COLUMBUS Virginia firm makes Issue 1 ads

Issue 1 is the final piece of Gov. Taft's plan to support high-tech ventures.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Television ads promoting a ballot issue to allow the state to raise $500 million for high-tech research and jobs were produced by a Virginia firm.
The ads for Issue 1, however, were filmed in Columbus using a crew and actors from Ohio, campaign manager Brian Hicks said.
The ads produced by Alexandria, Va.-based political consultant Greg Stevens cost $50,000 to $100,000, but Hicks wouldn't say how much the firm was paid.
"The lion's share of the money is spent on the day of filming, and that is Ohio-based," he said. "The vast majority of the money went to Ohio companies."
One of the ads, which started airing earlier this month, features Gov. Bob Taft. Issue 1 is the final piece of Taft's Third Frontier program to help Ohio ease from an industrial-based economy to one that will support high-tech ventures.
The television spots say the program will create jobs in the state without raising taxes. Opponents say taxpayers, however, will be responsible for interest on the bonds.
Campaign
Sending production fees out of state could be highlighted as a negative by opponents, said Paul Beck, chairman of Ohio State University's political science department.
"All things being equal, you would like to keep the money at home," he said. "On the other hand, you want to get the best quality work for the money, and sometimes that means you go to another state. It's all a balancing process, and sometimes that's a difficult choice to make."
The only statewide ballot issue on the ballot Tuesday has little organized opposition. The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation and the Ohio Farmers Union are urging their members to vote against it because they feel it leaves out agriculture.
The campaign chose Stevens for his political expertise and his track record of creating advertisements for Taft and Ohio Sens. Mike DeWine and George Voinovich, said Hicks, who recently stepped down as Taft's chief of staff to run the Issue 1 campaign.
The Web site for the consulting company, Stevens, Reed, Curcio and Potholm, says it is a "Republican media firm" that has created ads for dozens of elected officials, including Arizona Sen. John McCain and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee.
Support for Issue 1
Issue 1 would allow state and local governments to borrow $500 million that would be invested in research and development. The state would sell bonds and use the money generated to create -- and eventually commercialize -- new products.
Ohioans for the Third Frontier, the campaign for Issue 1, has raised $2.6 million, according to campaign finance reports.
Hicks said purchasing airtime on Ohio radio and television stations is consuming the largest chunk of the money.
Already, $1.1 billion has been allocated for the Third Frontier -- $500 million to build world-class research centers on university campuses, $500 million for biomedical research grants and $100 million for a loan fund.