Report touts Third Frontier successes

Business First of Columbus

A new report from one of the original promoters of the state’s high-tech Third Frontier initiative is touting the $1.6 billion program as a magnet for outside investment in Ohio companies.

The Ohio Business Roundtable, a partnership of CEOs from some of the state’s largest businesses, said in its report that the $473 million in state funding invested in companies through June 30 has attracted $3.2 billion in outside investments. That’s a nearly 7-to-1 match since the program was created in 2002.

The organization also pointed out that venture-capital investment in Ohio has grown more than double the national pace since 2003. Around the nation, VC investments grew less than 9 percent over the six-year period, versus more than 20 percent growth in Ohio.

Those investments, the group said, have translated into high-tech employment that has grown faster than nearly any other state in the Midwest. That accounts for more than 22,000 jobs added to the state’s high-tech sector from 2004 to 2008.

The report comes months after a state-commissioned study by Menlo Park, Calif.-based SRI International and the Atlanta-based Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute found that Ohio’s $681 million investment in technology development resulted in a $6.6 billion economic impact.

Both reports are in the run-up to a push for renewal of the program, which is set to close a year early because of reduced state revenue.