CANTON, OH (March 4, 2010) – The Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce Foundation and DeHoff Family Foundation have secured the first company for Mills Business Park.  Medline Industries, Inc., manufacturer and distributor of medical products to hospitals, nursing homes and surgery centers, has purchased 19 acres in the park, and plans to construct a 300,000 sq. ft. facility.

The new Medline facility will create 30-35 new jobs with competitive salary and benefit packages within the first three years of operation. In addition, construction of the facility will lead to many more project-based construction jobs. The company and its employees expect to spend an estimated $500,000 annually with area establishments and qualified service providers.

Project investment is estimated at between $12 and $14 million including land, building construction and new machinery and equipment. Construction on the project is slated to begin in the spring of 2010. There was an aggressive incentive package offered by the City of Canton, led by Mayor William J. Healy II, and development director Robert Torres, Canton Township Trustees, Canton Local School Board, Stark County Commissioners, the State of Ohio and Stark Development Board. The Employment Source has also offered to help the company with recruiting potential employees. This was a successful team approach that demonstrates Canton offers a competitive business climate.

“Securing Medline Industries at the Mills Business Park is a clear result of public/private collaboration. This investment by Medline will have a far reaching impact on the greater Canton community because nothing raises the standard of living like a good paying job,” said Robert J. DeHoff, DeHoff Development Company.

“This is a great story for this community and a great addition to our business landscape,” said Dennis P. Saunier, president and CEO of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce. “By investing in Mills Business Park, Medline is leading the charge for even greater growth for Canton/Stark County.”

Medline is America’s largest privately-held national manufacturer and distributor of health care supplies and services. Medline manufactures and distributes more than 100,000 medical products, encompassing medical-surgical items and one of the largest textile lines in the industry, and has sales of more than $3 billion annually. With seven manufacturing facilities in North America and over 25 joint venture manufacturing plants worldwide, Medline manufactures many of the 100,000 products it sells and delivers direct to the marketplace. Through its 700 person sales force and 29 distribution centers, Medline sells in every state and in more than 20 countries. Medline’s primary mission is to provide quality products and cost containment solutions to health care providers while enhancing the quality of patient care.

About Mills Business Park

Mills Business Park is a 141-acre Class A Business Park located in the City of Canton, only one mile from Interstate 77. Mills Business Park is owned by two 501(c)3 foundations: the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and the DeHoff Family Foundation. The park is suited for high-tech research and design firms, distribution companies and businesses that specialize in light fabrication.

Those interested in developing industry at the site should contact Steven J. Katz, vice president of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce at (330) 458-2062 or Robert J. DeHoff, president and CEO of DeHoff Realtors at (330) 499-8153.

For more information, contact:
Jessica Bennett, PR & Marketing Manager
Phone: (330) 458-2071
jessb@cantonchamber.org

 Governor Ted Strickland, Lt. Governor Lee Fisher, and Ohio Department of Development Director Lisa Patt-McDaniel today joined members of Ohio’s business and economic development communities to announce that the State of Ohio has been awarded Site Selection magazine’s fourth consecutive Governor’s Cup Award for leading the nation in new and expanded facilities in 2009.

The March edition of the magazine highlights the award, Ohio’s economic accomplishments, and the numerous Ohio cities around the state as the best in the country in their respective categories.

“One of the reasons I believe in Ohio is that companies know Ohio is a great place to do business,” Strickland said.  “We have reduced taxes and regulations, we have increased the skills and education of our workforce, and we have been recognized once again by setting the pace for the nation in new and expanded capital investments.”

“Economic achievement only thrives when commitment and collaboration at the federal, state, and local level is attained on a daily basis,” Fisher said. “This award is shared with the Ohio economic development community and the people of Ohio, because only their ideas and talents help build and create a lasting positive change in Ohio. Let us use this momentum to continue building and growing Ohio’s economy with innovation and creative solutions.”

This year marks the eighth time Ohio has been awarded the Governor’s Cup, receiving the award in 1993, 1994, 1995, 2003, 2006, 2007, and 2008. The occasion marks the fourth win in a row for Ohio and our state’s fifth in seven years. The award is based on corporate location projects that meet at least one of three criteria: (a) involve a capital investment of at least $1 million, (b) create at least 50 new jobs or (c) add at least 20,000 square feet of new floor area.

“This award belongs to the Ohio economic development communities, which are leading Ohio’s efforts to bring prosperity to the people and businesses of our state,” Patt-McDaniel said. “We as a state are working with our local communities to give Ohioans a State of Perfect Balance between business pursuits and quality of life.”

