That business may end up moving away, to Silicon Valley or the East Coast, even if there’s a company elsewhere in Ohio that would make the perfect partner -- simply because the start-up doesn’t know the option is there.
OhioX, the first Ohio-wide nonprofit dedicated to technology and innovation, hopes to make those connections, President Chris Berry said in a Tuesday interview with cleveland.com.
Berry grew up in Akron, went to college at Miami University and now lives in the Columbus area. So he’s familiar with much of the state.
“Ohio is really lucky and blessed to have a lot of great groups and organizations in different regions,” Berry said. “(This group will) unite and promote those building the future across all 88 counties of Ohio.”
OhioX is currently working on two aspects of its mission: community building and promotion. The idea is to attract members to the network and share innovators’ stories statewide.
Membership is open to corporations, health care systems, start-ups, universities and research institutions, investors, small businesses, service providers and nonprofits.
Members will pay into the partnership on a sliding scale, from $100 for start-ups to $5,000 for large corporations. They will get access to membership events, webinars and an OhioX job board, where the group hopes to connect companies and start-ups to the talent they need.
By having a central platform where people can find all the job opportunities and latest updates on what’s going on in Ohio, Berry said OhioX hopes not only to boost the state’s profile, but also to attract “boomerangers,” or Ohio natives who moved out of the state and could be considering moving back.
“It’s a big effort,” he said. “By having unique backgrounds, perspectives and expertise, we think we can do it.”
Events will play a major part of OhioX’s strategy, and the group is planning kick-off events for the first quarter of 2020.
The group will not form an investment fund. OhioX could advocate to policymakers on issues that affect the state’s technology and business community, Berry said.
The group is led by an advisory board of more than 20 business leaders, including representatives from KeyBank, Case Western Reserve University, Lime, TriState Capital Bank and the Cleveland Indians.
OhioX announced its launch the same week as Cleveland’s blockchain conference, Blockland Solutions. Though Berry did not make the announcement at the conference, Blockland’s founder Bernie Moreno is on the advisory board.
©2019 Advance Ohio Media, Cleveland. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
