9-23-2005

Contact: Emily Foster, (614) 292-0041

OSU Trustees Pass Resolution Supporting State Issue 1

Research funding in Jobs for Ohio amendment will produce jobs, scientific advances and economic stimulation

COLUMBUS – Ohio State University's Board of Trustees today voted to support the passage of State Issue 1, a proposed constitutional amendment that will appear on the ballot in November, saying that it “will improve the quality of life for all Ohioans.”

University President Karen A. Holbrook said that the resources this bond issue will invest in the state will have a lasting impact on Ohio's future.

“The economic future and prosperity of the state are directly linked to passage of this issue in November,” Holbrook said. “In particular, it supports new and innovative technologies developed by Ohio researchers, such as those at Ohio State, and brought to the market by Ohio businesses.

“Not only will this issue fund vital research that will improve the quality of life for people everywhere, we need this level of state support if Ohio is to successfully compete with our neighbors in the region. This is what will help build a prosperous Ohio of tomorrow.”

State Issue 1 would authorize the state to issue up to $2 billion in bonds for infrastructure improvements, research and development projects, and related business site development. More than two-thirds of the money – $1.35 billion – is earmarked to help local governments improve public infrastructure such as bridges and roadways, water supply systems, sanitary sewers, solid waste disposal facilities and storm runoff systems.

In addition, up to $500 million of the bond sales would support research, product innovation and commercialization for businesses and industries within the state. Key areas for this support include research into alternative energy and fuel development, as well as new treatments for life-threatening illnesses such as cancer and heart disease.

The remaining $150 million of proposed bonds would help Ohio communities re-develop former industrial sites and equip new areas with the infrastructure needed to capture new businesses and retain existing ones.

Michael Knopp, Chair of the Department of Radiology at OSU and principal investigator on a major state-supported Wright Center project, said, “Efforts such as State Issue 1 foster new collaborations between business, industry and academic researchers, especially in the area of biological technologies which we typically have not had in Ohio in the past.”

Knopp said that Ohio has done an outstanding job of demonstrating what can be done with this kind of leveraged state support for research, so much so that even leaders at the National Institutes of Health are strongly supporting such arrangements.

“These partnerships are essential for major multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research efforts. This is where the future of research is being made,” he said.

State Issue 1 will extend the funding of research begun under Ohio's Third Frontier program. Experience with Third Frontier research projects indicates that every dollar the state invests in research leverages $8.40 in federal grant funds and private investment through partnerships with industry. Ohio State's Third Frontier-funded projects have involved other Ohio universities as well as numerous industry partners, including Lockheed Martin, Honda, Borden Chemical, Battelle, and Procter & Gamble. According to an analysis by the Association of American Universities, every $1 million spent on academic research yields 32 jobs. The Third Frontier grants to Ohio State this year alone, then, will contribute 10,000 Ohio jobs to the economy, on top of the innovation and new commercial developments anticipated from the funded projects.

Some 41 Ohio partners, as well as 12 out of state, are linked to Ohio State's Third Frontier projects. And 46 additional businesses and industries within the state provided materials or services vital for the projects' success, representing additional millions of dollars in new Ohio commerce.

“Partnerships fostered by programs such as State Issue 1 directly connect Ohio and its citizens to the vast resource represented by our university researchers and the innovations they develop,” Holbrook said. “As one of the Top 10 public research universities in the country, Ohio State supports the Jobs for Ohio issue for the opportunities it opens to the university and the promise it offers Ohio's economic future.”

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