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B y B I L L D O N A H U E ; , : i i . . l i:, : i , , ii:!il : r ;j , . . : r. , ; . , : r . . r .i ,. t r ; . i .a r : .

Thereare no hotelsin Youngstown, Ohio,population82,000,and thereis no realairport,either.Evel befbre

)'ou get there,you havea senseof the placeassomehowguttedof commerce.But then you roll into the city, over
the highway,and you shuddera bit, for the skylineis sublime.Here is the CentralTower,a graceful l7-story art
decosliverthat narrows,i la the EmpireStateBuilding,asit reachesits peak.Here,besideil, i, th" older,more
earthbound Huntington Bank building,rvith its rvhiteterracotta fagade.
Both of thesestructuresrverebuilt lor theages,before1930,whenYoungstownwasamongthe threelargest
steelproducersin the U.S.,with a populatior.r
of 170,000 and dozensof foundries.Wealthyfinancierslived

t / A Y 2 0 rtoN c . 8 7
 CrrY
I TNCUBAT|oN
upwind from the smokestacks then, in Doric-columned
manseson Millionaire's Row.The mansionsarestill there.
You don't reallyapprehendhow desolateYoungstownhas
becomeuntil you pull offthe highwayand begin navigating
the potholesof SouthernBoulevard.Here'sa concrete-block
conveniencestorewith barson the windows.On somestreets
nearby,up to 40 percentofthe housesarevacant,and down
the hill, 200yardsor so from the mayor'soffice,the brick, han-
garlike Wean Steelplant standsvacant amid high, tawny grass.
With a 13.7percentunemploymentrateand 3,500vacant
buildings,Youngstownis depressed, failedpostindustrial
America in distilledform.
Keepdriving. Turn left onto the city's main drag,West
FederalStreet,and then, eventually,you seesomethingweird:
a newishgreenawning,printed with shiny metallettering.
YoungstownBusinessIncubator,it says.Inside is a guy,)im
Cossler,who callshimself the incubatort "chief evangelist."
Cossleris a scrappyfellow, 55 yearsold and sparelybuilt,
balding, with a habit of ducking out onto the streetto
furtively light cigarettes,his hands fluttering a bit ashe cups
the match in the wind.
Cosslerhasa rap about howYoungstownis perfectlysuited
to becomea meccafor producersof business-to-business
software."When you buy software,"he says,his voicea bit high
and nasal,"do you everturn over the box and say,'I wonder
brightest
now,Youngstown's
Fofdeca_des
vouths
Q havefledtowri.Jim Cossler
wantsto callhomewhathesalls"the
Youngstown diaspora."
wherethis wasmade?'You don't! Nobody careswhere software
is made.And you can makesoftwarein Youngstown,Ohio,
inexpensively.You can hire a softwareprogrammer in
Youngstownfor $50,000,and that'sa goodsalar/'
Cosslerhasbeen the CEO of the BusinessIncubator since
1998.The Stateof Ohio now giveshim $375,000eachyear,
and he usesthe money exclusivelyto nurture tech-related
companies.The YBI housessevenstart-upsand givesthe
neweronesfree rent, free utilities, and freeWi-Fi and phone
service.It alsogivesguidanceto nine companiesthat sit off-
campusin greaterYoungstownas they developtech products.
A framed photo outsideCossler'soffice,by the elevator,
bespeaksthe dream. It capturesthe original Microsoft team in
1978-aba\-faced, beak-nosedBill Gatesflankedby several
furry-beardedhippies.At first, it registersasa little absurd.
But attachedto the YBI building is a symbol of hope-a
brand-new30,000-square-foot building in chromeand glass.
8 8 r N c .i M A 2Yo 1 o
This is the headquartersof Tirrning Technologies,which last
yeargrossed$33.5million making an audienceresponse
systemusedin academicsettingsand on showslike Who
Wantsto Bea Millionairei Tirrning beganin 2002,under
Cosslert stewardship,in a small room at the incubator.Today,
it has 173employees, who work amid airy,high-ceilinged
rooms with exposedbrick wallsand aluminum ductwork'
Cossleris especiallyproud that Turning stayednext door.
"In most businessincubators,"he says,"when companiesare
successful, you graduatethem, and then they moveawayand
work in isolation.That'sa horrible idea.We'reopen-source."
It's Cossler'shope that everyoneon the Thrning/Business
Incubator campuscan shareideasby,say,advisingone another
on how to displaywaresat a tradeshow,or participatingin
what he calls"your ba\ is ugly" meetings-that is, candid
product-reviewsessions. He wantsTurning s triumph to rub
off, and he wantsto reversea grim brain drain: For decades
now Youngstown'sbrightestyouthshavefled town. He wants
to call home what he calls"the Youngstowndiaspora,"to
sprouta cerebrallocalculture and a computerindustry that
cansupport5,000jobson theYBI campus.
Cossleris by no meansthereyet. The sevencompanies
that sit besideTurning in the incubatorcollectivelyboast62
employees. They arereluctantto sharerevenuefigures,but by
Cossler'sestimate,they grosseda total of about $3.5million
in 2009.Still,thereareintimationsof glory.Youngstown's
U.S.representative,Tim Ryan,keepsan office inside the
incubator.In the pastsevenyears,he has securedmore than
$23 million in federalgrants for tech projectsinvolving YBI's
portfolio companies.
Meanwhile,Cossleris schemingto expandthe campus,
which includesthreebuildingsand 83,000squarefeet.He
gaveme a tour, pointing first at a weatheredbrick ware-
house-Furn itureland of Youngstown, read the fading sign-
and then at an open pit alongsideWestFederalStreet.
"Here,"he said,gazingdown, "we'regoing to build a bocce
court, or maybea barbecueareawhere everyoneon campus
can mingle."
Wewereout on the sidewalk,and it waswinter.A scrim of
windblown snow skitteredabout,accentuatingthe bleakness.
But still, therewasa new martini bar nearbyand a swankItalian
restaurantthat YBISworkersnow frequentat lunchtime.And if
you squinted a bit, you could
actuallyseeit happening-the
rebirth of Youngstown.

