俄亥俄州政府将拨款 3125 万美元资助新的大阿克伦聚合物创新中心
【中美创新时报2024 年 9 月8 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）俄亥俄州州长迈克·德文、副州长乔恩·赫斯特德和俄亥俄州发展部主任莉迪亚·米哈利克周四访问了大阿克伦商会，宣布州政府将为新的大阿克伦聚合物创新中心项目提供 3125 万美元的资金。《阿克伦灯塔报》（Akron Beacon Journal）记者帕特里克·威廉姆斯（Patrick Williams）对此作了下述报道。
“这是一件大事，”德文对一屋子的利益相关者说，其中包括商界领袖、地方和州选举官员以及媒体。
该项目由商会的聚合物产业集群领导。
根据大阿克伦商会的新闻稿，该集群预计，在未来七年内，大阿克伦聚合物创新中心将在萨米特和波蒂奇县的阿克伦大都会统计区创造近 2,400 个新工作岗位、500 个 STEM 证书和“6800 万美元的催化聚合物行业额外投资”。
根据新闻稿，当地合作伙伴将提供 1040 万美元的额外配套资金。
俄亥俄州州长迈克·德文在 2024 年 9 月 4 日星期四在大阿克伦商会举行的新闻发布会上回答了一个问题，宣布为新的大阿克伦聚合物创新中心提供资金。
这笔资金将做什么？
在周四的公告中，德文表示，该中心的“合作伙伴将致力于创造聚合物创新，以支持电动汽车供应链、改进医疗设备、降低其侵入性；提高半导体性能；为更可持续的未来做出贡献。”
州长还宣布建立一个聚合物试验工厂，新闻稿称该工厂投资约 2500 万美元，将成为“该行业的共享资产，促进新材料的扩展、测试和原型设计。”
赫斯特德表示，州长办公室旨在帮助那些面临比以前更大压力的公司降低成本，使其产品具有商业可行性，并“满足更高的监管和消费者对环境方面的期望。”
米哈利克称该中心“真正证明了当行业先驱、企业、政府和学校……共同为未来提出共同想法时，一切皆有可能。”
俄亥俄州副州长乔恩·赫斯特德于 2024 年 9 月 4 日星期四在大阿克伦商会举行的新闻发布会上宣布为新的大阿克伦聚合物创新中心提供资金。
资金和项目实施的时间表是什么？
大阿克伦商会聚合物产业集群副总裁 Brian Anderson 表示，该集群尚未确定聚合物试验工厂的最终位置。
Anderson 表示，该集群收到州政府资金和推出资助项目的时间表尚未确定。
“但据推测，这项工作将在今年晚些时候开始，”他说。
俄亥俄州参议员 Vernon Sykes 于 2024 年 9 月 4 日星期四在大阿克伦商会举行新闻发布会宣布为新的大阿克伦聚合物创新中心提供资金后，向俄亥俄州州长 Mike DeWine 致意。
什么是俄亥俄州创新中心计划？
根据俄亥俄州发展部网站，“创新中心是由独特和现有的专业知识和传统行业驱动的区域创新生态系统，它们创造就业机会、增加 STEM 人才、吸引研究资金和外部资本投资、商业化新产品，并最终对俄亥俄州和世界产生重大影响。”
根据州长办公室的电子邮件通知，德文-赫斯特政府与俄亥俄州议会合作创建了俄亥俄州创新中心计划。在周四的活动中，德文感谢了共和党和民主党州参议员和众议员。
今年夏天，德文-赫斯特政府还宣布创建另外两个创新中心——西北俄亥俄州玻璃创新中心，从俄亥俄州创新中心计划获得超过 3130 万美元的州政府资助，代顿的 onMain 创新中心，从该计划获得超过 3500 万美元的资助。
俄亥俄州州长 Mike DeWine 和副州长 Jon Husted 在 2024 年 9 月 4 日星期四在大阿克伦商会举行的新闻发布会上回答问题，宣布为新的大阿克伦聚合物创新中心提供资金。
聚合物产业集群也正在获得联邦资金
7 月，乔·拜登总统的政府宣布通过美国商务部经济发展局为大阿克伦的可持续聚合物技术中心提供 5100 万美元的联邦资金。
安德森周四表示，可持续聚合物技术中心包括大阿克伦聚合物创新中心的一系列独立项目。
可持续聚合物技术中心由政府设计，是 2023 年 10 月美国 31 个技术中心之一，政府在 7 月宣布，它将成为获得联邦拨款的 12 个技术中心之一。它与其他三个中心并列获得最高奖项。
大阿克伦商会主席兼首席执行官史蒂夫·米勒德在 7 月与记者的电话会议上表示，这项倡议是两党共同努力的结果，得到了代表俄亥俄州的美国参议员、多名民主党和共和党美国代表、共和党德文政府以及两党民选州官员的支持。
俄亥俄州州长迈克·德文和副州长乔恩·赫斯特德在 2024 年 9 月 4 日星期四在大阿克伦商会举行的新闻发布会上聆听大阿克伦商会主席兼首席执行官史蒂夫·米勒德的讲话，宣布为新的大阿克伦聚合物创新中心提供资金。
题图：俄亥俄州州长迈克·德文在 2024 年 9 月 4 日星期四在大阿克伦商会举行的新闻发布会上与阿克伦市长沙马斯·马利克交谈，宣布为新的大阿克伦聚合物创新中心提供资金。
附原英文报道：
Gov. DeWine: $31.25M from the state will fund new Greater Akron Polymer Innovation Hub
Patrick Williams
Akron Beacon Journal
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik visited the Greater Akron Chamber on Thursday to announce $31.25 million in state funding for the new Greater Akron Polymer Innovation Hub project.
