YBI, Manufacturers Coalition Announce Partnership
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition and the Youngstown Business Incubator have announced a new partnership that will position both organizations for greater success, as well as create new opportunities for collaboration, officials said Tuesday.
“We see this as a great opportunity to help make the Mahoning Valley stronger. Technology adoption and workforce development are both critical areas of importance to our members,” says Joe Colletti Jr., president of Marsh Bellofram Group of Companies and president of the MVMC. “This partnership will allow MVMC to focus on its core mission while still keeping an eye on new opportunities to serve the Valley’s manufacturers.”
Initially, the partnership will consist of shared business services. However, the long-term vision is to establish future collaborations in other areas.
“We are enthused about the partnership with YBI and are actively discussing additional opportunities to work together,” says Jessica Borza, executive director of the MVMC. “Bringing our organizations together in new and innovative ways has the potential to be very powerful.”
Jim Dascenzo, principal at HBK and chairman of the YBI, says both organizations have synergies that make sense to collaborate.
“The MVMC’s and the YBI’s programs complement each other in ways that will enable both organizations to better serve their constituents,” he says. “This is definitely a win-win situation, with both organizations benefiting from the relationship.”
Barb Ewing, CEO of the YBI, noted how the collaboration would help expand the YBI’s reach throughout the region.
“Working with the MVMC will open new doors for the YBI to more deeply engage with our manufacturing base and to expand our footprint into new areas,” Ewing says.
The MVMC provides a network for Mahoning Valley manufacturers to identify common needs and problem-solve with their partners by sharing ideas and resources to develop a skilled workforce.
The YBI supports the commercialization and adoption of new technologies, with a focus on additive manufacturing, as well as the growth of minority, women and veteran-owned businesses.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
