CLEVELAND — On Monday afternoon, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine held a news conference detailing the creation of the Cleveland Innovation District.
The Cleveland Innovation District brings together Northeast Ohio’s world-class healthcare providers and education institutions with the goal of creating a pathogen center with global reach to improve the lives of millions of people. It will also generate more than 20,000 jobs in Ohio over 10 years.
"We’re expecting the Innovation District will create an estimated 20,000 jobs over the next 10 years -- 10,000 of these will be direct jobs in healthcare and high-tech industries throughout the region," DeWine said during the announcement. "The other 10,000 jobs will be indirect jobs, benefiting from the Innovation District’s investment in the region. The expected output over 10 years will create $3 billion in economic impact in Cleveland."
Planners envision the Cleveland Innovation District to "be a center of excellence that acts as a catalyst for ongoing investment in Northeast Ohio, including the attraction of businesses and the talent needed to keep the state competitive in healthcare and IT."
“The Cleveland Innovation District creates partnerships across different sectors of the economy and positions Ohio as a competitive place to invest in,” DeWine added. “Each of the Cleveland Innovation District partners bring unique skills and areas of expertise. Having these institutions partner together will help Ohio emerge as a leader in healthcare and IT nationally and globally.”
Through the Ohio Development Services Agency and JobsOhio, the state will combine with Cleveland Clinic to commit a combined $565 million to the Cleveland Innovation District. DSA will commit to $155 million, while JobsOhio will invest $110 million. An additional $300 million will be invested by Cleveland Clinic.
A significant portion of the investment and commitment will be put towards the creation of the Cleveland Clinic’s new Global Center for Pathogen Research & Human Health.
“We are honored to join Governor DeWine and Lieutenant Governor Husted in their vision for transformational impact in our great state of Ohio,” said Tom Mihaljevic, MD, CEO and president, Cleveland Clinic. “This historic investment will position Cleveland Clinic’s Global Center for Pathogen Research & Human Health to alter the course of human welfare. The world has experienced the destruction triggered by pathogens, we will be part of the solution. Together, our four world-class partners will build the Cleveland Innovation District into a vibrant forward-thinking partnership that creates jobs, transforms research and educates the workforce of the future.”
Additionally, the Cleveland Innovation District will build and invest in current initiatives at the partner institutions:
Case Western Reserve’s Next Generation Health Care initiative will further expand community engagement, and quantitative health efforts to improve population-wide well-being. The initiative builds on the university’s biomedical technologies and drug development to advance diagnosis and treatment for cancer, cardiac, neurological, and infectious diseases.
MetroHealth will partner with the institutions and further expand expertise in population health, medical informatics, epidemiology and modeling to support early detection, and monitoring of disease spread within communities.
University Hospitals will leverage current research and partnerships in the Cleveland Innovation District to identify and attract technology and process innovation for pharmaceutical development generated in Northeast Ohio. Specifically, University Hospitals will lead efforts to advance medical research and product innovation.
Cleveland State University (CSU) will invest in education and talent development to increase the number of higher education degrees, adult learning opportunities, and virtual educational programming opportunities in key STEM fields. Through this initiative, CSU is tasked with recruiting, educating and graduating the skilled talent needed to fuel growth in post-pandemic health care careers, emerging technologies, life sciences, and data-intensive fields.
You can watch Monday's entire announcement in the player below:
“The City of Cleveland congratulates our project partners the State of Ohio, JobsOhio, Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, MetroHealth, Case Western Reserve University, and Cleveland State University. Today’s announcement is another example of how our collaborative efforts position Cleveland’s economy for the future,” said Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson in a statement. “We look forward to future collaboration with these partners to bring more jobs and innovation to the Cleveland Innovation District and Opportunity Corridor.”
On Monday evening following the announcement from DeWine, Cleveland City Council released a statement detailing their excitement over the upcoming project.
"Cleveland City Council members are celebrating a game-changing announcement made earlier today of a new Cleveland Innovation District that’s starting with an initial investment of more than $565 million," the council wrote. "The catalytic project – to make Cleveland the hub for health and science advancements – includes the three major health systems and the two universities in Cleveland along with the state of Ohio. JobsOhio will invest $110 million in the initiative and an additional $155 million is coming from the Ohio Development Services Agency."
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