it's been nine months since vinyl siding went up, and degradation persists

Nine months.

A lot can happen in nine months.

A baby conceived in June 2011 would have been born by now.

Juniors in high school from June 2011 are getting ready to now graduate as seniors.

If you started counting from one for every second since June 2011, today you'd be beyond 23.7 million.

However, very little can also happen in nine months too.

Very little.

It's been exactly nine months and one day since the Saturday in June 2011 when cheap vinyl siding was put on a facade at 25 West Federal Street.

This same vinyl siding design for this building was soundly rejected by the city's Design and Review Board before construction, however the owner of the building decided to put up the violating vinyl anyway.

And since the June construction of the rejected design, with citations issued, postponed court dates, and capitulation without construction deadlines, the white vinyl siding remains.


Through nine months, the vinyl siding remains, untouched.

And other current downtown investors wonder...

...why are plans not respected and agreements blatantly ignored?
...why is a city so weak when it comes to code enforcement?
...why do others not follow the rules, when most abide by certain standards?
...why now is the building inhabited, but the original problem still exists?

As these questions set into the minds of those who have made recent investments into the Central Business District, one may ask:

would they make a future investment in downtown youngstown?

Startup Bus takes six-hour detour to visit Youngstown and YBI

Quick, what's the most direct way from Columbus/Cincinnati to Texas for a busload of entrepreneurs?

Why north of course...

... to Youngstown

Startup Buses are launching from all over America, making their way to the SXSW Festival in Austin.

You can track these buses here, as they make their way across the USA with their precious cargo of entrepreneurs... entrepreneurs looking to hone their pitches for new companies.

One bus sponsored by southern Ohio groups such as CincyTech, The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, and the Greater Cincinnati Venture Association took a six-hour detour this morning.

A six-hour detour to Youngstown.

The media was there at the Youngstown Business Incubator (YBI), watching as folks shared their business ideas. Some of the world-class talent associated with the YBI provided advice.

But a larger question arises:

Why Youngstown?

Why not visit one of hundreds of other incubators in the country?

Simply put, the Youngstown Business Incubator is on the mental map of the state and national entrepreneurs as a remarkable place to build a business.

So much so, it's a stop for a very cool national event like the Startup Bus.

You can watch the travels of the Startup Bus here, as chronicled by a great guy, Thomas Mulready of Cool Cleveland.



The soon-to-be four building campus in downtown Youngstown is home now to hundreds of employees, generating wealth, generating innovation, generating taxes for the region, and generating hundreds of other spinoff jobs in the region.

It's a tide rising all boats.


It's a tide selling product across the world, building a connected Global Youngstown.


It's a tide that is becoming more and more known across the nation.

ethnic food vendor and marketplace forms for Simply Slavic Fest now available!

For a first-time festival, the 2011 Simply Slavic event in downtown Youngstown was an amazing success!

Over 3,000 people came down for the inaugural one-day event last June, which was filled with delicious food and drink, dancing, educational opportunities, and most of all ... FUN.

Now, onto this year . . . mark your calendars for Saturday, June 16, 2012.

Do you want your church, business, or organization join in the ethnic festivities and make big profits like last year's participants?

Here's a great summary of the day from the Casey Malone Show:


All the forms to participate in the day's activities are now online:
Food Vendor Form
Craft/Marketplace Vendor Form
Heritage Table Form
Business Sponsorship
Family/Individual Sponsorship

Please note: vendors are expected to sell food and crafts of an ethnic variety. Vendors are welcome from anywhere in Northeast Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, and all over the world!

If you are a church, and your parishoners make the best home-cooked food, then this is the festival for you!

If you are an organization, and your members sell unique ethnic crafts, then this is the festival for you!

If you are a stromboli vendor or a snow cone vendor, please call the folks at Youngstown's many other wonderful ethnic festivals for vendor opportunities.

Food vendor and marketplace vendor forms are due March 30, so tents can be ordered at a resonable price.

Please connect through contacts on the Simply Slavic website if questions arise.

- - -

These modern-day nations in Europe represent the origins of our Slavic ancestors: Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine.

Can we get a organization/church from every one of these ethnic groups?