Ohio Third Frontier | Growing Role of Two-Year Colleges in the Ohio Third Frontier

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Did you know that 45 percent of all undergraduate students begin their studies at a two-year college? Ohio's two-year college system consists of 23 technical and community colleges located in every corner of our state. These two year colleges have played an important role in economic development, providing highly responsive education and training opportunities tailored to the needs of their local communities. The unique and intimate relationships these schools develop with the businesses in their regions have allowed some to explore new kinds of collaborations that have made them vital to fulfilling the goals of Ohio Third
Frontier.

Stark State College of Technology, located in North Canton, has become a world-class leader in fuel cell technology development and training. With funding from Ohio Third Frontier, Stark State serves the state's fuel cell industry by catalyzing prototype creation, curriculum development, and workforce preparation. The showcase for all these activities is the College's Fuel Cell Prototyping Center. This state-of-the-art facility was instrumental in attracting Rolls- Royce Fuel Cell Systems to establish its North American headquarters at Stark State, further expanding the college's fuel cell test capabilities and curriculum.

Several students in Stark State's fuel cell program have been interns at Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems, matriculating to full-time employment after completing their studies. Stark State continues to garner extensive state, federal, and industry support for its fuel cell activities. The school has developed new business relationships that include Contained Energy and Lockheed Martin amongst others, expanded its fuel cell campus with the new Fuel Cell Services Learning Center, and helped spur the concentration of fuel cell research, education, and business activity - causing the area to be dubbed the Ohio Fuel Cell Corridor.

Community colleges also recognize that strong partnerships grow Ohio's economy. Lima-based American Trim and Ohio Third Frontier worked with Rhodes State College, located in Lima, to establish two centers to develop and commercialize advanced manufacturing methods for functional, decorative, and environmentally friendly thin-film coating and finishing processes.

The Advanced Materials Commercialization Center (AMCC) is utilizing physical vapor deposition finishing for a nearchrome process for full-size bumpers and trim parts for the heavy-duty truck industry. The process is far "greener" than chrome plating, and with the new technology American Trim, expects to bring finishing jobs that have steadily gone to less environmentally rigid overseas locations back to the United States. The Materials Deposition Center (MDC) is scaling up coating technologies into production-scale application systems for various projects including a low-cost finish that simulates stainless steel for refrigerators, ovens, microwaves, and washers and dryers.

As these two centers help the company advance new manufacturing techniques to improve the competitiveness of its products, Rhodes State College uses these same resources to educate and train students with the technical know-how needed by American Trim to effectively utilize these promising new techniques.

With support from Ohio Third Frontier and its successful experience with the Great Lakes Innovation & Development Enterprise (GLIDE) incubator, Loraine County Community College has created the LCCC Innovation Fund. The Fund represents a unique approach that effectively blends the college's education and economic development goals in support of entrepreneurial business activity in Northeast Ohio. With the Fund, LCCC provides grants (up to $100,000) to promising technology-based startups located or willing to locate within the 21 counties of Northeast Ohio.

The awards are made to help technology-oriented entrepreneurs progress through the commercialization continuum by providing resources to help validate the technologies and business models at the start-ups. In return, recipients of Innovation Fund awards are required to provide an entrepreneurial education opportunity or an internship for students, faculty, or staff of LCCC and/or one of the Innovation Fund's partnering higher education institutions. Using this approach, LCCC is filling the pipeline in Northeast Ohio with highly desirable technology deals that are primed for investment by Ohio Third Frontier supported pre-seed funds such as JumpStart and the North Coast Angel Fund. They are also helping to educate Ohio's next generation of entrepreneurs.

Stark State College of Technology, Rhodes State College, and Lorain County Community College are playing a vital role in the Ohio Third Frontier by developing strategic alliances that address the commercialization needs of Ohio's business community and the development of a technically competent pool of talent in our state. Building on their traditional educational and training strengths, these three schools have demonstrated the potential for the state's technical and community college system as a whole to use Ohio Third Frontier support to pursue innovative new activities that can catalyze technologybased economic development in their respective communities.