PERRYSBURG, Ohio —
State leaders announced Ohio's first innovation hub on Monday in Perrysburg.
The Northwest Ohio Glass Innovation Hub will be housed at the Owens-Illinois campus and be a place for industry and academia to come together.
Gov. Mike DeWine announced the state will be giving more than $31.3 million to fund the hub and there will be more than $10 million matched by local companies.
The hub will be a collaboration between Owens-Illinois, Owens Corning, Pilkington, Libbey Glass and First Solar.
"This is a collaboration, collaboration that will build on Toledo's legacy as the glass capital of the world," DeWine said at a press conference on the O-I campus. "We believe we'll propel this region to the forefront of glass and solar innovation worldwide."
DeWine said these businesses are not competitors, so they will come together to create a competitive advantage on the global level.
He said these businesses face similar challenges regarding costs and sustainability, so researchers and industry leaders will come together at the hub to try and find new solutions. The hub will be 4500 square feet of laboratories and offices.
The hub will also have academic partners at the University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University. Researchers and students will be able to participate in the program.
There will also be partnerships with Owens Community College and Toledo Public Schools district.
DeWine said this will help bridge the gap between school and industry and create a workforce of students with experience.
DeWine said the program will create 1,600 jobs, $284 million of economic impact and increase state tax revenue by $25 million over the next seven years.
"We'll see more investment in our region," Frank Calzonetti, UT's vice president of innovation and economic development said. "We'll see the attraction of more talent coming into our region, talent coming into the companies, talent coming into the universities."
Scott Cooper, the technical director of USA for CelSian, said the company will be part of the hub and expects to hire people later in the summer. He said the project has been over a year in the making and he is excited to see attention brought to the area.
"Toledo has a lot of great things going for it," Cooper said. "This is one of those things we can now start adding to sort of the notches in the belt to really make this a really attractive place for smart, educated people to come, get educated and find work."
There is no start date for the project. DeWine said more innovation hubs throughout the state will be announced in the upcoming weeks.