Buzz

 
CincyTech, a nonprofit that invests in startup companies, has closed on its $4.4 million second fund for investments, raising $2.4 million from Southwest Ohio partners and receiving $2 million from Ohio Third Frontier, reports the Cincinnati Business Courier.

The organization invests in companies focused on information technology, bioscience and advanced manufacturing that are based in or willing to move to Southwest Ohio. The new fund could support 10 to 12 new investments.

Read the full story here.

 
Toolmaker Dayton Progress Corp. has hired more people lately than it has in decades -- about 100 in the past year -- and plans to hire more as orders continue to climb, reports the Dayton Daily News.

The stream of jobseekers is so strong that Dayton Progress has brought seats from the company cafeteria to its lobby to give the applicants places to sit.

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Cincinnati won the honors as the most "social media-savvy city in the world" from Mashable.com, a top website for social media, digital and technology news, in a contest the site held to celebrate today's Social Media Day, reports The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Cincinnati won in part because of "a very convincing video" submitted by Blair Ward, a 22-year-old student at Northern Kentucky University's Chase College of Law.

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Ohio scores high marks in manufacturing and logistics, but rates below average in tax climate and benefit costs, reports the Dayton Business Journal.

The Buckeye state got an "A" in manufacturing, logistics and global reach, but earned a "D minus" for tax climate and a "D" for benefit costs, said the 2011 Manufacturing and Logistics National report, prepared by Ball State University's Center for Business and Economic Research.

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Northeast Ohio is among a growing number of regions that are combating the loss of traditional factory jobs by developing industry clusters in fields such as biomedicine, renewable energy and aerospace, reports USA Today.

Besides medical devices, the Cleveland area � a more than century-old stronghold for auto, rubber and glass making � aims to carve out niches in clean energy and flexible electronics.

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Ganeden Biotech in Mayfield Heights, which established itself as the largest seller of over-the-counter probiotics in the United States, has sold its Sustenex and Digestive Advantage brands of dietary supplements to Schiff Nutrition International Inc. for $40 million in cash, reports The Plain Dealer.

Ganeden says it will receive royalties on Schiff products containing its patented strain of probiotics, called Ganeden BC30. Unlike other probiotic bacillus, it is able to survive baking, boiling or freezing.

Read the full story here.

General Motors has announced that it intends to invest $47 million in its Defiance, Ohio casting facility to prepare the plant for increased output of components of the popular 1.4L 4-cylinder Ecotec and the next generation small block V8, reports Torque News.

Defiance produced 5.8 million parts in 2010 and with these investments, GM expects to see that number increase.

Read the full story here.

The Pentagon's drive to deploy increasing numbers of remotely piloted, unmanned aircraft in war zones is causing a manpower crunch, reports the Dayton Daily News.

Now, Air Force and Wright State University researchers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where key UAV programs are managed, are trying to effectively automate many of the operating functions so the UAVs can fly themselves and allow a single human operator to oversee multiple craft at once.

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Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has long sold weed killer. Now, it's hoping to help people grow killer weed, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Scotts Chief Executive Jim Hagedorn says he is exploring targeting medical marijuana as well as other niches to help boost sales at his lawn and garden company.

Read the full story here.

A gas tied to climate change could someday bring new life to old Ohio oil fields, reports The Columbus Dispatch.

State officials are investigating whether carbon dioxide could be used to draw millions of barrels of crude oil from fields that were all but played out. Officials say the project could help reduce climate change and increase U.S. oil production.

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The image of the Rust Belt -- of crumbling abandoned factories and no hope -- does not completely square with reality, says the Columbus Dispatch's Washington bureau chief in an op-ed.

Citing Fortune Magazine's new list of the 500 largest companies in the U.S., Jack Torry notes that Ohio has gained Fortune 500 companies and that only New York, California, Texas and Illinois have more.

Read the full column here.

 
A Kettering business is looking to consolidate its operations in the Dayton and Michigan area at a new site at the Miami Valley Research Park, reports the Dayton Business Journal.

BWIGroup, the joint venture that acquired Delphi's brake and suspension units in November 2009, has taken steps to build a $20.2 million facility on College Drive in Kettering for BWI North America Inc. The project would create 130 new jobs.

Read the full story here.

The Ohio House has passed a bill that would open state forests, parks and wildlife areas to oil and gas drilling, reports the Associated Press.

The Republican-led chamber cleared the bill 54-41 on May 25 and sent it to the Ohio Senate. It creates a new commission to oversee oil and gas leases on state lands. Leases could generate $9 million for the state. The money would be re-invested in parks.

Read the full story here.

Cancer diagnostics company Neoprobe has sold its radiation-detection device business to Devicor Medical Products in a deal that could reach a value as high as $50 million, reports MedCity News.

Devicor, a Wisconsin-based holding company backed by Chicago private equity firm GTCR Golder Rauner, has agreed to buy Neoprobe's device business for $30 million in cash and up to $20 million in royalty payments, according to a statement from Dublin, Ohio-based Neoprobe.

Read the full story here.

Annual aquaculture sales in Ohio stand at $6.6 million, up from $1.9 million in 1997, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, reports ONN TV.

Factor in associated businesses -- equipment suppliers, feed mills, seafood shops and the like - and the industry's economic impact in the state approaches $50 million a year.

Read the full story here.