Buzz

Western & Southern move could bring up to 150 jobs to Cincinnati

SOAPBOX, 1/25/11 Thursday, January 27, 2011

Up to 150 new jobs could come to Cincinnati as part of a plan by Western & Southern Financial Group to relocate an Indiana-based unit to the Queen City, reports Soapbox.

Western and Southern is moving the operations of The Lafayette Life Insurance Company from Lafayette, Ind. - and those 150 jobs - to Cincinnati by the middle of this year.

Read the full story here.

Venture capitalist to run Ohio development agency

THE DAYTON DAILY NEWS, 1/7/11 Thursday, January 13, 2011

Gov. John Kasich is tapping his long-time friend Mark Kvamme, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, to lead the Ohio Department of Development and begin shifting it to a private nonprofit entity focused on creating jobs, reports the Dayton Daily News.

Kvamme, a California native, will take a leave from his job as a partner in Sequoia Capital Management, fly into Ohio on Monday mornings, fly home on Thursdays and telecommute the rest of the time, Kasich said.

Read the full story here.

Kasich tackles small-business initiative

THE PLAIN DEALER, 1/10/11 Thursday, January 13, 2011

John Kasich's first official act as Ohio's 69th governor was to name Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor to head the Ohio Department of Insurance and to put her in charge of streamlining business regulations seen as burdensome for small businesses, reports The Plain Dealer.

Kasich signed an executive order Monday afternoon directing Taylor to carry out his "Common Sense Initiative"and evaluate the impact that agency rules and regulations have on small businesses.

Read the full story here.

Report: Health care repeal costly for small businesses

THE DAYTON BUSINESS JOURNAL, 1/11/11 Thursday, January 13, 2011

Consumers and small businesses in Ohio will face significantly higher insurance premiums and could see coverage denials and price discrimination if the federal health care law is repealed, reports the Dayton Business Journal.

Ohio Public Interest Research Groups, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public interest advocacy organization, details the potential impact in the report, "The Cost of Repeal: Examining the Impact on Ohio of Repealing the New Federal Health Care Law," released Jan. 10.

Read the full story here.

Ohio legislative preview: Budget concerns will dominate all else

MEDCITY NEWS, 1/7/11 Thursday, January 13, 2011

The looming specter of an $8 billion budget deficit will cast its shadow over nearly everything that happens � or doesn't happen � in the Ohio legislature this year, notes MedCity News.

But that won't stop key interest groups from throughout Ohio's healthcare community from pushing for (and against) prospective laws that they hold most (or least) dear.

Read the full story here.

Study measures impact of Ohio�s wind and solar industries

TODAY�S ENERGY SOLUTIONS, 1/6/2011 Thursday, January 13, 2011

The Environmental Law and Policy Center has released a new study of Ohio's wind and solar energy supply chain that finds 106 Ohio companies are doing business with the wind power industry and 63 are part of the solar energy supply chain, reports Today's Energy Solutions.

Ohio's strong manufacturing base and skilled workforce, together with supportive policies and smart investments, have helped make Ohio a center for clean energy manufacturing.

Read the full story here.

Is the Midwest the nation�s hottest venture capital market?

MEDCITY NEWS, 1/3/11 Thursday, January 13, 2011

The Midwest can't compare to the coasts in volume of venture capital investment, but a strong performance last year has some predicting the region to be 2011's hottest growth market, reports MedCity News.

Through the first three quarters of 2010, the amount of venture money invested in Midwestern startups grew 45 percent to $818 million, according to the National Venture Capital Association. That's a higher amount than Midwestern venture investment in the full year of recession-plagued 2009.

Read the full story here.

Stark State announces wind energy center; project should create 65 jobs

THE CANTON REPOSITORY, 12/22/10 Thursday, January 13, 2011

An $11.8-million center for wind energy research is expected to create 65 jobs and be built near the Akron-Canton Airport, reports The Canton Repository.

The construction of the facility and purchase of roughly 15-acres of state-owned property were announced by Stark State College of Technology officials.

Read the full story here.

Landfill owners oppose tightening Ohio EPA rules

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 1/6/11 Thursday, January 13, 2011

Landfill owners say some sites could be driven out of business by the tightening of Ohio environmental rules for certain dumps that accept construction and demolition waste, reports The Associated Press.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency introduced draft rules last week that would require synthetic liners for the first time at new or expanded landfills improved groundwater monitoring at dumps that handle castoff lumber, masonry and drywall.

Read the full story here.

Ohio House approves bill supporting wind and solar power manufacturing operations in Ohio

THE PLAIN DEALER, 12/14/10 Thursday, December 16, 2010

The Ohio House of Representatives extended Ohio's Alternative Energy Fund for three years, supporting an economic incentive program which invested more than $50 million in about 600 energy projects in the state, and created more than 1,200 jobs in the wind and solar fields, reports the Plain Dealer.

The fund will support utility-scale and consumer-scale projects as well as wind and solar power manufacturing operations.

Read the full story here.

Sen. Voinovich's parting thoughts

THE WASHINGTON POST, 12/8/10 Thursday, December 16, 2010

During his 12 years in the Senate, Ohio Sen. George V. Voinovich has introduced a steady stream of bills to repair, reform and empower the federal workforce, notes a Washington Post blog.

The Post interviewed Voinovich, who leaves office in January, about his views on jobs, public-private partnerships and public service.

Read the full interview here.

OSU researchers find magma at shallow depth under Hawaii

SCIENCE DAILY, 12/10/10 Thursday, December 16, 2010

Ohio State University researchers have found a new way to gauge the depth of the magma chamber that forms the Hawaiian Island volcanic chain, and determined that the magma lies much closer to the surface than previously thought, reports ScienceDaily.

The finding could help scientists predict when Hawaiian volcanoes are going to erupt. It also suggests that Hawaii holds great potential for thermal energy.

Read the full story here.

School districts consider long-term solar agreements

DAYTON DAILY NEWS, 12/12/10 Thursday, December 16, 2010

A falling stock market was harming charitable endowments, shrinking or killing portfolios. So, Dave Chrestensen and his partners latched onto a business model in which wealthy individuals can own wind or solar power generation systems, take the tax benefits, and sell the electricity at below-market rates to a charity or nonprofit for long-term contracts, reports the Dayton Daily News.

Now, three west central Ohio school districts have allowed Chrestensen's company to build arrays of solar panels on their buildings, representing 1.7 megawatts of power and a total of $8.5 million.

Read the full story here.

Florida high speed rail money rolls in as Ohio and Wisconsin reject federal funding

WTSP-TAMPA, 12/10/10 Thursday, December 16, 2010

Florida's Governor-elect Rick Scott could still say no to the high speed rail line linking Tampa and Orlando, but the latest announcement from Washington would make that a politically tougher move, says WTSP in Tampa.

That's because the $2.6 billion bullet train line is now entirely funded, thanks to promises by the governors-elect of Ohio and Wisconsin to turn down rail funds in those states.

Read the full story here.

Colleges urged to market research

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 12/12/10 Thursday, December 16, 2010

Gov.-elect John Kasich wants Ohio universities to do a better job of turning research into commercial products to spur economic growth and create badly needed jobs in the state, reports the Columbus Dispatch.

State higher-education leaders say they support new ideas about how to accelerate the commercialization process.

Read the full story here.