YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown Business Incubator could hear as soon as this week on a request for $26 million in state funding to help it create an innovation hub for aerospace and defense that would be housed at the former Youngstown Vindicator building downtown.

“It would be a huge economic stimulus,” said Barb Ewing, YBI’s CEO. “It will be transformational.”

Youngstown City Council on Wednesday will vote on committing $1.35 million to the project with the funding paid annually over four years starting next month.

One of the conditions of getting the $26 million in state funding is a $4.3 million local match, Ewing said.

With Youngstown council’s approval, that local match will be $11 million, which includes several funding sources from foundations and corporations, Ewing said. The Youngstown State University Foundation is committing scholarships and internships to the project, she said.

Mahoning County has committed $200,000 toward the local funding.

Also, there is $43 million in federal funding for activities related to product development and commercialization to take the aerospace and defense products to market, Ewing said.

The initiative’s impact would be $191.7 million over the next four years with the creation of 271 new jobs, with average projected annual salaries of $81,806, as well as adding 481 indirect jobs, Ewing said. Of the 271 new jobs, about 150 would be located in the former Vindicator building at 107 Vindicator Square, which is about 130,000-square feet in size, she said.

YBI could learn this week about the $26 million state funding request, Ewing said. She is optimistic the request will be approved.

Without the state funding, leasing and redeveloping the former Vindicator building would be very difficult, Ewing said.

“It’s hard to envision a path forward without it,” she said.

The old Vindicator closed five years ago with its name, subscription list and website purchased by the Tribune Chronicle, which continues to publish the newspaper.

The initial plan is to lease the downtown building and redevelop it before eventually purchasing it, Ewing said.

The plan would be to house expansions of JuggerBot 3D, a manufacturer of industrial 3D printers, and Ursa Major, a rocket propulsion company, at the building, she said.

“It’s an ideal location,” Ewing said.

It would cost about $26 million to renovate the building with electrical upgrades being costly, Ewing said.

YBI purchased the original Vindicator building, across the street from the other location, in 2015 for $654,500. YBI owns five downtown buildings in total.