43
Mayor, YNDC award $150,000 for city’s REVITALIZE Youngstown program
YOUNGSTOWN
The city of Youngstown and the work of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. were recognized Wednesday during a ceremony celebrating a $150,000 grant awarded to the REVITALIZE Youngstown campaign.
The grant is awarded by the U.S. Conference of Mayors to honor the best neighborhood stabilization efforts in the country.
Youngstown is one of six cities that received the award.
The funds from the award were used by YNDC to acquire a commercial building at 2246 Glenwood Blvd. that they have renovated and reopened as the Glenwood Business Center.
Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said the grant is an example of what can be accomplished when organizations work together, and thanked Wells Fargo for being a partner with the city for the award.
Ian Beniston, executive director of the YNDC, said the group gained control of the building in July and that its first business tenant – Inspiring Minds, a free after-school program – had its first sessions this week.
Tiffany Sokol, YNDC’s housing director, led the renovation project at the building and said there was no lack of local applicants looking to secure business space at the location.
“It confirmed for us that there is a lack of quality commercial space available to small business owners in the city,” Sokol said. “We had far more inquiries than we had space.”
Sokol said that the YNDC would likely pursue other opportunities for renovating commercial spaces in the city in the future and noted that the businesses operating out of YNDC buildings are run by women.
“I’m excited to see that there are local businesses excited to set up here in the city, but I’m also personally excited that our first three commercial businesses – Inspiring Minds, The Ursuline Center and Dough House Cookies – are all organizations run by women,” Sokol said.
The mayor agreed with Sokol that there are many local business owners interested in setting up shop within city limits, and that more space for them is needed.
“If I had space to house 100 small businesses, I could fill it up, that’s how much interest we’ve had from individuals interested in starting up here in the city,” Brown said.
“We have an incredible technology incubator downtown at the YBI, but I’d like to see something similar for mom and pop shops to get their footing in the city, and its certainly a goal we’ll be working toward. I’m already looking at what other mayors have done to help nurture their local entrepreneurs.”