YBI moves city into global community


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By BRANDON KLEIN

bklein@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

World-class and Youngstown. The two easily belong together, said James Cossler, Youngstown Business Incubator’s chief executive officer, after a No. 1 world ranking was bestowed upon the facility Tuesday.

Last year, YBI was ranked 11th.

The announcement came Tuesday at a global news conference attended by officials from University Business Incubator Index, based in Stockholm. Ali Amin and Dhruv Bhatli, founders of UBI Index, traveled to Youngstown from Stockholm to make the announcement, which was streamed live around the world. YBI was tops in the university-associated business incubators category.

“Youngstown does really well on a number of indicators,” Bhatli said.

UBI Index is an organization that analyzes the performance of business incubators around the world. It helps business incubators become more efficient and competitive through a comprehensive benchmark where more than 300 incubators in more than 60 countries participate.

YBI was ranked high for its economic impact such as job creation from its client startups, along with the high sales revenue of those clients.

YBI also was lauded for having a high proportion of clients who moved on from the incubator and continue to survive and grow.

“We’re ranked No. 1 and very thrilled to be here,” said Barb Ewing, YBI’s chief operating officer.

The incubator was acknowledged for some of its success stories.

“It’s really a global network,” said Elijah Stambaugh, founder of Learning Egg, one of the YBI businesses touted by UBI. “I’m really happy to be part of the incubator.”

Stambaugh was still a teacher when he approached YBI in June 2010 to start Learning Egg. The company produces Lightning Grader, software that assesses students and provides reports for teachers to analyze.

Other YBI success stories the UBI Index founders noted were Turning Technologies, a YBI member since 2002, which was named the fastest-growing software company in America by Inc. Magazine in 2007.

Other software companies such as Factset Rivera, a company that analyzes financial data, and Sequentia, an online platform that serves patients, hospitals and extended-care facilities, also were recognized.

The announcement received attention from some of Ohio’s legislators.

“YBI provides the tools to help Mahoning Valley businesses compete on a global scale, but this is only the beginning,” U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Cleveland, said in a statement.

“The hard work and perseverance it took to achieve this global honor has helped inject energy and investment into our state and, most importantly, given our young people opportunity to come back to live, work and raise their families in our region,” U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, said in his statement.

YBI is a local business incubator that started in 1995. YBI companies employ more than 500 individuals and have produced sales revenues beyond $54 million.

Additionally, TechColumbus ranked third, making it the second incubator from Ohio and the U.S. to rank among the top five. Ewing said this is a testament to Ohio’s support for incubation programs.

“They [Ohio] have a long history of supporting innovation,” she said.

YBI is associated and works in partnership with Youngstown State, Kent State and Case Western Reserve universities and the University of Akron.

YSU President Jim Tressel spoke on behalf of the university about the announcement at the news conference. “This is a day we’ll all remember,” Tressel said.