Ohio ranks fourth in bioscience industry

While other states jockeyed for position on Business Facilities Magazine's second-annual Biotechnology Strength Report, Ohio defended its ranking as best in the Midwest and No. 4 in the nation for its strengths in the bioscience industry.

Ohio's exceptional bioscience ranking is in part due to updated estimates of overall biotechnologies economic impact, incentives, academic research expansion, major new initiatives, growth potential and employment numbers. According to the Ohio Business Development Coalition, the nonprofit organization that markets the state for capital investment, the biotechnologies report further validates Ohio's standing as a national leader in the bioscience industry.

"Ohio Third Frontier project investments in innovation and technology, especially in the biosciences, really have catalyzed growth in both public and private sectors of our state's emerging industries," said BioOhio president and chief executive officer Tony Dennis, leader of the state's biotechnologies accelerator non-profit. "According to BioOhio's most recent Ohio Bioscience Growth Report, public and private investment has contributed to more than 1,100 bioscience organizations operating in our state, with an average of 70 new companies starting operations each year from 2004 to 2008."

The biotechnologies report's authors conclude that "the still-hot biotech sector has cemented its status as a crucial building block for future growth."

"That is certainly true in the State of Ohio," Dennis said.

According to Ed Burghard, executive director of the Ohio Business Development Coalition, Ohio's strength across all biotechnologies sectors - represented by the Red (health), Green (agriculture) and White (industrial) color model established by European biotechnologies leaders - is a leading reason behind its national performance in the bioscience industry. "Coupled with our state's other outstanding assets, business leaders are realizing how, in Ohio, they're able to find a perfect balance between successfully growing a business and still enjoying life," Burghard said. "Business owners profit from the bottom-line benefits of better work-life balance for their employees in low-cost, low stress communities in a combination of micropolitan and metropolitan. cities. Ohio truly is the state of perfect balance."