Youngstowndied on September
19,1977.That wasBlackMon-
day.Forty-one hundred workers
at the Campbellplant of
YoungstownSheetand Tube,the
city's biggestemployer,showed
up that morning to learnthey
had beenlaid ofl permanently.
A spirit of fearand anomiehad
beenseepinginto Youngstown
for years,asthe U.S.steelindus-
try withered and the local
foundries,onceownedby the
lions of Millionaire'sRow got
soldoff to out-of-town con-
glomerates. Nou despairsetin.
By the early 1980s,Youngstown
had one of the highestarson
ratesin the country.Sheetand
Tube had shutteredanother
plant.U.S.SteelandRepublic
Steelleft Youngstown,too. All
told, greaterYoungstownlost
about 50,000jobs in steeland
reiatedindustries.
It was a story that repeated
itselfall overthe rust belt,but
Youngstownwasparticularly
demoralized-and tiagmented.
In his recentbook,Why the
GardenCIub Couldn'tSave
Youngstown, organizational
theorist SeanSaffordcelebrates
how Allentown,Pennsylvania,
a similarly ravagedsteeltown, tt.
;i i tl:,',,i t!,,l'I r.Li:-',,iiIl.:l
reinventeditselfin the 1980s,as Youngstown's strategy for prosperity in thepost-steel
eraincludesa controlled _Butit stillhas
shrinkage.
"community-baseddivisions" the aichitecture andpublicspacesof thevital,much-largercityit usedto be.Thisis WestFederal
Street, a coupleof blocksfromtheYoungstown BusinessIncubaton
melted and city leadersformed a
"bridge acrossethnic, class,and
indeedgeographical divisions"
to developa new,diverseeconomydriven by tech start-ups. ing. "We are the oneswith the leastcommunity supPort."
Youngstown,Saffordwrites, was"balkanized."Membersof the Youngstownreservedits support,instead,for a onetimecol-
GardenClub didn't talk to entrepreneurs.A few power bro- legefootballstarwho hadapparenttiesto the Mob. In 1980,Iim
kers(namely,the GardenClub bunch) held the pursestrings, Traficantwaselectedsheriffof MahoningCounty.Audiotapes
marginalizingeveryoneelse.The placewaslorded over by the nabbedhim in clandestinechatswith a Mafioso,who eventually
Mafia and often calledMurdertown USA.And Jim Cosslerfelt handedhim an envelopecontaining$163,000in cash.Still,when
the sting. In2002,he told Saffordthat the city's mayor had Tiaficantwasindictedin 1982,for acceptinga bribe,he defended
neverevensetfoot in YBI's office."The community isn't himselfand opened,incredibly,by stating,"I fuckedthe Mob."
behindthe incubator,"Cosslersaid,in a raremoment of mop- His populistgustosangto bitter,disenfranchised Youngstown,

