DOWNTOWN Incubator on track to get funds to increase space

Downtown officials are trying to piece together more money for building.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown Business Incubator is in line to receive a small part of the funding it needs to construct a second building.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved legislation that would grant $250,000 for the building, said U.S. Sens. Mike DeWine and George Voinovich.
The Republican senators said they will work to include the funding in the final version of a bill for Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, which will be voted on later.
The state-funded incubator on Federal Plaza West is proposing a $4 million building for tenants that are successful enough to leave the incubator. The incubator provides free rent and other services.
The state already has allocated $2 million to the project.
Potential sources
Jim Cossler, incubator director, said officials at the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp. hope to get additional money from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, which has funded other improvements at the incubator.
CIC officials also are considering applying for state money to tear down buildings adjacent to the incubator.
The plan calls for replacing these buildings with a new building. The building next to Home Savings and Loan would remain, however, Cossler said.
He said a new building is needed to keep graduating incubator companies downtown. He said two companies are ready to move out but remain in the incubator because they like the services available to them, such as software development tools and multimedia projection equipment.
The two software developers -- Softek Software International and Turning Technologies -- employ nearly 60 people.