Cincinnati, Ohio
What does it take to create an innovative city?
Talent
Home to 10 Fortune 500 headquarters, Cincinnati has more corporate headquarters per capita than almost any other city in the country. Procter & Gamble, Chiquita, Kroger, Macy’s, Fifth Third and many other international companies are headquartered there. There is no doubt that Cincinnati is home to globally competitive talent.
Capital
75% of the world’s venture capital is in the US. Even more fortunately for Cincinnati, the State of Ohio has a program called the Third Frontier, which has allocated over $1.6 billion for technology, advanced manufacturing, and biotech start up companies, and has attracted an additional $3.5 billion in private investment in Ohio. CincyTech, a Cincinnati-based public-private partnership, is supported by the Third Frontier, with over $10.5 million allocated for early stage ventures. In addition to CincyTech, Cincinnati also has one of the nation’s largest angel investor networks, the Queen City Angels.
Technology
16,037 patents have been issued to Cincinnati inventors since 1976. In today’s numbers, that’s over 48 patents per thousand population – a very high rate for a city of its size. With Procter & Gamble, GE Aircraft Engine, and Ethicon Endo Surgery all located in Cincinnati, it should come as no surprise that the southwestern Ohio is a Mecca for consumer product, surgical, and aircraft technology.
Cincinnati is also a center of research, with over $350 million in research projects going on at the campuses of the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
A Catalyst
With a goal of reaching 100 entries, Cincinnati Innovates, the first Greater Cincinnati regional innovation competition, opened online on May 1, 2009 and ran through September 1, 2009. The results were astounding.
273 entries. 65,000 votes. 250,000 page views. 1,500,000 earned media impressions.
The main competition sponsors, CincyTech and Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, offered prizes totaling $50,000. Three commercialization grants of $20,000, $10,000, and $5,000 and three patent awards of $10,000, $2,500, and $1,000. A $2,000 award was given to the popular vote winner and a $1,000 award was given to the most outstanding student innovator.
Entrants came from all 15 counties of Greater Cincinnati and included inventors as young as 12 and as old as 90.
“At the heart of Cincinnati Innovates is the belief that our region is a great place for innovation, and this competition proved that belief to be reality," said James Zimmerman, a partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister. "From biotechnology and the Internet to consumer products, medical devices and green technology, the range of innovation has been amazing."
Bob Coy, president of CincyTech, says the competition helps spur local entrepreneurial activity, which then spurs economic growth. “According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Kauffman Foundation, startup companies accounted for all net new job growth in the U.S. between 1981-2008,” he said. “This competition is aimed at helping to launch the next startup companies.”
Award Winners
Commercialization awards sponsored by CincyTech
- First Prize, $20,000: Michael Bergman, of Mariemont, “Numbskull 2.0”
- Second Prize, $10,000: Daniel Stull, of Hyde Park, “Venturepax – Families in Motion” A Web tool allowing families to organize their outdoor adventures and information from other families
- Third Prize, $5,000: Noel Gauthier, of Norwood, “FireStop” An ecologically friendly, inexpensive and innovative fire extinguisher
Patent Awards sponsored by Taft, Stettinius & Hollister
- First Prize, $10,000: Jason Heikenfeld, of Newtown, Electrofluidic Displays A new approach for e-books that allows for electronic switching of pigments with the same brilliance as printed media
- Second Prize, $2,500: Dan Clifton, of Monfort Heights, Ox Handcuffs A pair of handcuffs that allow police to apply handcuffs to a suspect’s arms without having to place them behind their backs first
- Third Prize, $1,000: Phil Gettinger/Amro Kamel, both of Covington, the Ulcer Scale Looks like a bathroom scale and is used to detect diabetic foot ulcers (in-kind pro-bono legal services*)
HYPE! Community Choice Award: $2,000
Winner: Ryan Eder, of Liberty Township, Include Fitness A fitness system for those in wheelchairs
Student Innovator Award: $1,000
Winner: Patrick Yovanov, of Clifton Heights, Central Line Catheter A catheter that’s safer and more comfortable than those now on the market
