The area's newest business incubator is meant to help fledgling companies get started and grow, but the focus will be different than an incubator in Youngstown.
The new LindenPoint Training and Workforce Development Center in Hermitage sits on 115 acres of city-owned land just off Route 18. Executive Director Yvonne English said it will assist businesses specializing in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
"You can see how broad that is, so we're really just looking for companies that fall under that auspice," English said.
The main building will feature state of the art technology, including geothermal heating and cooling, designed in large measure with input from local business leaders.
"We asked them some basic questions about what would have been beneficial to them in the formative years, and what would continue to help them with research and development," said Assistant Hermitage City Manager Mary Gulla.
To help get things started, nearly $7 million was obtained from the state and the U.S. Department of Commerce, which paid for the main facility as well as a standalone training center next door, allowing different businesses to grow close to one another.
Butler County Community College already has opened a satellite campus at the site and Sharon Regional Health System is building a multi-million dollar facility for its IT program, and directors are looking to attract even more new tenants.
"We want to take small steps here, we want to make sure we get the right businesses," Gulla said.
Directors even got an assist in the project from former Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams.
They said Mayor Williams met with officials from Washington and Harrisburg and told them even though LindenPoint wasn't located in his city, or even his state, that they needed to make the investment to help the region as a whole. And they did.
The new center is to hold a formal opening in October.
