YOUNGSTOWN — Almost $11 million in federal funds are coming to the Mahoning Valley for a defense contract and a broadband network in the downtown Youngstown area.

The Appalachian Regional Commission awarded $1.45 million for the installation of 10 miles of fiber conduit to establish a broadband network in Youngstown in the downtown area.

The network will serve 212 businesses and create 119 jobs, said U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Howland, who made the announcement Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Center Street Technologies and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining were awarded a $9.43 million two-year contract Wednesday by the Air Force Research Laboratory for additive manufacturing technology.

“This funding will be used to catalyze broad-scale commercial adoption of leading-edge advanced manufacturing technologies developed in Youngstown,” Mike Garvey, CST president and CEO, said. “Together with NCDMM, we intend to make this project a historical event so that when future generations look back on the community’s prosperity, they will directly land on these types of projects.”

Center Street has the largest additive manufacturing 3D printer in the world. It will be used in fields such as automotive, energy, construction and civil engineering, and maritime.

The long-term plan is for the system to be located close to the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna.

“It’s through innovation that we made the government run more efficiently, we make the Defense Department run more efficiently,” Ryan said. “Our goal here locally, because we are a little bit selfish, we want that to happen here because it’s going to create jobs here, good-paying jobs.”

FIBER GRANT

Mahoning and Trumbull counties were added to the Appalachian Regional Commission in 2007, making them eligible for this funding.

“These funds will help to establish a much-needed broadband network in Youngstown and continue to revitalize our downtown,” Ryan said. “They will provide BRITE with critical resources to continue to lay the groundwork for transforming the Mahoning Valley into Voltage Valley.”

The $1.45 million grant was awarded to the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments to install 10 miles of fiber conduit in downtown Youngstown and surrounding areas to support businesses, health care, education and residents.

“This grant will play a significant role in bringing our community into the 21st century,” Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said. “It is a much-needed piece of the puzzle that will help close the digital divide and move Youngstown forward.”

The project is connected to the city’s SMART2 (Strategic and Sustainable, Medical and Manufacturing, Academic and Arts, Residential and Recreational, and Technology and Training) Network project that will cost about $31 million with $10.85 million from a federal grant.

The work includes significant road and infrastructure improvements to Fifth, Park and Rayen avenues as well as Commerce, Federal, Front and Phelps streets.

The Fifth Avenue project, which is one of the largest, has been underway for a few months.

The $1.45 million will “allow for the installation of fiber conduit for high-speed internet along the downtown business district corridors and extend to Youngstown State University and Mercy Health,” Jim Kinnick, Eastgate’s executive director said. “The entire project will enhance the economic revitalization efforts within the city of Youngstown and lay the groundwork for a brighter future in the Mahoning Valley.”

BRITE GRANT

BRITE Energy Innovators in Warren will receive $49,950 for a study of energy storage assets in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The study will analyze growing energy storage clusters in the three states with an emphasis on coal-impacted areas.

The study will outline key assets in energy storage for grid generation, transportation and consumer electronics. It is designed to help strengthen the supply chain for energy technology.

The ARC also awarded a $1 million grant to Appalachian Growth Capital to expand access to capital for small businesses in the Appalachian region of the state, which includes Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com