Ohio Third Frontier Saves and Creates 21st Century Jobs | Ohio Business Development Coalition | Blog

Ohio Third Frontier Saves and Creates 21st Century Jobs | Ohio Business Development Coalition | Blog

The Ohio Third Frontier is providing Ohio workers, businesses and organizations with funding and development tools needed to create the 21st century jobs that will launch Ohio’s economy into the next generation. Since its inception, the Ohio Third Frontier has created or commercialized more-than 500 companies and has attracted $3.5 billion in private investment to Ohio, a 9:1 return on investment.

This commitment is the reason one Ohio worker was able to transition into a new high-tech job after being laid off from an automotive manufacturing facility.

Shannon Swift retooled his career at Renegade Materials with help from the Ohio Third Frontier.

After Shannon Swift, a father of five from Moraine, Ohio, lost his job at the General Motors DMAX plant, he wasn’t sure how he would transition his manufacturing skills into a new line of work. At the same time, Ohio Third Frontier was helping Dayton-area Renegade Materials Corporation complete construction of a $5 million facility to bring the next generation of advanced materials for the aerospace and defense industries to market.

Ohio Third Frontier provided the bridge needed to bring Renegade Materials and Shannon Swift together. Working through a State of Ohio Workforce Development Specialist, Renegade tapped into the pool of displaced workers from the DMAX plant, including Shannon Swift. Ohio Third Frontier has been with Renegade at each step: from support for its initial research and development, to help from the Innovation Ohio Loan Fund to build this state-of-the-art facility, as well as business advice from the Dayton Development Coalition’s Entrepreneurial Signature Program, which is also funded in part by Ohio Third Frontier. Shannon Swift received on-the-job training and is now working for Renegade’s high temperature polymer business.

To read more about Shannon Swift’s story, click here.