YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Youngstown always felt pretty proud of its downtown start-up factory, the Youngstown Business Incubator. It just found out the entrepreneurial world does, too.

Today, the University Business Incubator Index named the Youngtown Business Incubator the world's best business incubator associated with a university.

The Sweden-based index exists to analyze and improve business incubators around the world, so its rankings are taken seriously. Universities affiliated with business incubators include Stanford, Cornell and UC Berkeley -- so that category is a strong one.

"This is a true testament to the community we come from. We are sincerely grateful for all of the support that we receive," Jim Cossler, the chief executive of the Youngstown Business Incubator, said in a statement. "And, it just goes to show that Youngstown truly is the best place to start a business!"

In the early 2000s, Cossler helped direct the incubator's expansion on a downtown street that business had largely deserted. Today, YBI, as it's widely known, spans 100,000 square feet in four connected buildings.

It houses everything from scrappy start-ups to job-creating tech companies.

Among YBI's notable successes are Turning Technologies, a software company that employs more than 300 people in state-of-the-art offices downtown.

The UBI Index singled out YBI for recognition in 2013, ranking it the world's 11th best business incubator affiliated with a university. This week, UBI chief executive Ali Amin traveled from Stockholm to Youngstown to announce that YBI had risen to the No. 1 ranking in the university class.

YBI is affiliated with Youngstown State, Akron, Kent State and Hiram.

Dhruv Bhatli, a co-founder of UBI Index, said YBI startups succeed more often than most. He credited the mentoring and the connections they receive in the incubator.

"Youngstown Business Incubator is an exceptional incubation program," he said in a statement. "It performs really well on our global benchmark by providing its client start-ups an environment with excellent peers, as well as access to an outstanding investor network."

Newly appointed Youngstown State President Jim Tressel addressed the morning press conference, which took place at the incubator.

"I have stood in front of a podium saying we were number one in the nation," Tressel said. "But never have I stood in front of a podium saying we were number one in the world."