Proprietary technology from NFCC in alignment with the OSU Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) and the OSU Center for Advanced Polymer and Composite Engineering (CAPCE) anchor a new Wright Project in advanced natural fiber composites.  On May 27, 2009, the Ohio Third Frontier Commission recommended that the proposal “Commercialization of Bio-based and Nano-tailored Composites for Industrial Applications” be funded at $3 million. As per Third Frontier requirements, the project will be matched with another $3 million by OBIC Alliance members. This project will accelerate the adoption of composites that are lighter in weight, lower in cost, and less abrasive than traditional reinforcement materials (while still providing comparable performance requirements). The project award will provide the capital funds to enable OSU to set up fiber processing facilities and pilot scale composite processing and testing.

The Ohio Department of Development has just released some preliminary information of the Fiscal Year 2010 funding opportunities for Third Frontier Advanced Energy and Advanced Materials Programs.    As expected, the Third Frontier Program has been impacted by the State budget conditions.  These two program areas continue to be viewed as critical to the Cluster Development Program within the Third Frontier effort.  The Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Advanced Energy Program will be available in late July.  The total request must not exceed $1 million (plus capital) and preference will be given to wind, biomass, and storage projects.

June 2, 2009 will be the date of this years Legislative Luncheon, held at the Statehouse Atrium from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The featured speaker will be Governor Ted Strickland.

Companies can tap the Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center (OBIC) resources to advance their bioproducts research to the commercialization stage.Companies will find a well-honed management program in place to smooth the process. OBIC's Portfolio Management Process is designed to engage private sector companies with academic and industry resources, and then help manage an identified cluster of research projects to speed the commercialization process.

One example of an ongoing and very productive technology commercialization effort includes The Andersons, Inc. of Maumee, OH, OBIC, and Ohio State University (OSU) researchers. Behind the effort is a $5MM grant was awarded by Ohio Third Frontier (TFP) Commission in July 2008 to pursue many aspects of the Andersons revolutionary granule technology. TFP funding from the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) is geared to rapid commercialization and economic development that helps establish Ohio has a leader in bioproducts commercialization.