COLUMBUS – The state is planning its third “innovation district” for the West Campus of The Ohio State University, a billion-dollar complex intended to boost technological and medical research and development and to keep graduates of Ohio’s universities in the state.
Governor Mike DeWine, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther OSU Pres. Dr. Kristina Johnson were joined by other officials in making the announcement of the center, which DeWine says will bring together education and healthcare research institutions like OSU and Nationwide Children’s Hospital to bolster the creation of in-demand science and high-tech jobs and fuel $3 billion in economic development.
“We want those researchers to create, we want them to develop and share their ideas with the world, and this being done all in Ohio,” DeWine said.
The Columbus Innovation District joins similar projects previously announced in Cleveland and Cincinnati
The goal of the district is to generate 20,000 new jobs in central Ohio over the next 10 years, half of them direct STEM – science, technology, engineering, math — jobs in the tech and healthcare industries, as well as 10,000 indirect jobs in the community at large.
Ohio State and Nationwide Children’s will invest $1.1 billion to development an Interdisciplinary Research Facility, an Energy Advancement and Innovative Center, an Outpatient Cancer Facility, and the region’s first proton therapy facility to treat cancer patients, which is already underway at West Campus.
“This is a once in a generation opportunity that will produce thousands of new graduates, thousands more jobs and spur billions in private investment,” Ginther said.
The Cleveland Innovation District launched in January with the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, MetroHealth Medical Center, and University Hospital as partners, and the Cincinnati Innovation District was unveiled in March 2020 with the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center as anchors.