WARREN - About $2.5 million in federal and state money to launch a ''green'' business incubator may be exactly the fuel Warren needs to join what an economic development group says is a regional growth sector.

''That's the sector we hope to grow,'' Anthony Iannucci, director of Warren Redevelopment and Planning, said of the professional, scientific and technical industries sector identified by Team Northeast Ohio today as one of the region's strongest sectors over the last 15 years.

Iannucci last week got word that WRAP will get $2 million in federal earmarks to start a business incubator. The state already has committed $500,000, he said.

Part of the historic Steel Valley, Warren and Trumbull County are widely known for their boom-or-bust automotive and steel industries. Iannucci and others hope to change that image from rust-colored to green with a focus on environment-friendly business.

Iannucci said he's been talking with a few local businesses that are researching green technologies, including a hydrogen-assisted system that boosts vehicles' miles per gallon of gasoline by injecting hydrogen and oxygen into the engine to make it burn cleaner and use less fossil fuel.

''That's like something we have in mind,'' he said.

Incubators make equipment and space available, along with other support services, to help ease a business' startup costs. Iannucci said how soon a Warren incubator could get off the ground remains unclear because it still needs to determine restrictions and funding sources.

Iannucci said an application has been made for both infrastructure and operating money. Infrastructure money would go toward making the incubator building environmentally friendly through Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council. Different levels of certification depend on the building's setup for solar panels, recycling water and other processes, he said.

The latter could come from the U.S. Department of Energy if a business deals with products linked to alternative energy, such as the hydrogen-assisted fuel system, he said.

Also unclear is where the incubator might be located. Iannucci said he'd like to put it in downtown Warren but said that's not a lock because of the shift to alternative energy.

''When we started, we were concentrated on the downtown because we were looking at e-commerce and business-centered businesses. We changed the focus to green technology, which changes the makeup of the building we need. It probably increases the size,'' he said.

The report by Team NEO suggests the region has surprising strength in desirable high-tech jobs, group leaders said.

''These are high-skilled jobs with above-average wages,'' researcher Jacob Duritsky said.

The sector, which ranges from scientific research and development to advertising and legal services, added 21,000 jobs, or 20 percent of the region's total job creation, in the 15 years ended in 2008, Team NEO reported.

Two subgroups - management, scientific and technical services, along with computer systems design - have grown around 170 percent, similar to the national pace of 180 percent, the study showed.

The region has significantly outpaced the nation's growth in legal services at nearly 80 percent growth to about 41 percent nationally, and scientific research and development at roughly 170 percent to nearly 80 percent, it noted, citing data from independent research firm Moody's Economy.com.

Edward ''Ned'' Hill, economist and dean of the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, said the investments by global companies Sherwin Williams Paints, Lubrizol, Energizer Battery and Bridgestone have helped fuel the sector gain.

Thomas Waltermire, the group's chief executive officer, said companies in the sector grow slowly and so require a long-term perspective, but added the fact the manufacturing-heavy region is growing such jobs ''probably surprises people.''

He added such growth should reassure residents that northeast Ohio still has potential, even during a period of steep job losses in automotive and heavy manufacturing.

''We're far more down on ourselves than we deserve to be. It's a habit that holds us back,'' he said.

Team NEO is a joint venture of chambers of commerce that tracks the economy in the region's 16 counties, including Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana.

lringler@tribtoday.com