Governor Strickland attributes Ohio’s fourth consecutive Governor’s Cup win to our state’s manufacturing strengths, logistics capabilities, skilled workforce and competitive business environment.

This award indicates the diligent efforts of elected officials, economic development professionals and private sector leaders as they work together to retain and attract capital investment in our state. Their efforts to stimulate economic growth have put Ohio on the top for the fourth consecutive year.

“The collaboration between business and state make for an ideal location for Alcoa,” said William F. Christopher, Alcoa Executive Vice President and President of Alcoa Engineered Products and Solutions. “Our revitalized press capacity will allow the continued presence of manufacturing operations in Cuyahoga County and provide continued growth and good jobs for years to come at Cleveland Works.”

Conway Data, Site Selection’s publisher, has annually recognized the U.S. state with the most new and expanded corporate facilities since 1978 as tracked by its New Plant database.

“It is a privilege to be the bearer of good news in the economic development arena, particularly during challenging economic times,” said Mark Arend, Editor in Chief of Site Selection. “Ohio fought hard in 2009 to win new projects and to expand existing operations in the state. Its 381 projects and fourth consecutive Governor’s Cup are proof that many companies are investing and growing in Ohio because they want to be there.”

The magazine’s yearly analyses are regarded by corporate real estate analysts as “the industry scoreboard.” Ohio won the award with 381 projects; Texas placed second with 374 projects, followed by Michigan (371), Pennsylvania (333) and Tennessee (234) to round out the top five. In addition, several cities ranked in the top 10 metropolitan and micropolitan categories for new and expanded corporate facilities. 

“The Ohio Economic Development Association is honored to participate in today’s announcement,” said Mike Jacoby, President of OEDA. “Our members are often the front line of Ohio’s economic development efforts, and we work in close partnership with the talented professionals at the Ohio Department of Development. Ohio’s receipt of the Site Selection Governor’s Cup for the fourth year in a row is validation that Ohio continues to be viewed as a good location for investment by corporate America.” 

Additional information about the Governor’s Cup is available at the Site Selection magazine Web site.

Go here to download a copy of highlights of 2009 Ohio Investment Projects

Mayor Don Plusquellic today announced that Akron will soon be home to another Israeli based company. NI Medical Ltd. is a biomedical device company that will initially set up operations in the Akron Global Business Accelerator. The company was attracted to Akron through the combined marketing efforts of the Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center (GCIC), Team NEO, the State of Ohio and the City of Akron.

The Israeli firm has developed a reliable, low-cost, non-invasive, and portable cardiac system called “NICaS.” NICaS can screen large populations for unrecognized life-threatening cardiac diseases that are the number one cause of death in the world. The company plans to locate its manufacturing, marketing, sales and general management operations in Akron. It will employ 25-30 workers by the end of 2013.

“I am delighted to select Akron as the base for our new operations,” said Igor Granov, CEO of NI Medical. “I was very impressed with Akron’s health care and biomedical assets and skills as well as the ‘can do’ attitude of the city and state government.”

The City of Akron and State of Ohio will provide job creation tax credit incentives of approximately $150,000. The Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center will provide a forgivable loan of $350,000, if NI Medical meets certain agreed commitments for the creation of new jobs. GCIC is a multi-institutional product development and commercialization consortium, led by the Cleveland Clinic.

“Our work is made possible through a $60 million grant from the State of Ohio’s Third Frontier Project,” said Mark Low, GCIC managing director. “GCIC is pleased to support NI Medical in establishing its North American headquarters in Akron and we welcome them to the growing number of international companies that are locating their cardiovascular business operations here.”

“NIMedical’s decision further solidifies Northeast Ohio as a medical device hub,” added Tom Waltermire, CEO of Team NEO, a joint venture of larger regional chambers of commerce in Northeast Ohio. “The company joins the region’s rapidly expanding medical device cluster of more than 600 companies and 230,000 bioscience employees that provide a strong workforce, supply chain, and research base for expanding medical device firms.

Team Northeast Ohio (Team NEO) is accepting nominations for the 2010 Economic Development Plus Awards, which will be held June 23, 2010 at the John S. Knight Center in Akron, Ohio. 

The fourth annual awards program will recognize economic development efforts from throughout the 16 counties of Northeast Ohio that helped retain companies, create jobs and bring foreign investment to the region during the calendar year 2009.  This is the only event that honors regional economic development success.

