Updated 3:35 p.m.
Akron and its Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron are getting a big boost from Ohio.
The city has been designated an Ohio Hub of Innovation and Opportunity in biomaterials, bringing with it a grant of $250,000 and support from the Ohio Department of Development to help it become a global leader in the commercialization of biomaterials technologies, products and services.
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The institute — which will be the center of the city’s innovation hub — is getting a commitment for a $2.5 million research and development loan to help pay for its headquarters. The $10 million renovation of the first three floors of a Summit County-owned building at Main Street and Perkins Avenue is expected to open next summer.
Gov. Ted Strickland, Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic and leaders of the bioinnovation institute made the announcements in Akron on Monday afternoon.
“Hubs are one piece of a larger strategy to strengthen our workforce, our economy and our state,” Strickland said in a release. “In recent months, we’ve seen job growth in Ohio again because in recent years, we’ve been investing in Ohio’s advantages.”
Akron is the state’s fifth hub of innovation. The hubs are aimed at marshaling a region’s resources and investments — in this case, in the biomaterials industry — to attract related businesses and workers, encourage investment and grow jobs.
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Last month, Cleveland was designated a hub for medical imaging. At the same time, Philips Healthcare said it would invest more than $33 million in the first phase of a medical imaging research and development center at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland.
The Akron Biomaterials Commercialization Hub will bring together the Austen BioInnovation Institute of Akron and four of its five founding institutions — the University of Akron, Summa Health System, Akron General Medical Center, Akron Children’s Hospital — with the Akron Global Business Accelerator, Summit County and Akron.
The hub will focus on orthopedics and wound healing applications — the institute’s current focuses — and will be located within the Akron Biomedical Corridor.
“This further capitalizes on Akron’s world-class biomaterials expertise,” Plusquellic said in the governor’s release. “Since we announced the Akron Biomedical Corridor in 2006, there has been a steady progression linking our global reputation in polymers and materials science to our nationally recognized leadership in medical research.”
Supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Austen BioInnovation Institute was launched two years ago to accelerate research that would result in the next-generation of biomedical innovations, as well as to improve disease prevention, treatment and management. The institute aims to help the region create 2,400 jobs within the next decade.
“This investment is the next step in creating a world-class center for collaboration in biomedical research, education, commercialization and community health in the heart of Akron’s Biomedical Corridor and will act as a hub for patient-centered innovation and commercialization,” said Bill Considine, chair of the institute, and president and CEO of Akron Children’s Hospital, in a separate Summit County release.
The $2.5 million loan commitment from the state would help the Austen BioInnovation Institute build a state-of-the-art headquarters in Summit County’s building at 47 N. Main St., which now houses the county’s Department of Job and Family Services.
“This innovative project is important for the improvement and advancement of healthcare in Northeast Ohio and will spur continued job growth in our community’s medical sector,” said Jon Poda, Summit County Council president, in the county’s release. The headquarters is expected to create 50 jobs in the biomedical corridor within the next year, on top of the institute’s current 20 employees.
Summit County Port Authority will buy the building from Summit County, issuing economic development revenue bonds to pay for much of its renovation. By next summer, the headquarters will house a healthcare training facility that would offer team-based, patient-centered simulation programs.
“The new facility represents a significant investment by Austen BioInnovation Institute of Akron, the county and the city, and reaffirms our founding partners’ commitment to making Akron a global center of biomedical innovation, discovery and entrepreneurship through high-profile, cutting-edge programs,” said Frank Douglas, the institute’s president and CEO.
“We are creating more than just office space; we are building a 21st Century hub, allowing us to recruit great talent and to provide an environment that will push discovery and commercialization forward,” Douglas said.