9 0 : l N C . r M A Y2 0 1 0
 CITY l
TNCUBATION

round' while carrying a

conviction' he became a beloved through the streetsshirtless,year
and afterhe wriggled free of thenhe
2002'whenhe finally iifi"a log."It's insane"'hesaid'He paused'and
U.i...pr"r.ntati-'ie, serving fron l985to said"'back home'
for brlbe taKrng' tt.i, *"na.""tial.,"I've got my own log"'he
wascaughtand sentto federal prisorl --: in mYaPartment.
In Tr-aficant's heyday,Youngstowns urban corewaspractt-
leaders seemed
cullygagged-so moribund that the city's '70s' in a city that revelsin its
there' In the But how do you build businesses
i"",.t-ined to suffocate enterprise
"i.* put in a brick ter- -'"d;;il-iorrl.,
dvsfunctionalitY?
,ft.V.f"t"a W.st FederalStreetto carsand first cameto his job' from.Youngstown's
therebykilling downtown'
--if,i.,g,
-race, hostedjust
a I 80' chamberof conmerce,the BusinessIncubator
got so dire that in 2005,the city'svotersdid digitalprinting comPany'a manufacturer
,ir*. t""-"ps-a
They ele"cteiasmayor |ayWillia ms' a 34-year-old,African that wanted to place
rookie who carried a vision to oi*ooa.n rocking ttotses,and an outfit
American banker and political at airport check-in,areas' In 2002'
V""tg*own "healthy and leaner"' larq"ly by demolishing p.ft"t. for travelJrs'use
-J. the,develoPment
who is ihe statelegislatureestablishedfunding for
vacanthoules and revitalizingdowntown' Williams' businesses in Ohio, and Cossler had an insight
of the rust belt'sburgeoning of t.cf,notJgy
,iitt rnuyo. is now ffte rock star Technologies: "Software
national that would help spawnTurning
"shrinking city" movement'He appearsfrequentll'on easy to start' Prettymuch all you needis a
House' He works companies are
television-andhas been invited to the White a bunch of tech
who is just 36' serverand somecomPuters'And if we have
in tandem with Tim Ryan,
ideal- companies
-- here,we can build synergy"'
And thereis suddenlya hostof young'civic-minded Mike Broder-
baldand muscled ii* y.ut f"rning beganat the incubator'CEO
istsinYoungstown,amongthem Phil Kidd' a him"'We prob-
his first foray i.k is siitigratefulfo.-th.Ju-p-start CosslerSave
onetimeArLy lieutenant.kidd, who is 30' made or $300,000worth of help from the incubatori'
plazaeach uUtygot SIsO,O0O
into activismin 2005,by standingon a downtown says."We didn t haveto worry about infiastructure'
Today'he works Brod"erick
*..f *i,tt a sign readingDefendYoungstown' on the product-and that accelerated thepro-
We could focus
fo, u nonirofit, the MahoningValleyOrganizingCollab- people'and he
".* to shut down a corner cess.lim Cosslerhasa Rolodexof thousandsof
orative.He hai ralliedYoungstowners