Team NEO is now accepting nomination in the following categories:
• Business Attraction

• Business Expansion

• Business Retention

• Public-Private Partnership

• Foreign Investment

• Minority Business

• Asset Creation

• Workforce Development

• Fostering Entrepreneurship

Nomination forms and additional information for the 2010 Team NEO Economic Development Plus Awards can be downloaded at http://www.clevelandplusbusiness.com/About-Team-NEO/Impact-Awards-Information.aspx.  The deadline for nominations is March 10, 2010. Winners will be announced at the awards dinner, June 23, 2010.

Team NEO advances Northeast Ohio’s economy by attracting businesses worldwide to the 16-county Cleveland Plus region.  The organization is a joint venture of the region’s largest metro chambers of commerce.  Since 2007, the organization has attracted 29 new companies, more than 3,100 new jobs and $95M in annual payroll to Northeast Ohio, leading to a total annual regional payroll benefit of $260M.

You’re invited to participate in one of several stakeholder sessions to offer input on the potential for developing an “aerotropolis” around Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

The cities of Berea, Brook Park, Cleveland, Olmsted Falls and Parma, as well as the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport have engaged the Center for Public Management of the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University to study the potential for developing an aerotropolis around the Cleveland Hopkins Airport. An aerotropolis is conceptually similar to a metropolis, with an airport city serving as the central business district of the aerotropolis.  Geographically similar to the metropolis, the aerotropolis utilizes the airport as its central transportation node. The study will also include the potential for economic growth and development resulting from the designation as an aerotropolis.

The stakeholder sessions provide an opportunity for you to share your thoughts, ideas, expectations, and concerns for a potential aerotropolis.  The first round of sessions will be held on Tuesday, January 26; Wednesday, January 27; and Thursday, January 28, at the I-X Center, One I-X Center Dr., Cleveland, OH 44135. Additional sessions may be scheduled as needed. Times are noted on the registration page.

Space for each session is limited, so please register early. To register or to find additional information, please go to: http://urban.csuohio.edu/publicmanagement/aerotropolis_stakeholder_sessions_2010.html

Please forward this invitation to other individuals and groups that might be interested in this initiative. Refreshments will be provided.

If you experience difficulty in registering online, or choose to register by phone, please contact Barb Benevento at 216.687.2188

In case you missed it, the Akron Beacon Journal is doing a great, week long series on the wind energy industry in Ohio.  Here are some great tidbits from the article:

…its (Ohio’s) companies are in a great position to supply components that can generate electricity, investments, jobs and excitement. Around the world, wind is a booming, $40 billion-a-year industry that is growing at 30 percent a year, energy expert Richard Stuebi of the Cleveland Foundation said.”It’s the biggest, fastest-growing industry on the planet . . . and everyone wants to be part of it,” he said. 

Ohio trails only California in potential for developing wind turbines and components, according to the Renewable Energy Policy Project in a 2004 report for the U.S. Department of Energy.

That report said wind could create 11,688 jobs and add $3.9 billion in capital investments to Ohio’s economy.

Ohio might have surpassed California since then, as wind development has moved into the Midwest and away from California, said Ed Weston, director of WIRE-Net/the Great Lakes Wind Network, a Cleveland-based group of wind-power suppliers.

Ohio actively is organizing and promoting its wind-power supply chain, which includes 170 companies that make bearings, fasteners, control systems, composites, gear boxes, brakes, generators, metal coatings, gears, hydraulics, sensors and electronics needed to manufacture the 8,000 components found in a typical utility-size wind turbine.

When assembled, turbines cost about $2 million each.

Ohio suppliers range from alloy steel and bearing maker Timken Co. in Canton to ring-bearing maker Rotek Inc. in Aurora and Cardinal Fasteners in Cleveland.

Timken is a big player with its production of special-alloy steel that is engineered and produced in Canton, along with bearing systems and components for power transmission. The product list includes seals, lubricants and monitors.

Demand for the company’s specialized and proprietary steel is high and ”absolutely solid,” she said.

In addition, Timken recently signed an agreement that will allow Timken to make its steel in Daido Steel mills in Japan to better serve Asian markets, she said.

Wind products are a small percentage of the company’s overall revenue, but wind energy has been identified as ”the company’s most promising market,” she said.

For that reason, the company has invested more than $200 million in the past three to five years to expand in this market. It was the one sector in which Timken continued to invest through the recession, she said.

Investments have included plant expansions in South Carolina, China and Romania, and new facilities in India and China.

Timken’s wind business has grown as turbines have grown in size, especially the offshore turbines, and the reliability problems increased with that additional size, Crum said. ”That has hit Timken’s sweet spot,” she said. ”We’re becoming a major player now with the trend to bigger turbines.”

She cited offshore turbines in Scotland’s Orkney Islands that feature harsh surroundings. ”It was an extreme environment that required extreme engineering,” she said.

