YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) -- A plan is in place to repurpose the building that housed The Vindicator in downtown Youngstown.
The building has sat empty since the last paper was published five years ago. America Makes and the Youngstown Business Incubator want to turn the building into an Aerospace and Defense Hub to help local companies secure defense contracts.
A building that once specialized in 2D printing could be used to print 3D.
The Vindicator sign still hangs from the brick building that anchors the Front Street section of downtown Youngstown's west end. But the sign could soon change. Artist renderings of the building call it the Youngstown Innovation Hub For Aerospace and Defense.
Barb Ewing of the Youngstown Business Incubator and Kimberly Gibson of America Makes are the two women behind the hub -- which will work with businesses to get them aerospace and defense contracts.
"The United States government and the Department of Defense are spending generational dollars to revamp defense platforms," said Gibson. "And ensuring that the latest and greatest technologies are being commercialized here and that the wealth can be generated here."
"We want to work with the early-stage companies like Ursa Major and Juggerbot 3D to help them commercialize new technologies and then we want to work with our existing manufacturing base to get more contracts," said Ewing.
The hub is looking to start with $80 million from a combination of federal, state and local grants. An estimated 115 jobs would be created at the former Vindicator building with average salaries of $81,000. 750 jobs could be created or sustained regionally, generating $190 million of work.
"That could mean making them a part of this supply chain for a very large prime defense contractor or it could mean direct parts production," Gibson said.
Aerospace and defense were picked because the area is already a hub of additive manufacturing and 3-D printing.
"Between the fact that additive aligns with aerospace and defense, the fact that we have an existing base to work off of and America Makes relationship, it was a no brainer," said Ewing.
The hold-up on getting the hub started is a $26 million grant from the Ohio Department of Development. Barb Ewing and Kimberly Gibson are hoping to hear soon if the grant is approved.