Buzz

JumpStart heads to Twin Cities

MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL BUSINESS JOURNAL, 12/9/10 Thursday, December 16, 2010

JumpStart Inc., a nonprofit organization that advises entrepreneurs and helps connect them with sources of financing, is hosting two focus group discussions in the Twin Cities this week as part of a plan to develop a "regional entrepreneurship action plan" for the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, reports the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.

JumpStart is based Cleveland and backed by Ohio's Third Frontier initiative. In Ohio, it's helped tie together disparate business organization into one network, and funded startup companies.

Read the full story here.

Telecoms invest $540 million, create 20,000 jobs in Ohio

DAYTON BUSINESS JOURNAL, 12/14/10 Thursday, December 16, 2010

More than $500 million in telecom projects that will create 20,000 jobs across Ohio were announced in the second half of 2010, including $7.6 million in work in the Dayton region expected to create nearly 400 local jobs, reports the Dayton Business Journal.

On Tuesday, the advocacy group Technology for Ohio's Tomorrow released new stats from its telecommunications investment tracker, which show $542 million dollars have been committed to projects in Ohio between June and December. The work is expected to create more than 20,000 jobs statewide.

Read the full story here.

AMP Electric Vehicles and Northern Lights Energy to bring 1,000 all-electric SUVs to Iceland

SOAPBOX, 12/14/2010 Thursday, December 16, 2010

AMP Electric Vehicles has hit one of its biggest milestones yet. The four-year-old Blue Ash company will introduce 1,000 all-electric SUVs to Iceland, reports Soapbox.

AMP, which moved from an engineering lab into a former Land Rover dealership late last year, has just signed a deal with Northern Electric Lights, a private company in Iceland. Under a letter of Intent, NLE has committed to buy the SUVs from AMP over the next five years.

Read the full story here.

HCP to pay $6.1 billion for HCR ManorCare's nursing home properties

LOS ANGELES TIMES, 12/15/10 Thursday, December 16, 2010

The biggest private-equity deal of the year is a bet on the aging of the baby boom generation, reports the Los Angeles Times.

HCP Inc., a Long Beach-based real estate investment trust, announced that it would pay $6.1 billion to buy the real estate assets of Toledo-based nursing home giant HCR ManorCare Inc.

Read the full story here.

GM invests $163.2 million at Michigan, Ohio plants

BLOOMBERG, 11/24/10 Thursday, December 02, 2010

General Motors Co., will invest $163.2 million at two plants in Michigan and one in Ohio to expand production of small engines, reports Bloomberg.

The investment will preserve 184 jobs in Flint and Bay City, Michigan, and Defiance, Ohio.

Read the full story here.

Other states looking at Ohio's high-speed rail funding

CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 11/29/10 Thursday, December 02, 2010

Gov.-elect John Kasich's vow to scrap a proposed passenger rail line linking Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland is becoming increasingly popular in states that hope to snatch the $400 million in federal dollars that Ohio might give up, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The day after his Nov. 2 election, Kasich left no doubt about his intentions regarding the so-called 3C rail line, saying: "That train is dead."

Read the full story here.

AEP to buy wind energy from proposed Ohio farm

BUSINESS FIRST, 11/23/10 Thursday, December 02, 2010

American Electric Power Company is putting more renewable energy onto its grid with a 20-year deal to buy wind energy from a farm in the works in northwest Ohio, reports Business First of Columbus.

Gahanna-based subsidiary AEP Ohio said it signed a deal to buy all the output from a 99-megawatt wind farm Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy is planning to build in Paulding County.

Read the full story here.

Cardinal Health to pay $1.3 billion for distributor Kinray

DOW JONES, 11/18/10 Thursday, December 02, 2010

Drug wholesaler Cardinal Health Corp. says it will buy privately held pharmaceutical distributor Kinray Inc. for $1.3 billion, reports Dow Jones.

Cardinal Health, the second-biggest drug distributor in the U.S. behind McKesson Corp., said the deal will enable it to "build on our increasing presence in community pharmacy and accelerate our growth in this important channel."

Read the full story here.

Plans for wind farm returned to drawing board

THE MARION STAR, 11/29/10 Thursday, December 02, 2010

A project years in the making to plant wind turbines in north central Ohio farmland has gone back to the drawing board, reports the Marion Star.

Owners of the Black Fork Wind project say they are working to retool plans to build a wind farm in Richland and Crawford counties, a project initially estimated to cost more than $440 million.

Read the full story here.

New Ohio ag director will review animal care deal

ASSOCIATED PRESS, 11/22/10 Thursday, December 02, 2010

Ohio's next agriculture director plans to take a closer a look at a deal arranged by the outgoing governor and animal rights activists that would bring tougher laws governing farm animals, reports the Associated Press.

"There are a lot more unanswered questions," says James Zehringer, a former poultry farmer who's been a state lawmaker the past three years.

Read the full story here.

YSU initiative puts focus on energizing the economy

THE VINDICATOR, 11/22/10 Thursday, December 02, 2010

Imagine a fragment so small it fits on the head of a pin. Now imagine if you had to determine its composition. The Center for Advanced Materials at Youngstown State University, which opened last April, allows students to conduct research on such tiny materials, reports the Youngstown Vindicator.

Tim Wagner, a YSU chemistry professor and center director, says the project came about through a $2.1 million grant from Ohio's Third Frontier initiative.

Read the full story here.

Kobe Steel plans to build auto steel plant in Ohio, Nikkei says

BLOOMBERG, 11/30/10 Thursday, December 02, 2010

Kobe Steel Ltd. plans to build an automobile steel mill in Ohio to produce lightweight steel sheet for fuel-efficient vehicles, according to a Nikkei English News story reported by Bloomberg.

Pro-Tec Coating Co., a joint venture of Kobe Steel and U.S. Steel Corp., will spend 40 billion yen ($479 million) to build the new plant.

Read the full story here.

Ohio, Midwest emerge as center for clean energy

NEW YORK TIMES, 11/30/10 Thursday, December 02, 2010

With surprising speed, and with the help of ample public incentives, a solar energy manufacturing center has emerged in Ohio and other parts of the upper Midwest, reports the New York Times.

The article notes how Toledo has become a center for production of flexible sheets of photovoltaic cells developed from research programs at the University of Toledo and that DuPont is building a solar materials plant in Circleville.

Read the full story here.

Cincy discount sites combine as revamped YoDeal

SOAPBOX, 11/30/10 Thursday, December 02, 2010

Three Greater Cincinnati websites devoted to partnering with local business to offer group discount deals have merged to form a revamped version of YoDeal, reports Soapbox.

YoDeal is one of several new sites that have popped up in Cincinnati in the last year offering discounts for products and services at local business, generally at 50 percent off or more.

Read the full story here.

Report ranks Ohio business climate 8th

THE YOUNGSTOWN BUSINESS JOURNAL, 11/17/10 Thursday, November 18, 2010

A new study finds Ohio is rapidly becoming one of the best states for business, ranking 25th for overall business climate, reports The Youngstown Business Journal.

The Pollina Top 10 Pro-Business States for 2010 report ranks Ohio eighth in the nation for 15 factors related to the state economic development efforts and the quality of Ohio's business incentives.

Read the full story here.