iJHitTscE"6l[,?FEFf+!?fl
"' egla-ffit'frBi?ff
['E'$5[tt H$
1? fii,hesays
of thatl'
residentsof madeintroductionsfor us.We'vebeenvery cognizant
liouor storewherecriminalsgatheredand to help considered
get the city to pull down vacant build- In 2007,when Turning neededto expand'it
Ulii.*a neighborhoods The
usually, or vandal magnets' moving its headquartersio the suburbsof Youngstown'
ines--drughouses, who
"Kidd city im-posesa2.75 percentincome tax on everyone
oftenworks80 hoursa week.He signshis e-mails canbe
just hangingout' workswithin its bo;ndaries,and parkingdowntown
Defend,Pr(,and he is intenseevenwhenhe is force' "But we
he invited me to the Youngstown YMCA' where' a hasslefor Turning's largelysuburbanwork
Oneevening, workers said
ii y's young professionals gathered each weekto play took an informal pott,o"a 95 percentof our
i" *ia, ttr. "There'san
I expected a convivial gathering with, perhaps' a they liked working downtown," saysBroderick'
dodeeball.
i.ed tea on the sidelines. But no, the game was ugly' energy,a hoPe."
oitcfr.. of
his tar- Niw Cossleris trying to createYoungstown'snext Turn-
iCdd rh.t.d,he ball so hardthat he grunted,and one of
- riled that postgame, he was spoiling for a fight"'Did ing. In a strugglingcity,he is a sort of kingmaker'About
n o *r.*
teammate' 20 peopleapproachhim everymonth' trying to 'secure
iou Ltt mea faggot,No. 4?"he bellowedto Kidd's
spu.ein the incubatorby pitchingideasfor products'Many
"I wasjust sayinl" saidNo. 4, walking away.
of th. id.ut arejust plain bad-"they tend to self-select
v Afterward,overbeers,Kidd smirked,recallingthe tension'
out," as Cosslergently puts it-but still, Cossleralways
ln "That'sYoungstown!"he reveled."That'sYoungstown!What on the cusp
speaksasthough he is surroundedby geniuses
:d makesthisplaceis its blue-collarethicand its dysfunctionality' Zethus as "a companywhose
oi greatness.He describes
ii.r. rt, charactershere." ln time' Kidd told me about Paul
deJpand leading-edge knowledge of cloud computing
who runs
Dunleavy,the dauntlessco-ownerof a local gym
M A Y 2 0 l ot x c . 9 1
 we'd
you did. Sayyou wanted to createsoftwarefor DSLR;
may just revolutionizehow we manageour electronrc
called find you programmers."
datuj'founded in 2003,Zethusmakesa platform that
ns the invintors left, theywere envisioningsoftware
cumulus::DocumentMatrix.One of Zethus'sneighbors Sevenweeks later'they beganworking
could aid video editing.
at YBI, BizVeo,makesan online platform that medical
in the InsPireLab.
patientscan use to download' say,medical-historyforms
or streamingvideo of their doctors discussingthe nuances
Urban theorist and author Richard Florida has identified
of open-heait surgery.The companyjust made its first Flor-
what he callsthe "three T!" of economicdevelopment'
sale,to a local hosPital. bestseller The Rise of the Creative Clnss
just iJu urgu., in his 2002
YBI's off-campuscompanies,combined'grossed "talent, technology, and tolerance'" By
a deep history' that tirban areas need
shy of $60 million last year,and some have venues that embrace "cultural' entrepre-
tulerance,hemeans
Still, it seemsthat Cossler'smain job is cheeringup a city hangouts'
neurial,civic, scientific,and artistic creativity'"Cool
with bad-self-esteemissues.In one open letter to the YBI experimental the-
the in other words: museums' microbreweries'
community, he soundsan almost therapeuticring' calling
in ourselves aters,and research labs.
incubator'lashining exampleof how disbelief
In thoseterms,Youngstowncould go either way' The
can and must be overcomethroughout NortheastOhiol I was
ruined steelmills hold a certain rust belt chic,and when
He wearsa short-sleevedYBI polo shirt virtually all the time' who had come back to the city'
there,I met artists and writers
evenin winter, and in his talks with young inventors'he taps romance of the place' There is a
enchanted by the pathos and
their potential deftly' with the indulgent patienceof a good Street-the Lemon Grove'
splendid new caf€ on West Federal
Little Leaguecoach. and
where the walls arehung with paintings from local artists
One afternoon,I satin asCosslermet with a 28-year-old from an old barn'
the floors are made of planks salvaged
photographer,RasulWelch,who wants to fabricateand sell

