Community leaders commit to the development of an incubator when the Mahoning Valley, historically heavily dependent on the manufacturing sector – and specifically, steel mills – had experienced a tremendous erosion of its employment base. The Incubator concept was born from the donation of a suitable facility in downtown Youngstown as well as an opportunity to join the Edison Technology Incubator Program, operated by the Ohio Department of Development. The Youngstown Edison Incubator Corporation, operating as Youngstown Business Incubator (YBI), charters as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit general purpose incubator based in Youngstown, Ohio.

West Federal Properties Inc., a subsidiary of The Vindicator Printing Co., donates buildings and property on West Federal Street in downtown Youngstown for the incubator.

Gov. George Voinovich kicks off the downtown incubator.