No. 1 YBI 'a true testament to the community'

September 16, 2014 at 2:41p.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown Business Incubator along with the University Business Incubator Index from Stockholm, Sweden announced its new global ranking this morning.

YBI, ranked No. 11 in the 2013 UBII ranking, has accelerated into the Top 10, landing in the No. 1 position for 2014's Index.

"This is a true testament to the community we come from. We are sincerely grateful for all of the support that we receive," Jim Cossler, YBI CEO. "And, it just goes to show that Youngstown truly is the best place to start a business."

Dhruv Bhatli, leading author, researcher and Co-Founder of UBI Index says: "Youngstown Business Incubator is an exceptional incubation program. It performs really well on our global benchmark by providing its client start-ups an environment with excellent peers, as well as access to an outstanding investor network."

"Youngstown Business Incubator is one of the top business incubators in the world. It provides exceptional value to its clients who have a higher survival rate than the global average", said Bhatli.

Newly appointed Youngstown State University President, Jim Tressel, was also in attendance for the announcement, said: "I have stood in front of a podium saying we were No. 1 in the nation, but never have I stood in front of a podium saying we were No. 1 in the world."

The UBI index global benchmark of business incubators includes most of the top universities in the world, notably Stanford, UC Berkley, Cornell, etc. In this context, YBI performs much better than their peers at top universities.

With more than 300 participants, the information in UBI Index's Top 10 Rankings will help incubator managers from around the world succesfully run their programs, allowing them to see areas requiring improvement for their specific business models, ways of effectively utilizing operational budgets, and strategies to attract a new client base.