The Future Is Happening Now
Posted byChris Thompson - 07.27.2011
Partners in Advance Northeast Ohio are committed to building new global growth industries right here in our region. A lot of that work involves planting seeds that won't produce fruit for years to come, but if you look around you might be surprised by how much fruit is being harvested right now. Here are few examples from the last few weeks.
- $8 million in Third Frontier grants is helping cool companies that do everything from grow stem cells to make high-temperature sensors grow. Check out more in this story from CrainsCleveland.com.
- A Wooster company that makes absorbents that can remove pollution from water attracted $11 million in new investment and will add at least 12 more employees. One has to believe that its product will become very popular as the natural gas industry expands its use of fracking to expand that industry here in Ohio. Read more about Produced Water Absorbents in this story, also from CrainsCleveland.com. And if you want to see how the natural gas industry is starting to drive job growth, check out this story from the Warren Tribune.
- Timken and Stark State broke ground on an $11.8 million wind energy center that will employ 65 and create research opportunities and technical certification programs for Stark State students. This is just another sign of Northeast Ohio's "clean economy" future. Two conferences next month will highlight opportunities in that sector, as well. NorTech and the Summity County Mayors Association are hosting the Advanced Energy B2B Conference & Expo at the Knight Center in Akron from Sept. 14-15 and Oberlin College is hosting Northern Ohio's Clean Energy Future on Sept. 16.
- The maker of the Boogie Board -- one of the hottest consumer products on the market -- is adding 40 jobs after attracting $7 million in funding. The Boogie Board emerged from the next generation of LCD technology coming out of Kent State University. Learn more in this story from RecordPub.com and learn more about the growing flexible electronics cluster in the region at FlexMatters.
- Segmint and Knotice are two Akron area companies that are taking cutting-edge web technologies and turning them into growing companies. Check out this story on Segmint at Ohio.com and learn more about Knotice in this video from JumpStart.
- And for those who prefer old-fashioned brick and mortar projects, Michelle Jarboe of the Plain Dealer detailed more than $5 billion (yep that's billion) of construction under way.
These stories make the future look pretty close. What do you see that foretells a more vibrant future for Northeast Ohio?
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