What typically comes to mind when someone mentions Ohio? While images of farmland, factories, and tired Rust Belt cities endure, the Buckeye State has been gradually transforming itself into a budding hub for the technologies and industries of tomorrow. Against the odds, a concerted effort is underway to plant Ohio‘s flag as an ascendant player on the high-tech scene.
Rust Belt Redemption: Ohio‘s Pivot to Tech
Like many Midwest states, Ohio built its 20th century prosperity largely through manufacturing, steel production, agriculture, and raw materials supply. While these sectors still play a key role, globalization substantially hollowed out portions of that industrial base over recent decades. After a period of economic stagnation, business and political leaders ultimately realized that future success required embracing the knowledge economy by investing substantially in tech.
And invest they have:
- Over $3 billion has flowed into Columbus alone from venture capitalists over the past 20 years
- Ohio colleges graduate over 15,000 students per year in science, tech, engineering and math (STEM) fields
- 1,600+ tech firms now call Columbus home, generating over $6 billion in annual revenue
Positioned conveniently within a day‘s drive of over half the U.S. population, Ohio offers the combined advantages of a central location, moderate costs of living/operation, robust infrastructure and workforce talent. Compared to the astronomic costs of housing and doing business in known tech meccas, Ohio provides a compelling value proposition.
Let‘s explore the main components cementing the state‘s reputation as a burgeoning innovation center.
Homegrown Tech Stars Anchor Ohio‘s Ambitions
While outside investment continues pouring in, perhaps the clearest validation of Ohio‘s ascent has been the breakout success of numerous homegrown tech companies making noise nationally across a variety of sectors:
Spanning everything from venerable software vendors to cutting-edge insurtech disruptors, Ohio has incubating an impressive collection of entrepreneurial ventures scaling into national players:
Cincom stands apart as one of the world‘s largest independent business software companies, anchored around their hallmark TOTAL database system used by major enterprises globally since the late 1960s. Founded by Tom Nies out of Cincinnati, they epitomize Ohio‘s ability to nurture B2B technology innovators over the long haul.
Root Insurance embodies the state‘s emerging prowess around insurance technology, leveraging proprietary telematics and data science to set auto insurance rates based primarily on actual driving behaviors. Born in Columbus in 2015, they went on to successfully IPO in 2020 and now boast a $2.5 billion market cap.
Between stalwarts like MRI Software and Hyland to IoT forward-thinkers like Stratacache, Ohio has demonstrated it can deliver impactful tech companies across the stack. And the ecosystem shows no signs of slowing with recent unicorns like health AI platform Olive bringing more national glory.
Silicon Valley Stakes Its Claim
The ultimate confirmation of Ohio‘s brightening tech prospects has come recently via billion-dollar investments from the industry‘s preeminent companies staking their claim:
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Intel chose New Albany for a monumental new $20 billion semiconductor fabrication facility, expected to rival the world‘s largest such plant in size while creating 7,000 construction jobs and 3,000 permanent positions.
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Facebook committed $800 million to hyperscale data center construction outside Columbus, praising the region‘s infrastructure and resources. Their backing of a dedicated venture fund also aims to spur more Ohio-based startups.
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Google, Apple and Amazon have all established or expanded Ohio hubs focused on data center management and cloud services, pouring in hundreds of millions more.
Attracting the interest of such vaunted technology titans offers the strongest signal yet that Ohio has cinched itself as an ideal environment for nurturing tech innovation. With lower costs than either coast and central access to the Midwest‘s markets and workforce, the state suddenly finds itself in an enviable competitive position within the industry.
The Fallen Firms of Tech Past
Of course, while momentum seems largely positive at the moment, Ohio has also seen its fair share of once-prominent tech names eventually fizzle or fade away:
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Homegrown success story Convergys grew into a $2.5 billion publicly traded behemoth providing outsourced call centers and business process services. Yet falling demand led to their acquisition and absorption by California‘s Synnex in 2018.
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During the early internet boom, Commercial Commerce rose to prominence with its SOHO office supplies portal before the dot-com crash punctured its ambitions.
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Diebold maintained roots in Ohio for over 150 years until recently relocating their headquarters to Texas, unable to resist the bank branch automation provider‘s declining fortunes.
The attrition rate facing technology companies is notoriously harsh. For every enduring winner like Cincom or Alliance Data that manages to avoid takeovers and insolvency for decades, plenty of once-beloved brands ultimately fail or get swallowed. Yet the maturing stability found in Ohio‘s business climate today seems far more conducive to sustaining modern tech ventures over the long term.
Planting the Flag for an Ascendant Innovation Hub
Rather than resignation to a diminished status as a Rust Belt relic, 21st century Ohio has resolutely decided to bet its future prosperity on emerging as a durable tech and innovation foothold situated strategically between the coasts.
The steady cultivation of homegrown stars like CoverMyMeds and CrossChx combined with billion-dollar stamp-of-approval investments from the likes of Intel and Facebook underscore the potential for the Buckeye State to present a compelling lower-cost value proposition for technology investment compared to the traditional hubs like Silicon Valley and Boston.
If public and private sources maintain their focus on accelerating tech education, jobs and infrastructure in Ohio for the long haul, expect its stature as a prominent innovation hot spot to continue rising in the years ahead. The elements for a modern Midwestern tech success story seem firmly in place – now the execution continues.