"
Thereis anolC-wqftdc-harmr
q'i !o toungstown'
fri-uilef -'t':'fflff-ll*XgiiHtrlgn
"follow focus" hardwarethat can facilitatevideo shooting on
DSLRcameras.Welchs businesspartnerwasa half-hourlate' ican
And aswe all waitedfor him, Welchslumpedin his chair'
He wasimpressivelyschooledon cameratechnology'but he
seemeda little casualfor a guy on thin ice'"Charlesis a young
buck just off the boat from Dubai," he said of his straggling
mate."He went to the Universityof Cambridge,in England"'
He admitted he had done only one casualmarket study for
his mount: quizzingfive photographerfriends about his
concept."Four of them hatedit," he said.
Cosslerhad a flashof doubt."Justbecauseyour mom and
your girlfriend like your idea.'." he began'Then he changed Tech,
Beal
iu.k.;t like you guys,"he said,after fabricator Charles
finally showea.'i tite your pedigree.You havenice skill sets"' have
A moment later,he was offering the inventorsaccessto YBI's
Inspire Lab, a setof two ground-floor conferencerooms
shaied by about 20 start-ups so germinal that they are just
tinkering, nights and weekends.He alsoofferedthe gratis aid
of a lawyer*ho could help the inventorsincorporate'
"We
could go to work for you tomorrow," he said'
"nJt," said Beal,"t don't know how we'd createjobs for
Youngstown."
"Don't worry,"Cosslersaid."We'd morph you alongso
Thereis an old-schoolmuseum,the ButlerInstituteof Amer-
Art, that boastsEdward Hoppers and GeorgiaO'Keeffes
in its permanentcollection,and thereis alsoa gayadvocacy
g.oup, Pride Youngstown-YoungstownStateUniversity'
i"tti.-n .itt on a hillabove the downtown area'is a big and
faceit-not
important Presence.But Youngstownis-let's
the sort of place where U2 is going to kick off its next tour'
and it is
It is a smalf town, more homey than cosmopolitan,
trying to fight its way back from a hauntedpast'
'
Skeptics hold that Youngstowncould be damnedby its his-
tory. Heike Mayer,a professorof urban planning atVirginia
notesthatYoungstownhas no track recordwith high
tech. She adds,"Youcan't create5,000jobs out of nothing' You
to connectto what'salreadythere,historically'Pittsburgh
did that. It wasa steeltown, and it built highly specializedsteel-
technologyfirms. But Youngstown,I don t know'"
Mayer has studied Oregon'sSilicon Forest,south of Port-
land, where a number of small tech start-upshaveemerged
"Even
in the shadowsof the local giants' Tektronix and Intel'
there,"shesays,"the start-upsdidn't create5,000 jobs'
YoungstownhasTurning, yes,but that won't generate15
spinoffs.If there'stwo successfulones,that would be good'
PerhapsYoungstownneedsto lower its goalsand go after

