YOUNGSTOWN — United Protective Technologies, a specialty coating and engineering company, will open a location downtown to focus on its business with the federal defense industry.
“We have a need to be in this region, somewhere between western (Pennsylvania) all the way over to Michigan because we have a customer base here that we now serve out of North Carolina and the distance is too far,” said Marty Efrid, UPT’s CEO.
“That’s our production business. We also have a scientific part of our business. We’re developing new technologies for the military to reduce corrosion, improve component wear, life and performance,” he said.
About 35 percent of the company’s business deals with the defense industry, Efrid said.
UPT “looked at other cities,” he said, but chose Youngstown because of support it received from the Youngstown Business Incubator, Youngstown State University and Team…
