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Area business leaders, educators tout value of Ohio’s Third Frontier

Third Frontier making progress to boost Dayton-area economy

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By William Hershey, Staff Writer 11:44 PM Sunday, January 17, 2010

COLUMBUS — Josh Long, Doug McClelland and Dan Kramer are cheerleaders for renewing Ohio’s Third Frontier project on the May 4 ballot.

“I believe that the Third Frontier can help Ohio in identifying and becoming a leader in what may be the next generation of technologies that can result in good-paying jobs,” said Kramer, in charge of the metals and ceramics division at the University of Dayton Research Institute.

He’s collaborated with McClelland, president of Mound Technical Solutions in Miamisburg, and Long, plant manager for UltraCell in Vandalia, on fuel-cell related projects funded by the Third Frontier.

Fuel cells convert the energy of hydrogen into electricity for a variety of uses, including computing and communications for the military. Third Frontier research has helped make Ohio and the Dayton-area a national leader, McClelland said.

Overall, the Third Frontier is credited with creating or retraining 48,000 jobs statewide, including thousands in the Dayton area.

The program provides money for shared research to develop new technologies and products and create jobs. Since 2002, more than $123 million has been awarded to Dayton-area projects, ranking the region third to the more populous Cleveland and Columbus areas.

“I don’t know where we’d be in Dayton without the shot in the arm that we’ve received through $120 million in Third Frontier grants,” said Rep. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering. Lehner last week was on the winning side of an 85-13 House vote to put renewal of the issue on the May 4 ballot.

The plan calls for issuing $950 million in bonds over five years. The proposal is now before the Senate, with a Feb. 3 deadline looming for getting issues on the primary ballot.

Rep. John Adams, R-Sidney, voted against the ballot proposal. Adams labeled the Third Frontier “corporate welfare.”

McClelland, however, said private investors are hard to find in a depressed economy.

“That kind of risk is not being taken,” he said.

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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