“This is a big deal,” DeWine said to a room of stakeholders, including business leaders and local and state elected officials, as well as media.
The project is being led by the Polymer Industry Cluster at the Chamber.
Over the next seven years, the cluster expects the Greater Akron Polymer Innovation Hub to create nearly 2,400 new jobs in the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area of Summit and Portage counties, 500 STEM credentials and “$68 million of catalyzed additional investment in the polymer industry,” according to a news release from the Greater Akron Chamber.
Local partners will provide $10.4 million in additional, matched funding, per the release.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine takes a question during a press conference to announce funding for the new Greater Akron Polymer Innovation Hub at the Greater Akron Chamber on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2024.
What will the funding do?
At the Thursday announcement, DeWine said the hub’s “partners will work to create polymer innovations that support the electrical vehicle supply chain, improve medical devices, make them less invasive; advance semiconductor performance; contribute to a more sustainable future.”
The governor also announced the creation of a Polymer Pilot Plant, which the news release described as a roughly $25 million investment that will be “a shared asset for the industry that will facilitate the scaling, testing, and prototyping of new materials.”
Husted said the governor’s office aims to assist companies that are under greater pressure than before to keep costs down, to make their products commercially viable and “to meet higher regulatory and consumer expecations on the environmental front.”
Mihalik called the hub “a true testament to what’s possible when industry pioneers, businesses, governments and schools … come together with a collective idea for the future.”
Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted speaks during a press conference to announce funding for the new Greater Akron Polymer Innovation Hub at the Greater Akron Chamber on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2024.
What is the timeline for funding and project implementation?
The cluster has not yet finalized a location for the Polymer Pilot Plant, said Brian Anderson, vice president of the Polymer Industry Cluster at the Greater Akron Chamber.
The timeline for the cluster’s receipt of the state dollars and rollout of funded projects has not yet been determined, Anderson said.
“But presumably later this year, the work will start,” he said.
Ohio Sen. Vernon Sykes greets Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine after a press conference to announce funding for the new Greater Akron Polymer Innovation Hub at the Greater Akron Chamber on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2024.
What is the Ohio Innovation Hubs Program?
According to the Ohio Department of Development website, “Innovation Hubs are regional innovation ecosystems driven by unique and existing expertise and legacy industries, which create jobs, increase STEM talent, attract research funding and outside capital investment, commercialize new products, and ultimately make a significant impact on Ohio and the world.”
The DeWine-Husted administration created the Ohio Innovation Hubs Program in partnership with the Ohio General Assembly, according to an email advisory from the governor’s office. At the Thursday event, DeWine thanked Republican and Democratic state senators and representatives.
This summer, the DeWine-Husted administration also announced the creation of two other innovation hubs — the Northwest Ohio Glass Innovation Hub, receiving more than $31.3 million in state funding from the Ohio Innovation Hubs Program, and the onMain Innovation Hub in Dayton, receiving more than $35 million in funding from the program.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted answer questions at a press conference to announce funding for the new Greater Akron Polymer Innovation Hub at the Greater Akron Chamber on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2024.
The Polymer Industry Cluster is also receiving federal funding
In July, President Joe Biden’s administration announced $51 million in federal funding for Greater Akron’s Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub, issued via the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration.
The Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub includes a separate series of projects from the Greater Akron Polymer Innovation Hub, Anderson said Thursday.