92 r tttC. N4AY2010
 CITY1
INCUBATION

:--,
amazing'
toldme."Themayoriswalk-on-water the-incu-
doing at
il ;;t mo* *hut they're
incubationisn't iust.
;;;";.'ih.t *alize that that
sPace'Andbecause
;;; il;g awaYfree as oPPosed
;;?"*inatei bYcommunitY'
thetechcompanies can
io , Uanks,
"",ionuf The bankersthere are
-.i *""a financing'
i"iiii.g to take a littleriskto getYoungstown
*til3lfiil;tebig question
is:willsoftware
Techstart-
.ompuni., srayin Youngstown?
venture capltat-
up, ur. often fundedby
qualnrsabout sellinga
."aVC firms haveno
some success
.ornpuny as soon asit achieves
outof town"'Wilt]ll:
itbeswept
happen''Y."li:,::1,:';ii
""Ji.nits
],?:':f,:T;:
ooisedto stayanclgrol
I am not
estansweris' I just don't know'
smarter than the market'"
""'nfong that
*ittt Hill' MayorWilliamsknows
that it can'tsrngte-
high teci is a gamble-and
"we're Pursurng
iu?a.aty t.t.ue Youngstown'
"buinot with the notion that
,.t*"r.;' n. says,
play
iliii;k steel'Manufacturingwill still
serviceindustry' too' We've
u .ot. t..., and the
g"i" centerdowntown that'semploying
".-."ff
650peoPlel'
d?
diversity'"Y.t
nyunut,owants tu.:^^,
we neect
says"'and
a manufacturingbase"'he
comPuters-that can
tobuild on that' But
image' The average satary
changeour
incubator is $58'000'
at thJbusiness
us' \Ate
That's a force multiplier for
'Ylt*if tt ot. kinds
\r of jobs here' And so
Yr, , ^l is atechie
He *unt urubc
wanr
canvas.
--^ returl
-^..,.neeswhoseethe cityasa kindof blank we're designing a city that
peoPle would
TvlerandJaciClarkare iounqrto*t ;;. ; t;;;i;q'apher
a,oroe c:ailJ
andactivistwho wrrtes l:l-::llili -"tt"T"i[r:Twastalkingaboula..
i'iltl'iirshi,Li'five-bedroomhouse'futivrenovated'for$1BB'000
who had just
Youngstownentrepreneur
to host LPGA tourna-
sprucedup three local golfiourses'
sort of work that often goesto India he says'"we've got
lowlevel tech jobs_the ments."vJuwan, *orri-.ru*
golf here?"
or china, like cusromer
support.,,
r'.;i. rlit icr ioulike hunting and fishing?
ir.
s- who is on l#e this year in Switzerland,is far """.uy. coming' Right in
But Mayer, i'ett.'ir"=siti*t * got ilton-John
tt't"",
good newsthut i,a, of latebee;;;;i;g centre' Elton |ohn!"
removedfrom the downto;;;";;;;'i' ut ti" covelli
v^,rnocrown.tn February,a b'renchpip. .un,rru.iu..r"
)u
dirge'
ah
:el- i*::',',ffiT$llffin'"'-:",XTiH*':iliF:1'-i"": - ::Tli.ddowntime,Iwanderedaboutt
lhat Proiectwill create:so blue-collar snow
Tillft;;;- a famousBruceSpringsteen
naturalgasextractlon. mv head:"Hereinaboutin
Motor, ,uia it *ouia".iiuna My sweetfenny'I'm sinkin
iobs.Eightdayslater,-Ger,.rul just '
.:""1*:#""'wafted
Youngstown/ Herein Youngstown/
to fit'
1
at itsLorclstown plant, outsideYo'rin-g"to*n' ioundtrackseems
l operations
and t,zoo job.. rn. ru.toi|;#' down'tn it' ai""t" andgloom'the on you'
up
bv addinga third shrn untilYoungstown's quietold
;Plendor
sneaks
en Meanwhile, nyunt g.u.it;o?y the Powers Audito-
employs4,500workers. *ross the' streetfrom YBI is
rn' rrcd Hill' thedean of CLve;:"#lt of Hollyrtood's
keepsstreamrng 'it"n' Uuiiifot $' -itlion in 1931by three
1i';ttV
attarrsprogram, f..t, Vou'grtoJri t u' natives'Thewood-
Univenity,surban tit;;i'f,-. wt'nt' uilit"is' who wereYoungsiown
L.
"There-s unprecedentea opti','i'^
momenturn.
M A y2 o 1 o 1 x g .r 9 3
 I INCUBATION
CITY

