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"National investors are beginning to recognize that Ohio's strategiclocation in the Midwest region is ideal for growing businesses in thebioscience industry," said Baiju Shah, president of BioEnterprise. "Ohio hasalways been rich in research and industry assets. That rich base is nowtranslating into a growing stream of high quality business growth due toprogressive policies and programs through state investments in research anddevelopment."
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Health care startups across the Midwest saw the largest growth, reportinga stunning $742 million in total investments across 64 companies in the firsthalf of 2007 - nearly the same amount in total investments for all of 2006.Ohio far exceeded all competitors both in venture capital funding, number ofinvestments and dollar amount of investment deals.
"In all aspects of biotech, from life sciences to health-care technologiesto agriculture and food science, Ohio is at the heart of development andinnovation in bioscience," said Ed Burghard, executive director for the OhioBusiness Development Coalition. "The state is also attractive to executivesbecause of its unique mix of micropolitan and metropolitan city structures.This distinctive combination provides executives the resources and time topursue both their professional goals and personal aspirations without havingto compromise one for the other. Ohio truly is the state of perfect balance."
The state's strong support for biotech and health care related biosciencecompanies is a result of Ohio's strengths and leadership in the three mainbioscience industry sectors defined as Red (health), Green (agriculture) andWhite (industrial), according to the OBDC. Ohio's encouragement of cross-collaboration among the Red, Green and White industries uniquely positions thestate to provide national leadership in all areas of bioscience.
"Ohio's bioscience community continues to grow, resulting in increasedcapital investment and new, high-paying jobs for Ohioans," said Burghard.
With more than $1 billion in funding and 775 bioscience entities operatingthroughout the state, Ohio is establishing an international leadership role inthe cutting-edge bioscience industry. The Red, Green, White model is based onthe three main bioscience industry sectors established by European bioscienceleaders. Ohio's Red, Green and White bioscience entities generate more than$5.2 billion in direct economic impact and employ more than 37,000 skilledworkers.
Ohio also has a budding culture of collaboration between entrepreneurs andlarge companies thanks in large part to the Third Frontier Project, a $1.6billion initiative to help catalyze connections between companies andacademia.
About the Ohio Business Development Coalition
The Ohio Business Development Coalition is a nonprofit organization thatprovides marketing strategy and implementation to support Ohio's economicdevelopment efforts. For more information, visithttp://www.ohiomeansbusiness.com.
SOURCE Ohio Business Development Coalition
