Biomedical Stimulus Funding On The Chopping Block

Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Topics: Economy, Politics, Health, Other
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With the state struggling to plug a huge budget shortfall, those working to advance Northeast Ohio's biomedical industry are bracing for a disappointing rollback of state stimulus dollars. ideastream®'s Bill rice reports.

The Building Ohio Jobs Act passed in summer of 2008 authorized 150 million dollars statewide for biomedical companies that promised significant employment growth quickly - within twelve months.  The money was to have come from the state’s portion of the 1998 tobacco settlement - that is, until the group that had lain claim to it - the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation - stopped the diversion with a lawsuit that is still unresolved.  Now, with budget -writers in Columbus struggling to close a massive deficit, it appears the funds will be diverted again to cover more urgent state needs, putting the bioscience jobs initiative on longer-term hold.

Beju Shah of the business support group BioEnterprise, says he understands the Government’s predicament, and is confident the industry is still an economic development priority.

Shah:  “This is not a zeroing out of state support for the biomedical industry by any stretch.  This was meant to be an added on layer that did not materialize that we’re going to work to find other sources to help that come into being in the not-too-distant future.”

Shah cautions not to confuse the state stimulus bill with Ohio’s Third Frontier program to fund high tech research, including biomedical.  But a spokesperson for the governor says that money’s not guaranteed either.