Businessman to open private incubator this fall in former ‘Flats’ parts store

Staff report

WARREN

Youngstown businessman Brad Levy and his family have invested more than $700,000 in acquiring and renovating the 11,500-square-foot former Union Auto Parts store on Main Avenue Southwest with the goal of turning it into a private business incubator.

His family’s Warren flea market next door has been in business 38 years. He expects the incubator and flea market to attract business for each other, he said.

Levy will accept applications starting in September from entrepreneurs interested in starting up a company at the incubator with free rent during the formative stages. It will open later this fall and be called The Flats.

“We intend this facility to be open to anyone with creative ideas looking to start their own business without having to invest in large startup costs that could hinder their ability to grow quickly and remain prosperous,” Levy said in marketing materials he provided.

“Whether it is a ‘budding’ florist, a baker, an artist, a collector or a recent IT graduate fresh out of YSU looking to start up a tech company, we intend to promote and attract as much diversity and creativity as possible,” he said.

Levy plans to offer classes to his tenants from college professors and other business professionals, he said.

He would like to see the startups graduate to their own space in downtown Warren, he said.

The name of the incubator comes from the area of town where it is located. The area, south of South Street and just south of Courthouse Square, is where Warren was founded in 1798 by Ephraim Quimby and named after surveyor Moses Warren.