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This state program, a part of Gov. Taft’s Third Frontier initiative, distributed 80 grants totaling $55 million between fiscal 1998 and fiscal 2003 to private companies, universities and other entities that try to spark high-tech development. Though the program has undergone various changes, its purpose has remained much the same since early on: Providing financial support to projects that contribute to technology-based economic development in Ohio. Grants now aid commercialization of new products, development of early-stage capital funds to support start-up and young companies, and Gov. Taft’s Fuel Cell Initiative. This December, 2003, report examining the program finds that it has created only a modest number of new commercial jobs, while oversight of it has been inadequate. The study also makes recommendations on how to improve the program and its accountability.
Third Frontier Grants Oversight Criticized Dayton Daily News, December 12, 03
Report: Third Frontier Fund Gets Slow Start Cincinnati Enquirer, December 12, 03
Study Criticizes Taft's High-Tech Start-Up Fund Columbus Dispatch, December 12, 03
Study Says Third Frontier Grant Program Fails to Create 'Significant Number' of Jobs, Lacks Oversight Gongwer News Service, December 12, 03
Program Creates Few High-Tech Jobs Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 13, 03
Akron Beacon Journal, December 29, 03
Cleveland Scene, January 7, 04
* Photograph by Gregory Conniff for the George Gund Foundation's A City Seen collection. |
The
Third Frontier Action Fund: a Performance Assessment