Turbine design has changed greatly in recent years — with turbines getting bigger and more efficient, said Tom Maves of the Ohio Wind Working Group, a state entity formed by the Ohio Department of Development.

A great position
Those bigger turbines with bigger components boost Ohio’s position as king of the wind-power supply chain, he said. That’s because of increased shipping costs for bigger parts.

”Ohio’s in a great position in the middle of the country, and that’s creating a good opportunity,” he said.

Today, Tom Waltermire, CEO of Team NEO, and Brad Whitehead, President of the Fund for our Economic Future spoke at the City Club about Northeast Ohio’s economic outlook for the next decade. Below are themes and thoughts about business growth for 2020 and beyond.

It seems that 50 out of 50 states claim “bio” as their next industry. In Northeast Ohio, we already know we’re a healthcare hub, but this decade, we’ll become a biomedical business hub. We will build on current clinical and business hubs of excellence in Imaging, Orthopedics and Cardiovascular, capitalizing on the work started by groups such as BioEnterprise, the Austen BioInnovation Institute and Cleveland Clinic’s Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center. Many Northeast Ohio manufacturing companies are already diversifying their customer/industry mix to manufacture medical devices. This will exponentially increase by 2020.  By fully launching a Cleveland Plus biomedical business attraction program in 2010 that blends VC attraction, clinical/research global expertise and Third Frontier, the Northeast Ohio region will make this biomedical business growth a reality.

Advanced energy is just another “buzzword” to some, but with our current base of companies and focused efforts of innovation, we can create real hubs of sector excellence HERE.  Thanks to the efforts of groups such as NorTech, the Great Lakes Wind Network and the Cleveland Foundation, we know that hundreds of Northeast Ohio firms already supply to wind turbine manufacturers; this will only increase as demand for clean energy increases. If we build a wind farm on the lake (which has been predicted for 2020), then OEM presence here for wind turbines is a greater reality. In addition to wind, our region is already recognized as a nationwide hub for fuel cell research and development. Rolls Royce’s recent expansion announcement and Stark State’s Fuel Cell Prototyping Center are testaments to that, with huge potential for continued growth.

Innovation and technology-based economic development programs not only allow us to harness new opportunities quicker and more effectively, as noted with biomedical and advanced energy, but also lead us to new technologies such as flexible liquid crystal displays.  LCD technology was created here in Kent – we all know that.  But without the infrastructure and system in place, the region didn’t do the work to build the business cluster here.  With the next iteration of this flexible technology and manufacturing process being pioneered here, we’re not letting that happen as NorTech leads the charge to create a different outcome this time. 

University and college initiatives such as the Ohio Wind Energy Research and Commercialization Center and the Ohio Bioscience Workforce Training Program will continue to position our region’s workforce and industry base for the future.  Scientific R&D spending in our region doubles that of the United States.  Programs such as Third Frontier and the robust intelligent economic development system now in place are making this possible.

But perhaps the most important difference between making the “teens” successful for the NEO economy is the state and local commitment to economic development.  As Team NEO transitions into new campaigns and capitalizes on the successes of existing efforts, we still don’t stray from our credo that a strong region is made up of strong communities.  Mutual support and collaboration will be more important than ever in making these buzzwords a reality.  We will continue to have it all, together.

As we enter a new year and the new decade, we make resolutions for ourselves - we’ll lose weight, we’ll be on time, we’ll call our family more - but what about our resolutions for this great region in which we live?  Northeast Ohioans have tremendous opportunity to positively shape our region’s future growth. Our research institutions are commercializing new technologies, as our rich biomedical, polymer and alternative energy assets are spurring entrepreneurial activity and new business attraction. Our 29 colleges and universities are educating 190,000 of our neighbors while our worldclass cultural amenities are attracting more tourists than in years past. With Cleveland’s new convention center, Medical Mart and casino, Akron’s BioInnovation Institute, Stark County’s fuel cell expertise, and so much more activity around the region, what can the next decade hold for Northeast Ohio?

Our region has tremendous opportunity to be the center of new industries and the next generation… if we actively participate and do our individual part to turn ”opportunity” into “reality”.  Team NEO’s CEO, Tom Waltermire and President of the Fund for our Economic Future , Brad Whitehead, will speak at the City Club of Cleveland this Friday, January 8 from noon - 1:30 pm about Northeast Ohio’s Economic Outlook for the Next Decade. Make it your resolution to attend this session, learn about regional initiatives and decide how you will contribute to making the next decade a prosperous one for the Cleveland Plus region.

