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Unveiling of Tech Belt center in Warren energizes leaders
TBEIC Comes to Warren
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A symbolic step was taken Wednesday in the revitalization process of downtown Warren, when John Pogue helped officially debut the new TBEIC site, a 37,000-square foot, two-level building near Courthouse Square that will soon act as a hub for innovative projects. The location won’t immediately create new jobs, but officials said in the long run, it will develop new opportunities to attract and maintain the young, intellectual minds of energy and manufacturing.
The Vindicator ( Youngstown)
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Warren Mayor Michael O’Brien and others involved in the Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center check out the new sign for the center, a 37,000-square-foot building near Courthouse Square in downtown Warren. A ceremony to unveil the space took place Wednesday.
By Karl Henkel
WARREN
John Pogue, board chairman of the Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center, recalled summer 1976, when Warren was at its peak.
There were 68 open-hearth furnaces used in steel mills, but today there remains just one in the city, at Ira Rennert’s The Renco Group.
Pogue made the comparison not just to show how far the Mahoning Valley has fallen but to reinforce goals the region can achieve.
A symbolic step was taken Wednesday in the revitalization process of downtown Warren, when Pogue helped to unveil the new center site, a 37,000-square-foot building near Courthouse Square that will soon act as a hub for innovative projects.
The center won’t immediately create new jobs, but officials said in the long run it will develop opportunities to attract and maintain the young, intellectual minds of energy and manufacturing.
“Everybody wants to create jobs in our current environment,” Pogue said. “Those jobs have to come from innovation, and to some extent, risk. We need to be open to those concepts if we want to be successful.”
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, who has helped to secure funding for the center, said the innovative hub is similar to the Youngstown Business Incubator in downtown Youngstown. He added the center is necessary to increase employment in Northeast Ohio.
“We need to transform our economy and find out where we fit,” Ryan said. “This is the future of Warren; this is the future of the Valley.”
Ryan envisions two types of cities in the future: ones that embrace the energy revolution and those that continue to hold on to their old ways.
So what about the Valley?
“We are going to be ... a city that embraces the change that’s going on in the world,” Ryan said. “Whether it’s business software, whether it’s research and engineering or whether it’s claiming our place in the energy economy, we’re playing; and we’re playing for keeps.”
The Tech Belt center will now look for contractors to renovate the cleared-out facility, which still has mismatched colored walls and a musty odor.
The building, which cost about $250,000 and has passed engineering and environmental testing, is at 125 Market St. Years ago, it was an S.S. Kresge five-and-dime store.
When the center moves in, it will continue to fill buildings on Market Street. The Raymond John Wean Foundation announced in April that it will restore the 17,000-square-foot location at 147 Market St., and last year the block added an Eastern Gateway Community College satellite location.
Dave Karpinski, vice president of NorTech, which along with Youngstown State University, will work with TBEIC, said it will be a few months before the first phase of updates on nearly 12,000 square feet of space takes place.
There’s no hard deadline for completion of the project.
“I think we’re focusing on an area where there’s real opportunity,” Pogue said. “We hope this will be a boost not only for the city but for economic development throughout the Mahoning Valley.”