work is wrought of Carpathian elm. The ceiling is covedand
gilded, as in a church, and hung with grand chandeliers.
A few miles awayis Kravitz Deli, which hasbeenserving
corned beefsandwichessince1939.FounderRoseKravitz,now
94, still works six daysa week,eventhough sheis nearlyblind.
Ethnicity still mattersin Youngstown,a city that lured
legionsof immigrants,mostly Italiansand EasternEurope-
ans,in its steelheyday.Myriad polish, Slovakian,and Ukrai-
nian churchessell pierogison Fridays,and on Saturdaysat
one Croatian eatery,the Dubic palm Cafe,serverscarveup
whole smoked lambs on a backroom table,in full view of
the diners.There is an old-world charm to youngstown,a
and shareeverythingthey learned."
Until about 2005,Youngstownwasa hard sell to young
creativetypes.Now, though, there is a small community
of tech peoplewho havecome back to their hometown,
to embracethe placeas though it werethe lost Holy Land.
The group'sguiding spirit is Tyler Clark, a 34-year-old
musician and Web-strategyconsultantwho servesasyBI's
'thief
imagination officer,"helping local businessesspruce
up their websites.Clark grew up in Texasand went to
YoungstownStateUniversity;as an undergrad,he wasthe
musicaldirector at the Youngstownplayhouse.He bounced
around after graduation, living in suburbanVirginia and

Thereis a smallcommunity of techpeoolewho

have_come backto theirhomeioWn. tb-Lmbrace
theplaceasthoughit werethelos{Ho$Land
substance and intricacythat you would
neverfind amid the McMansionsof
Phoenix.The placecan pull on a person,
and a few yearsago,one youngstown
native,/ohn Slanina,missedyoungstown
while living in the Netherlands.Slanina,
a policy analystfocusedon tech-based
development,launched a blog titled I
Will ShoutYoungstown.
The project becamea recordof one
expat'shomesickness. Slaninawrote
about both ancientyoungstowndelights
and nouveautweaks,suchasthe group
PolishYoungstown,which offerspolish-
languagekaraokeat its sprightly ragers.A
fondnesspervadeseveryword. When
Slaninadiscusses a weddinetradition
unique to the rust belt-thi cookie
table-he lambastesa friend'spainfullv
cookielesswedding."The initial shockof
not having a cookie tableis difficult for
,:rlil;:r.i' i it) i -,i::.
the soul,"he says,"but it alsoshowsus
N:y:i becoming a techhub-courdyoungstown becomecoor? TheLemonGrove
how there aresometraditions out there whereriT that partof the renaissance cafeis
is attemptirigto takehord.LocaractiviiL ,""i *,... to,.
that areweavedinto the coreof our strategy sessions calledThinkers andDnnkers.
beings,which you can't find everywhere
throughoutthe country.',
Tucson,but then, in 2006,a good friend in youngstown
Cossleris happy to haveSlaninain his corner.He dreams fell
- ill. Clark'swife, Iaci, a photographerwho g..* ri here,came
of a day when studentsat Harvardyearnto be sitting
on back, and the visit wasa revelation.The Ciarks bought
West FederalStreet,quafling Rust Belt beer,which a
is-proudly meticulouslymaintainedfive-bedroomMillionairet
brewedwith Youngstowntap water.But he doesn'twant Row
to manse,once the home of SharonSteelpresidentHenry
pinion bright twentysomethings. ..We
want our bestand Roemer,for $188.000.
brightest to leaveYoungstown,';he says.,.Wewant them
to Today,Clark works in a home office repletewith a curving
go to Seattleor New york or wherever,and then
come back blackand crimson art decobar,and he regardsyoungstown
9 4 r r x c .i M A 2y o 1 o
I INCUBATIONCITY

