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Toledo Blade
Ohio is 10th
for high-tech work in U.S.
By Tyrel Linkhorn
Ohio has the 10th most high-tech jobs in the nation, according to a
recent report from a Washington-based group that advocates for science
and technology policy.
The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, which provided
figures for every congressional district in the nation, said the
high-tech sector supports 379,000 jobs in Ohio.
In the 9th District, which includes Toledo, about 25,000 people — 8
percent of the work force — are in the high-tech sector, the group said.
“The myopic view that the high-tech economy is only Silicon Valley and
a few other bright spots like Boston or North Carolina’s Research
Triangle is flat wrong,” foundation president Robert D. Atkinson said.
“Indeed, all districts in Ohio have some kind of tech-driven activity
occurring locally.”
The 9th District, which runs along the Lake Erie to include parts of
Cleveland, actually has a higher share of tech workers than the
national average, which is about 7 percent. Metropolitan Toledo was
even higher, with 10.1 percent of the work force in advanced
industries. The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation
noted that put Toledo in the top 30 for large metro areas.
Many of those jobs are in the automotive industry. While not
traditionally thought of as a high-tech field, researchers say advanced
technology jobs aren’t just in labs and software development offices.
Paul Zito, vice president of international development at the Regional
Growth Partnership, said that’s an important point to remember as we
think about the future of Toledo’s economy. Just because the area isn’t
known for developing processing chips or mobile applications, the
region still stands to benefit if it can harness the high-tech economy.
“Most analysts and most engineers would agree that the future of high
tech is not in Silicon Valley or Boston or Research Triangle. It’s in
the industrial cities like Toledo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and
Indianapolis,” Mr. Zito said. “We’ve been saying it for 20 years, but
it’s only in the past six or eight years or so that it seems like the
rest of the world is recognizing the future of high tech really is in
the application of all these wonderful technologies.”
Foundation officials say the purpose of the study was to not just show
that tech is important to local economies but to foster more action
that can increase those industries.
“Advanced industries and innovation don’t just happen themselves,” said
Adams Nager, an economic policy analyst with the group. “There’s a lot
of very intentional thought we can give to innovation, promoting the
competitiveness of our high tech industries.”
While the 9th District fares well in sheer employment numbers, it
trails similar congressional districts in percentage of those high-tech
workers who are in STEM fields. It also significantly trails similar
districts in exports of IT services.
That was a common thread among several northwest Ohio districts,
including the 4th and 5th districts. The 4th District includes Allen,
Seneca, and Sandusky counties, while the 5th District includes a large
chunk of northwest Ohio counties, including parts of Lucas and all of
Fulton, Wood, Defiance, Hancock, Henry, Putnam, and Williams counties.
The 9th District did, however, fare well by the metric of royalty and
license services exported, with those categories making up 16.3 percent
of all services exported. The average for similar districts was 12.8
percent.
The Ohio 4th District did exceptionally well in that category, with
researchers finding 36 percent of all services exports were royalty and
license services.
That was 32nd best in the country, the group said.
Andrew Solocha, an associate professor of finance at the University of
Toledo who has studied U.S. and Canadian exports, said it’s crucial for
areas like Toledo to put a clear focus on developing students and
workers toward careers in innovation.
“The selling of ideas is going to be the most important thing for this
region going forward,” he said.
Read this and other articles at the Toledo Blade
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