YBI MySpace Featured in Small Business Trends

The MySpace site of the Youngstown Business Incubator was highlighted by Small Business Trends this week. You can read the article here.

Check it out:

"With so many exciting Web 2.0 applications, you can quickly get the idea that the only place innovation happens is in Silicon Valley. And maybe Boston and Seattle.

But innovation takes place quietly all over America. It even takes place in former high-flying cities of earlier generations — cities that in their day were the equivalents of Silicon Valley. Cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Akron and others. Including Youngstown."

And from the Chief Evangelist:

"Within two weeks of our MySpace page going up, we were approached by three recent graduates of Youngstown State University. Each had lived in the Mahoning Valley their entire lives. Each graduated from college with a degree in computer science. Upon graduation, the three formed a software app development company, which is our sweet spot. They have developed a couple of software utilities that we are very excited about and we look forward to working with them on launching the products. But, until they saw our MySpace site, none of them had ever heard of YBI."

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In other news, there is a new blog in out midst:

Youngstown Renaissance
ytownrenaissance.blogspot.com

If the first three posts are an indication of future work, this will be a very quality local blog.

our incubator: designing & thinking outside the box

An insightful interview with Jim Cossler, the Chief Evangelist of the Youngstown Business Incubator, was posted a few hours ago on the Defend Youngstown blog. You can read the entire interview here. A few of the most interesting highlights are included below, supplemented with some visuals of the buildings involved:

"YBI is currently at 105% capacity, because we have actually had to give up some of our conference space to accommodate the phenomenal growth of our firms. We have even been forced to use our entire basement here. The new center, which is being built immediately adjacent to our facility, will allow us to move some of our most successful firms out into it, freeing some space for a healthy list of startup ventures that have been eager to move in and join us."

"Beyond this fully funded project, we have another $2.75 million in secured funds for further development within the block. At this moment, I believe that we will be directing those dollars toward the renovation of the Semple Building, which sits between the new Center site and Home Savings & Loan. The Semple project can be completed by mid to late 2008, and will house YBI graduates and other tech companies that we might attract to Youngstown."


"Further down the road, our sights our set on renovating the Wells Building and adding it to our campus. There is no time frame set for this project, as we have not yet secured the entire amount of funding necessary for it. Doing so will require very active and aggressive work from our entire local legislative delegation."



Check out the crown on this building. Hopefully the terra cotta will be saved and cleaned in the future.

We lost a beautiful facade during the (see below) for the Youngstown Technology Center - the first expansion project Cossler mentions for the emerging Youngstown Technopole - which will now open in March 2008 instead of December 2007 because the review committee rejected the initial six proposals. The second attempt at the bidding will begin soon.


As we say a final goodbye to pieces of our history, piece by piece, who knows if there will be more beauty in what follows in its place?

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What next, then?

Assuming all of these ideas come to fruition (the Semple & the Wells renovations) what should be the next step in the distant, but rapidly approaching future?

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One problem the incubator has right now is its connectivity to the university.

Not many computer science undergrads are familiar with what's occuring downtown. In fact, when does entrepreneurism ever get thrown into the faces of the students?

Perhaps that future step needs to be even closer in proximity to the students, by incorporaing a new building directly on campus - creating a contant message to everyone at the university that innovation and entrepreneurism happens in Youngstown.

I can see it right now, at the corner of Rayen and Wick, right where the ugly parking lot sits across from the Main Library and south of the current location of the business school.

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Recently a design competition was held to build the deuxième Centre Georges-Pompidou in the city of Metz, France. You can see the winning entry here, with its sweeping views of the beautiful cathedral in Metz.


It's my favorite church in Europe - and a great place to sleep under if you miss the 3am bus back to your apartment (another story).


One of the losing designs however, was created by the architect Dominique Perrault. It looks like an open box.

So what about incorporating this open-box design into a building that is supposed to represent out-of-the-box thinking?



Let's borrow this design for a moment and have some fun with envisioning what can be inside:

I can imagine four stories within this new building.

1st floor - space for companies accepted into the incubator network.

2nd floor - space for the ramped up and highly improved computer science department at the university, including office space for professors, research faculty, and graduate students.

3rd floor - space for enterprenurial classrooms. Each classroom will contain the presentation and multimedia equipment necessary to hold a new series of classes - classes required for every business student, engineering student, industrial artist student, and computer science student at the university. Classes that mix all of these majors into teams competing or working on select projects with applications in industry.

4th floor - that's for the readers of this blog to answer.

In the comments section, please contribute to what else you believe this building needs . . .

youngstown incubator, meet MySpace

A new website has entered the social networking sphere...

Click here to see the MySpace page of the business incubator, launched today.


If you would like to have the Youngstown Business Incubator for a "friend", please do so through your personal MySpace page. Check the site often for future blogs and information:

www.myspace.com/ytownbusinessincubator

now that the bids are in, a few considerations

Last week, the Business Journal reported that six companies submitted bids to build the Youngstown Technology Center downtown. The building, which is slated to open by December 2007 will house companies that are looking for room to expand from the current solitary Youngstown Business Incubator building. As this second building is built, the renovation of buildings three and four for the complex is anticipated to begin.

The bids received ranged in cost from...
$4,549,000
$4,800,000
$5,013,000
$5,135,911
$5,962,145
$6,198,500

Indicating there is a gap of about $1.5 million between the highest and lowest bid.

Let's hope the final choice incorporates not just the lowest cost, but also good design.

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Sure, cost is important. In fact, it's very important.

But looks are important as well.

I try to host architects and city planners in downtown youngstown on a fairly regular basis.

To borrow a line from the Princess Bride, when they see the design of the Childrens' Services Building, they claim: "Dear God, what is that thing?"


Maybe a below the belt comment, but really...a lot could have been done to make that building a little more inviting.

People don't necessary dislike all aspects of the entire building (the brick is kinda nice) , but most criticism is centered on the windowless ground floor and the sheer feeling of nothingness as one walks from the DeYor center to Hazel Street. It hard to believe that building is now a fixture on our main street for what will probably be at least 50 years.

And that's what I would like to stress upon those making the decision, if they ever read this blog, or if their buddies do: that the Technology Center will probably be on our main street for a long time.

A real long time.

Maybe the extra cost associated with a nicer building if it makes the site more attractive, that is actually welcoming to pedestrians and tourists, is money well spent.

UPDATE:

well, coming on the heels of this blog entry, the news broke that the CIC rejected all 6 of the bids.

According to the Business Journal, "The technology center is funded by a $2.5 million grant through the state of Ohio Board of Regents, a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s economic development administration, $248,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and $750,000 already spent on demolition and remediation from the states Clean Ohio Fund." These values add up to about $5.5 million dollars.

Alternatively, the Youngstown Vindicator had the amount come to $5.9 million in state and federal funding.

So when you figure in the cost of demolition ($768,500) between $4,729,500 and $5,131,500 seems to be remaining.

The executive committee of the Youngstown CIC, rejected the proposals Monday because they “omitted required characteristics and/or were in excess of the amount available for construction.”

wow. Maybe we'll be getting a big box store on Federal Street now.

And the second round of bidding may be much more interesting now that all of the other initial bids are known.

I guess we should just hope that some respectable design emerges from all this. Maybe the city can throw in a few bucks from their pool of money for facade grants. Or maybe another 200K is floating around out there.

Brother, can you spare a dime?