COLUMBUS (December 14, 2006) - Governor Bob Taft today announced that 18 projects have been recommended to receive a total of more than $51.5 million in grant funding through the inaugural round of the Ohio Job Ready Sites (JRS) Program. Pending the approval of the Ohio Controlling Board, the funds will assist local communities to prepare sites for large-scale industrial and business expansion.

"The projects that have been recommended for funding will enable Ohio to compete for large-scale investments that are likely to have an immediate impact in communities across the state," said Taft. "It is imperative that Ohio has an inventory of accessible, certified sites available to firms searching for an attractive location for their projects that will create a significant number of jobs. I am pleased with the response we had for this first round of funding and am confident that by developing these locations, Ohio will have a competitive advantage in securing large scale projects in the years to come."

Approved by voters in November 2005 as part of the "Jobs for Ohio Bond Initiative," the JRS program is a competitive funding program designed to fill gaps in Ohio's available sites and to create large-scale sites or facilities that currently do not exist or are not available in sufficient quantities within the state. Administered by the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD), the JRS program will provide up to $150 million in grants over seven years to eligible and qualified applicants across the state that are interested in developing job-ready sites.

Grant recipients are eligible to receive up to $5 million per project site, not to exceed 75 percent of the total project cost. Funds may be applied to a broad array of allowable costs associated with the development of the property; once improved, sites will be "certified" as possessing high quality development attributes and marketed specifically to large-scale business prospects.

The program provides grants in five identified high-impact project site categories, which include: mega manufacturing operations of at least 1,000 acres; technical center/research laboratories; manufacturing operations of at least 200 acres; existing industrial buildings; and "smart" office complexes. Within three years after receiving a grant award, approved projects must be certified as satisfying the site attributes necessary to accommodate one of these categories; the property will then be added to a statewide inventory of available sites.

Additional information about the JRS program is available online at www.odod.state.oh.us/edd/obd/jrs

Please click here to see details about each of the projects receiving an award.

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Media Contacts: Mark Rickel, Governor's Press Secretary at (614) 644-0957,
or Melissa Ament, ODOD, at (614) 466-6619

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