Ohio Third Frontier and Supporting Programs Win Top Tech Awards for Economic Development

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- States across the nation are looking to Ohio and the Ohio Third Frontier program as the model for success in creating, growing and sustaining high-tech jobs, industries and businesses. The Ohio Third Frontier program and its regionally focused Entrepreneurial Signature Programs (ESPs) have claimed several prestigious awards from nationally recognized organizations that track economic development efforts. According to Ohio's leaders, these awards further prove that Ohio Third Frontier is leading the way when it comes to building a new economy focused on technology.

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The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) has awarded Ohio Third Frontier the "Excellence in Economic Development Award" for its Ohio's National Model for Technology-Based Economic Development in the category of Technology-Based Economic Development for communities with populations of greater than 500,000. That same month, JumpStart Inc., Northeast Ohio's regional ESP, was named the sole winner of the State Science Technology Institute's (SSTI) 2010 Excellence in TBED Award in the Building Entrepreneurial Capacity category. JumpStart was recognized for its four-year economic impact of $267 million in Northeast Ohio, which includes the creation and retention of more than 800 jobs.

"In Ohio, we've made it our mission to create a more competitive environment for business growth and investment – especially in the technology sector, and Ohio Third Frontier is an important part of our plan to make that happen," said Lisa Patt-McDaniel, Director of the Ohio Department of Development. "Ohio Third Frontier is helping to create companies and careers that didn't exist just a few years ago. Ohio's economic development and job growth strategies are creating a healthy business climate in the state and are further proof that Ohio should be on every CEO's and entrepreneur's list of location options."

IEDC and SSTI are two of the nation's leading organizations focused on economic development activity. The IEDC annual conference is the world's largest gathering of economic developers to recognize the best economic development programs and partnerships, marketing materials, and the year's most influential leaders. IEDC's Excellence in Economic Development Awards recognize the world's best economic development programs and partnerships, marketing materials, and the year's most influential leaders. SSTI is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving government-industry programs that encourage economic growth through the application of science and technology.

According to the 2009 "Making an Impact" report conducted by SRI, Ohio Third Frontier's strategies for investing in Ohio's high-tech clusters contain all the elements associated with global best practices in technology cluster development, and indicate that these investments are already generating positive economic outcomes for Ohio's economy in terms of growth in technology sector employment, output, and wages. Since its inception, the Ohio Third Frontier has created and attracted nearly 600 companies, created more than 60,000 direct and indirect jobs, and helped create $6.6 billion in economic impact in Ohio, a 9:1 return on investment.

"Ohio Third Frontier is providing the funding support and development tools to bring new innovation into the marketplace while also creating new business and workforce development opportunities for the state of Ohio," said Norm Chagnon, executive director of the Ohio Third Frontier Commission. "The state's culture of collaboration between entrepreneurs, businesses, large companies and individual workers really makes any ambition achievable."

According to Ohio Third Frontier's performance metrics, the jobs created cross the entire spectrum of high-tech industries including research and development and production and manufacturing. The average salary of direct jobs created is more than $65,000, well above state average salary of $38,100.

More information about Ohio Third Frontier can be found at www.OhioThirdFrontier.com. PWA-OTF-102610

SOURCE Ohio Third Frontier