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 s

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