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State of Ohio commits $265 million for new innovation district

January 28, 2021
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By: Ellen Marrison

Ohio’s governor and other state leaders this week announced the creation of a new Cleveland Innovation District, with the state of Ohio, through the Ohio Development Services Agency (DSA), JobsOhio and the Cleveland Clinic committing a combined $565 million to the new district. The new district will bring together Northeast Ohio’s leading healthcare providers and education institutions with the goal of creating a pathogen center with global reach. DSA is committing to $155 million, $100 million will be in the form of a loan, the terms of which are still being finalized, and an estimated $55 million in Job Creation Tax Credits (JCTC) over a 15-year period. JobsOhio will invest $110 million and an additional $300 million will be invested by Cleveland Clinic.

The governor’s press release regarding the announcement noted that Cleveland Innovation District’s goal is to bring 20,000 new jobs to Northeast Ohio over 10 years, half of those expected to be in direct jobs in healthcare and IT, leading to an expected economic impact of $3 billion for Cleveland and Ohio.

This is the second innovation district created in the state with the help of JobsOhio, which is Ohio’s economic development corporation, in less than a year. In March 2020, JobsOhio launched the Cincinnati Innovation District, a public-private partnership aiming to accelerate more than 15,000 STEM graduates and $2 billion in research. JobsOhio committed to investing up to $100 million over the following 10 years toward that effort.

The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved a 2.580 percent, 15-year tax credit to The Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF) for the project. CCF expects to create 1,000 full-time equivalent employees generating $100,000,000 in new annual payroll and to retain $956.3 million in existing payroll through 2028 at the project location. The JCTC is a performance-based incentive with the tax credits earned over time based on actual performance of creating new jobs and new corresponding payroll.

Ohioinnovation, economic development, jobs