Youngstown Business Incubator is using federal grant money to help small and medium manufacturers in Eastern Ohio adopt advanced technologies.
The Mahoning Valley has long had a history of manufacturing, dating back to the 1840s in iron production. The area transitioned to steel production, becoming the second largest steel producer in the United States in the 1920s. Steel production steeply decreased in the 1970s, causing thousands of workers to lose their jobs. More recently, the closure of General Motors' Lordstown plant in 2019 led to job cuts locally.
"If you look at the history of manufacturing in the Mahoning Valley, in the Midwest and across the country, you see that you are either on the leading edge of technology or the bleeding edge of technology," CEO Barb Ewing said, "and historically, we have seen too many small to medium manufacturers gutted. Because they have not been able to compete with foreign industry partners."
Youngstown Business Incubator got $1,795,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission for the Rising Tides Initiative that will work with traditional manufacturers to develop or adopt new technologies.
"The project is also going to include workforce development, regional innovation and entrepreneurship, small business engagement and new product commercialization," Engineering Program Manager Daniel Long said. "Also a specific focus will be on elevating national and international awareness of the regional capabilities in advanced manufacturing throughout the focused marketing initiative."
The initiative will focus on a few sectors, “with the key goal as far as potential growth in growing electric vehicle microchips and also advanced manufacturing industries that are now emerging throughout the Midwest," Long said.
The incubator’s goal is to help bolster existing manufacturers, not just bring new businesses to the area, Ewing said.
“So this is a way to make them more competitive and to keep our existing manufacturing base strong," she said.
The initiative is expected to create 20 jobs but will have a much bigger impact, she said.
"Over time, as you keep these industries strong, you're retaining not just a job here or a job there, you're retaining the entire company," Ewing said.
And that's especially important in a region that's historically lost industry giants, she said.
"Because of our history of losing both large and small manufacturing, we recognized early on that preserving our manufacturing base was critical to our overall economic development and economic strength," Ewing said.
And the initiative can help manufacturers across the state, she said.
“We are geographically agnostic, so if there is a manufacturer who’s interested in just learning more about the technology, we may not be able to subsidize the cost," Ewing said, "but we are certainly interested in having conversations with small to medium manufacturers regardless of where they’re located.”
The initiative is expected to assist 90 existing businesses, create two new businesses and leverage $9,050,000 in private investment.
"Small to medium manufacturers really are the backbone of the Midwest economy," Ewing said, "and we need to do everything that we can to keep them in place."
