 10 years ago, and an example of how the organization’s financial needs have evolved along with its mission.
“It’s great to see where it’s come since that point,” she says. “That was 10 years ago, and you wouldn’t even think a company could come that far in that long. They really have.”
Pictured at top: From left, YBI CEO Barb Ewing, Huntington Bank Relationship Manager Tifinie Lacomb and Huntington Mahoning Valley Market President Sam Huston stand beneath the Huntington Entrepreneurship Program sign.
