Sen. George Voinovich spent some time in Youngstown Friday meeting with groups in the Youngstown Business Incubator.
The incubator has support from Congressman Tim Ryan, D-Niles, but Voinovich said before he pushed for funding here, he wanted to check out it out for himself.
"Well, first of all, I think this incubator is fantastic. I wasn't aware of it," said Voinovich.
The incubator employs hundreds with high technology jobs, and with software companies like BizVeo and Zethus, there may be close to 1,000 technology jobs in the city in a few years.
"Both of those companies are ready to explode. We fully believe that those companies will be employing hundreds of people in the next two years," said Youngstown Business Incubator CEO Jim Cossler.
Voinovich's impression here was a good one. And now the Youngstown incubator hopes it can get even more support in Washington, D.C.
"We're hoping he'll take back the information that we're bursting at the seams," Cossler said.
One business is looking to work with Pennsylvania and West Virginia to compete with New England and the Silicone Valley to bring more technology jobs here. That's one of the main things Voinovich will push for in D.C.
"Here are three states that are really taking some real hits right now who want to transform their economy," Voinovich said.
The Youngstown Business Incubator is happy to be contributing to a community that has needed well-paying, longterm jobs for decades.
"We're just so proud that all of this is coming from Youngstown, and we wanted to share it with (Voinovich)," Cossler said.
Ryan has a plan before the appropriations committee in Congress right now asking for additional funding for the incubator to expand. Voinovich said he supports the idea of expansion within the incubator campus.
