Taft's visit underlines Valley's role in economy

The governor says his initiative will pay for high-tech research and promote start-up businesses.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
CHAMPION -- Gov. Bob Taft says he expects the Mahoning Valley to be a major player in his $1.6 billion high-technology jobs initiative that he envisions will help turn around the state's struggling economy.
About a week after winning re-election to a second four-year term as governor, Taft led a summit of 16 regional business and education leaders Thursday at the Kent State Trumbull campus to discuss the Valley's involvement in his job initiative, known as the Third Frontier Project.
Before that, he heard a pitch from officials with Thomas Steel Strip Corp., Delphi Packard Electric Systems and Kent State Trumbull campus in a closed-door meeting for funding under the Third Frontier proposal for a fuel cell project. The project is in the development stages, and officials declined to discuss the details.
Taft said the Third Frontier Project would provide funding for high-tech research and promote start-up companies that can offer high-wage jobs. He pointed to the Youngstown Business Incubator and partnerships being developed between local businesses and universities as local examples of high-tech success.
"Ohio and the nation are still suffering and trying hard to get out of the economic recession," he said. "We have to do more to have Ohio, and this part of Ohio, compete in the high-tech fields. It's about moving toward technology by helping existing companies advance and getting start-off companies off the ground."
The Third Frontier Project's funding would come from:
* $500 million over the next 10 years from the state's Technology Action Fund and the Biomedical Research and Technology Transfer Fund.
* $500 million, 10-year capital improvement program from the state's two-year capital budgets to improve research facilities.
* $500 million bond program, which would require approval from voters, to recruit researchers and bring state-of-the-art projects to market.
* $100 million Innovation Ohio Fund revolving loan fund to help finance targeted industries with high-growth, high-wage potential.
The panelists said more work needs to be done in the Valley to promote growing companies and to make sure local college graduates stay in this area. The Third Frontier Project could be the answer to the Valley's concerns about growing and developing high-tech industries, the panelists said.
Assets
"We have the assets here: resources, knowledge and ability," said Jim Thompson, president of Softek International, a software company in the Youngstown Business Incubator. "We need more communication to mold businesses together. It's easy to go to the Silicon Valley or even Columbus and be successful. It's not very easy to do it in this region."
But if the state invests its high-tech funds in the Valley, the return on that investment would be significant, Thompson said.
"Our greatest asset is human resources; our youth," said Bill Cushwa Jr. of the Cushwa Center for Business Development. "We've got the assets, but our youth haven't seen the opportunity to create and advance in Ohio."
Taft, who has attended six other Third Frontier summits throughout the state since June, said the Valley event may have been the most insightful one for him.
"I'm impressed with the candid thoughts you have on an overall vision for the region," he said. "The state can best help communities who help themselves by working in a collaborative fashion. I see the beginnings of collaboration and regionalism in this area."
After the meeting, Taft said he was hopeful that his proposal could play a significant role in revitalizing the Mahoning Valley's struggling economy.
"There are more strengths in the Mahoning Valley than people realize," he said. "What's most important for this region is to work together to develop a strategic plan."
skolnick@vindy.com