YOUNGSTOWN - More than a year after Youngstown City Council approved $600,000 in American Rescue Plan funds for a new job-training center, the project still has no public location, no website and no state licensure.

Records also show a councilman’s wife helped file the paperwork to establish the organization behind the project, prompting questions about transparency. 

The Youngstown Restoration and Opportunity Center, known as YoROC, was awarded $400,000 from First Ward Councilman Julius Oliver’s ARP allocation in late 2024, with an additional $200,000 sponsored by Mayor Jamael Tito Brown.

The program is modeled after the Manchester Bidwell workforce development system in Pittsburgh.

Supporters said YoROC will focus on job training for unemployed and underemployed residents in fields such as health care and the culinary arts.

YoROC treasurer Vicki Vicars said the group has been working behind the scenes and expects movement soon.

“We are close to finding a location. We're hoping to have that in agreement by the end of the year, mid-January at the latest,” Vicars said, “Our consultant from Manchester Bidwell is working on the licensure agreements and things like that with the state, but none of that could happen until we had a location.”

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation serves as the fiscal agent for the funding.

In a statement, YNDC said only two expenditures have been made so far, totaling $50,000, paid to the National Center for Arts and Technology, an affiliate of Manchester Bidwell, for consulting work on forming the non-profit entity, board development, site preparation and state licensing.

YNDC said the remaining ARP dollars have not been spent and are only available on a reimbursement basis once eligible expenses are verified.

Another question is regarding the involvement of Councilman Oliver’s wife.

State filings with the Ohio Secretary of State show she signed documents to help establish YoROC in 2024.

Vicars said the early committee was aware she filed the paperwork.

“She's in line with her husband's vision for this project, with Julius's vision,” She said, “So when it came time to actually file the paperwork, she had the time, and the committee agreed, let's let her go ahead and do that.”

Oliver reiterated that neither he nor his wife has benefited personally from the ARP funds.

YoROC is not officially a 501(c)3 nonprofit, but the Vicars said the board aims to complete that step in the coming months. 

She maintains that the program will ultimately benefit city residents in many ways.

“I think it's going to be one more phenomenal asset in this community," she added, "one more opportunity for our residents who are unemployed or underemployed or who are working multiple jobs to change their situation."

YoROC leaders said they hope to secure a location by early 2025 and move forward with licensing, hiring and program development.

YNDC and another partner, The Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, both vouched for YoROC, and said they're working to become a 501(c)3.

YAJF's Bonnie Burdman said she can say with "one-thousand percent certainty" that there is no misuse of funds and that every penny allocated has been proper.