Youngstown : Buzz

The Brookings Institution released an extensive report that detailed several key export trends in which the Youngstown metro area was among the country’s top performers, ranking it No. 1 in export growth between 2009 and 2012.

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NAMII, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, and driven by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), congratulated its partner and member, the Youngstown Business Incubator (YBI), on its being named one of the top 25 incubators in the world by University Business Incubators Index. YBI was ranked 11th.

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Youngstown is making a comeback with business-to-business software as one of its pillars for economic growth. To that end, the Youngstown-based software group, Fyrware, LLC, is announcing their new “Blazing the Trail for Technology” campaign. The goal is to assist Youngstown’s economic renaissance as it continues to flourish.

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Get a list of the projects approved here.

A mix of organic-rich shale and sandstone rock above the Marcellus formation, first tapped for natural gas in the early 1800s, is once again gaining the attention of exploration and production companies operating in both Ohio and Pennsylvania.

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Regional economic development efforts across Northeast Ohio continued to spur growth for the region’s economy in the second quarter of 2013 by attracting five organizations into the region – including Daisy Brand LLC and GE Oil and Gas, Inc. – and facilitating the expansion and/or retention of eight others, reports the Q2 2013 Regional Economic Development Report released by Team NEO.

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Venture capital investing in Ohio was up in the second quarter, even as numbers dipped nationally, according to a new report.

Nationally, $6.7 billion went to 913 deals. That’s down from $7.3 billion and 970 deals in the same quarter a year ago, according to the PwC/NVCA MoneyTree Report, which is based on data from Thomson Reuters. In Ohio, 20 deals accounted for $94 million of investment, up from 17 deals and $52 million a year earlier.

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Trumbull County Commissioners have approved a 75 percent tax abatement requested by a Hubbard company planning to expand. VEC/Evets Electrical Inc. wants to invest $2.5 million to expand it's facility on Erie Street in Hubbard.

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The new ULTA Beauty and Texas Roadhouse are scheduled to open in the early fall in the Eastwood Complex, said Joe Bell, spokesman for The Cafaro Co. In addition, the Dairy Queen Grill and Chill across from Eastwood Mall is scheduled to open today. The Men’s Wearhouse store opened in early June, Bell said. Another business in Eastwood, Shoe Department, is expanding into an adjacent space with its new concept store, Shoe Department Encore.

“They were able to get that store open a lot faster than expected,” he said.

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Paul Clark, regional president for PNC Bank in Cleveland, is taking over for Timken Co. chairman Ward J. “Tim” Timken Jr. as chair of area economic development group Team NEO.

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Northside Medical Center officials say the ceremonial groundbreaking earlier this week for a $20 million addition and renovation project in Youngstown represents a commitment to the hospital, its patients and the community. The project at Northside on Gypsy Lane, an affiliate of ValleyCare Health System of Ohio, includes a 30,000-square- foot, three-story tower that will house the Emergency Department and serve as the hub of the hospital. Construction is expected to be completed in 2014.

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Earlier this week, Youngstown State University announced a record fundraising year, amounting to more than $10 million in private support from alumni, corporations, foundations and friends in the 2012-13 fiscal year.

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The Ohio International Market Access Grant for Exporters (IMAGE) program is now accepting applications. All activities must be pre-approved in advance and executed no later than September 30, 2013.

IMAGE is a 50 percent reimbursement program designed to offset the costs associated with certain exporting initiatives. IMAGE is funded by the State of Ohio and the United States Small Business Administration as part of the National Export Initiative to double U.S. exports by 2015. The purpose of IMAGE is to increase exports and create jobs in Ohio by helping small businesses expand into new international markets.

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For patrons of McDonald’s restaurants from Cleveland to Pittsburgh, the 180,000-square-foot distribution operation at Ohio Commerce Center here is key to every visit, from the pickles on your Big Mac to the 75-gallon tanks that dispense soft drinks.

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Youngstown-based Strollo Architects is ready to start a $4 million- plus rehabilitation project of the long-vacant Wells Building downtown to turn it into the company’s new headquarters with 12 apartments on its upper three floors.

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