Ohio’s Future Will Be Built on Brains Not Brawn

Written by Innovate New Albany@InnovateNA13 years ago

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Our partners at TechColumbus recently posted an article pointing to the success of Ohio’s biotech industry as an example of the kind of technology-fueled growth that will drive commerce in a state that has been dependent upon heavy manufacturing. Here is the article in its entirety.

“Ohio built a reputation for itself in the 20th century based on brawn,” says Bill Dunlevy, vice president of Battelle. “If you think about where the growth has been in the 21st century, it’s been built on brains.” Dunlevy was quoted as part of a CNN/Money story about the strong emergence of the biotech industry in the state.

According to Tony Dennis, president and CEO of BioOhio, in the last decade, Ohio has seen a 20 percent increase in employment in the sector and a tremendous increase in company formation. “A decade ago we were forming companies at a rate of six to eight a year,” says Dennis. “In the last five years, they’re forming at a rate of about 60 a year.”

Dunlevy concurs with the rapid growth of the sector citing that at Battelle medical device and diagnostics is one of the fastest growing areas within the research institute. He says Battelle saw 38 percent growth in the sector last year and is projecting 33 percent growth for this year.

Dennis says Ohio is doing better than most other states in the Midwest because the state chose to focus on it. He credits the Ohio Third Frontier as a major factor in creating what he calls a tremendous sense of entrepreneurism in the state. “We’re recruiting every young entrepreneur we can – we’re even recruiting every old entrepreneur we can lay our hands on.”

The video, which features many of Central Ohio’s most promising biotech startups, including CleveX, Minimally Invasive Devices and Nanofiber Solutions, can be seen in its entirety below.

Innovate New Albany, the city’s incubator for technology startups, entrepreneurs and small businesses, features 16,000 square feet of space within the New Albany Business Park’s Signature Office Building, 8000 Walton Parkway.