we
"We're and offer passersbyfree milk shakes,"he said"'Maybe
asan adventure."We'reurban pioneers;'hetold me' polka music' I'm going to
could open the windows and blast
trying to bring a city back from the dead,and Youngstown going to get togetherall the
start a BoomerangInitiative. I'm
,,..dJ ro -.r.hl' Clark writes a blog, YoungstownRenais-
("For God's peoplewho moved back here,so we can talk about our
sance,that advocatesfor a livableYoungstown' I'll
mem- irorn.totn-and what we learnedwhile we were away'
sake,"he writes,"no more surfaceparking lots'") As a global knowledge to do
of vacant ask.Can we combine local trust with
ber of the group ResettleYoungstown,he takescare
good projects?"
vandals
houses,bo"ardingup the windows and doors to keep "
emcees fui.r, i talked to Tyler Clark, and he insistedthat the
out, and .'o.ry to often, at the Lemon Grove Cafe'he "There's
sees locals answeris yes."Youngstownis a laboratory,"he said'
Thinkers and Drinkers, a casualpowwow that You can make a dif-
not a lot of restrictionsand bureaucracy'
sipping pints asthey hashover questionslike-'How can
Statestudentsmore involvedin the ferencewithout a lot of effort"'
*.i.iG"ngstown
I went one night, he beganwith caution' Clark paused,and then crackedout a screwdrlverso
.o,i*unityiwhen
"Complainingis OK," he said,"but I don't want this to turn that he and I could flagrantly violate the law' We weretres-
passingour way into an abandonedl0-bedroom Tudor
into a bitch session."
mansionhe wastrying to keepstanding,in hopessomeone
would buy it. The househad a sheetof plywood over the
The Lemon Grove is Youngstown'smost progressiveand
front door. It looked out onto grassyWick Park' It was cold
outr€venue,and among regulars,there is a feelingthat the
and musty inside,and Clark wasdressedrather nattily for a
entrepreneursat YBI are irrelevant-alien to the Youngstown
burglar,in a long woolen overcoat,black pinstriped slacks'
revolutionand ensconcedon their own little islandof narcis-
a and a necktie.Wewalked up the stairs'The wallpaperwas
sism.At Thinkers and Drinkers' I met Howard Markert' 43'
peelingand gatheringinto piles on the floor, amid a blizz:;rd'
small-scalegreendeveloperwho had recentlyarrived' from

It wassadto seehoryfar apartthe.techieE

airilTie-Jcliv'isti
- -were Ltseemedasthough there
; ire.-
twoseparate Youngstown
renaiCsanceb, contact"
notin radi-o
the BayArea,to convert apartmentsinto eco-havensreplete
with nontoxicpaint and energy-efficient furnaces'He told
me that he felt obliged to be civically engaged: "lf you're not"'
he said,"the neighborhoodswill fall to pieces around you'
Your investmentwill be worthless."Markert is active in nine
Youngstownnonprofits.I askedhim about YBI's entrepre-
neurs."I neverseethosepeople,"he said.
It wassadto seehow far apart the techiesand the activists
arein a town that needsits visionariesto band together'At
times,it seemedto me asthough therewerenvo separate
Youngstownrenaissances happeningon the samestreet,and
not in radio contact.It wasasthough the GardenClub schism
wasplaguingYoungstownall overagain.
gut ihen, on the day I wasto leavetown, there camehope
for a bridge betweenthe tlvo worlds. John Slanina'the blog-
ger,moved back to Youngstown.RevereData, a SanFrancisco
.otnpu.ty specializingin investingsoftware,was opening a
10-personoffice in the YoungstownBusinessIncubator'
Slaninahad taken a job as a senior analystwith Revere,and
he camehome brimming with schemes. "Maybewe ought to
put a couchon the sidewalkoutsidethe BusinessIncubator
of old officepapers.The bedroomfloors werecoveredwith
an ugly yellowlinoleum.Somehow,though' therewas gran-
deuithere under the surface,waiting for a makeover'Over
the hearthwasa white plastermantelburstingwith carved
lions and cherubs.
Clark told me the storyof the place.Until 2006'it wasa
home for the mentallydisabled,but then the owner,facing
financial trouble, walked away,abruptly,leavingthe water
serviceon, so the pipesburst.We strolledinto anotherroom'
wheretherewasan old piano and alsoa bucklingfloor''A lot
of housesin Youngstownshouldbe torn down,"Clark said'
"but this one-" He paused'"There'sintegritythat'slost
the moment it hits the ground,and there'sa gapinghole
besidethe park."
Weweni backdownstairsand screwedthe plywood back
onto the door,to staveoffvandals.Then Clarklingeredawhileon
the lawn,talkingto a neighbor."It's a beautifulhouse,"he said'
"Yeah,"saidthe neighbor,"itis.It'd be a shameto seeit goJ'O
BilI Donahue is a writer who livesin Portland, otegon. His most fecentstory
in the June 2009 issue'
for lnc., about Dave\ Killer Bread, appcared

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