STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS

STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS

Highlights

Gov. Ted Strickland delivered his fourth State of the State address Tuesday. Here are some of the highlights of what the Democratic governor proposed.

Establish the Energy Gateway Fund, a $40 million commitment of state and federal stimulus funds to grow and sustain fuel cell, solar, wind and energy-storage industries.

Eliminate the state’s tangible personal property tax on wind and solar facilities that start construction this year, produce energy by 2012 and create jobs.

Renew the Third Frontier program, created by ex-Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican, to encourage the development of high-tech businesses.

Establish Build Your Own Business, a program that would offer business training and support to small business people through a mentoring program. Also, the state would offer the unemployed courses and training on starting a business as well as up to $5,000 loans to those who qualify.

Create the Urban Workforce Initiative to provide incentives for companies to immediately put unemployed workers from the state’s urban centers back to work.

Establish Hubs of Innovation and Opportunity in the state’s largest cities. The state would provide money and assistance for planning and development to “further build connections between industry strengths anchored in Ohio’s urban cores and their surrounding regions.”

Source: Gov. Ted Strickland’s office