For more information, click here. Hope to see you there!

Last week, the Ohio Third Frontier Commission announced over $19 million in grant awards through the Advanced Energy, Fuel Cell and Photovoltaic programs. A total of 11 Northeast Ohio companies received Ohio Third Frontier grants to further their research, development and commercialization activities in the advanced energy. This is great news for the Northeast Ohio region and will lead to continued growth and development of our technology economy.  To view the full press release announcements, go to http://development.ohio.gov/PressRoom.htm.

ENERGY STORAGE

R. W. Beckett Corporation, (Lorain County), in collaboration with Energy Technologies, Inc., was awarded $1 million to investigate implementing lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology into a variety of distributed power storage appliances for utility and military markets, with applications for the civilian off-grid storage market.

Novolyte Technologies, Inc., (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University, was awarded $1.12 million to develop novel electrolytes for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries that will significantly improve performance and safety, and accelerate product commercialization.

GrafTech International Holdings, Inc.,  (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with Mobius Power, Nexergy, and the Center for Automotive Research at The Ohio State University, was awarded $965,000 to develop and commercialize a portfolio of expanded natural graphite thermal management products to improve performance, durability and safety of lithium ion batteries.

WIND ENERGY

Avtron Industrial Automation, Inc., (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with MAGNET, Morgenthaler Partners, and The University of Akron, was awarded $1 million to develop and commercialize a superior Absolute Magnetic Encoder for use in wind turbine applications. 
WASTE TO ENERGY

quasar energy group, (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with McCabe Engineering, Rockwell Automation, Seaman Corporation, Seepex and The Ohio State University, was awarded $2 million to scale-up and optimize a commercial demonstration facility that can process over 30,000 wet tons of biomass annually with more than 750 kW of electrical generation capacity. 

FUEL CELLS

Energy Technologies, Inc., (Richland County), in collaboration with Energy Conversion Devices, was awarded $1 million to develop and verify testing process and verification tools  to demonstrate the manufacturing repeatability of metal hydride fuel cell systems and their key subcomponents.

Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems (US) Inc., (Stark County), in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University, was awarded $999,770 to determine the long-term reliability of the Rolls-Royce solid oxide fuel cell. A method to predict performance will be developed so that qualification of the solid oxide fuel cell can be accelerated, and  reduce the time for entry into commercial stationary power markets.

Wellman Products Group, a Division of Hawk Corporation, (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with UTC Power, a division of United Technologies Corporation, was awarded $893,252 to lower the material costs of the integrated separator plates (ISPs) that will be incorporated into UTC Power’s new PureCell® 400 System, power plants by employing lower cost raw materials and processing methods.

Lockheed Martin MS2 Integrated Defense Technologies, (Summit County), in collaboration with Technology Management, Inc., was awarded $1 million to accelerate commercialization of solid oxide fuel cell based generator sets (gensets) and auxiliary power units (APUs) to the U.S. Department of Defense, which is an early adopter with a pressing need for the basic value proposition. This will result in jobs at Lockheed Martin in Akron, as well as at Technology Management, Inc. and other partners in the Ohio fuel cell supply chain within the next five years.

PHOTOVOLTAIC

Ferro Corporation, (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with the Edison Welding Institute, StratusNexus Technologies, and The Ohio State University, was awarded $1 million to engineer a vitreous frit system to reliably hermetically seal second and third generation thin film solar cells for the desired service life of the solar module. 

Five Star Technologies, Inc., (Cuyahoga County), in collaboration with the Photovoltaic Innovation Center at the University of Toledo, was awarded $1 million to commercialize revolutionary inks that have been successfully demonstrated at test labs and alpha customers. The advanced inks enable a new generation of solar cells and can be incorporated immediately into existing cell fabrication lines.

To learn more about how the Ohio Third Frontier is growing the state’s technology economy and creating good jobs for Ohio residents, visit www.thirdfrontier.com.

When his daughters ask him, “Daddy, what do you do for a living?”, our Director of Marketing and Business Attraction, Steve Fritsch, tells them, “I help people get jobs.”

As employees of regional business attraction agent, Team NEO, we can sometimes get caught up in our metrics: How many new business opportunities did we find? How many new companies did we help attract? How many new jobs were created?

At meetings with our board, advisory councils and funders today, we took a look at a much more important measure - that of the effect on people’s lives.

As you’ll see in the attached video, our business attraction work has enabled Northeast Ohio families to live a better life and look forward to a more optimistic future. As we approach the holiday season, there is no better gift to us at Team NEO than that of seeing these smiling faces.

Happy Holidays!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5ekFqsavD4