Created in 2002, the Ohio Third Frontier is an unprecedented commitment to create new technology-based products, companies, industries and jobs. In May, the Ohio Third Frontier was extended through 2015 indicating a widely held understanding by the populace that technology and innovation will lead to economic prosperity both today and for future generations.
Today, the Ohio Third Frontier is innovation creating opportunity. The $2.3 billion initiative supports applied research and commercialization, entrepreneurial assistance, early-stage capital formation, and expansion of a skilled talent pool that can support technology-based economic growth. The Ohio Third Frontier’s strategic intent is to create an “innovation ecosystem” that supports the efficient and seamless transition of great ideas from the laboratory to the marketplace.
The Ohio Third Frontier is successfully building an innovation economy as evidenced by the major contributions in the following areas:
- Dramatically increasing the availability of early-stage equity investment capital;
- Improving the entrepreneurial environment for technology based companies;
- Improving research and development collaborations between Ohio’s research universities and institutions and for-profit companies;
- Driving employment growth in Ohio’s technology sector;
- Contributing to the diversity and competitiveness of Ohio’s existing manufacturers; and,
- Attracting non-Ohio companies into the state.
All of these attributes taken in total make Ohio a unique location for technology companies and investors to grow and prosper – come be part of it!
