Ohio’s Polymer Industry Cluster to receive federal funds

The Polymer Industry Cluster, an Akron, Ohio-based collaboration between private and public partners focused on innovation and investment opportunities for the region’s legacy materials industry (plastic and rubber), will receive a $51 million federal investment as part of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) Tech Hubs Phase 2 awards.

The Polymer Industry Cluster is one of 12 award recipients nationally and says the funds will be used to advance a “hub of innovation, growth and investment” for the U.S. focused on sustainable polymers. The Greater Akron Chamber, which oversees the cluster, says this work will create a differentiated strategic advantage in sustainable polymers for the U.S. and jobs, growth and investment for the region.

The federal award will be matched with approximately $7 million of partner investment to bring the total of more than $58 million across seven technology innovation, workforce and cluster coordination projects as part of the Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub’s work.

The Akron region’s award by the EDA signifies a milestone in the Polymer Industry Cluster’s efforts and serves as a catalytic moment for innovation and research in this industry, the chamber says, adding that since its launch three years ago, the cluster has grown significantly.

“With over 150 polymer-related manufacturing companies in the Akron MSA alone, and more than 500 across Northeast Ohio, this award strengthens the foothold that Greater Akron has as the place for sustainable polymers research, innovation and collaboration,” the Greater Akron Chamber says in a news release. “The technologies represented in this proposal are fundamental to the next wave of industry innovation and capitalize on Greater Akron’s legacy as the Rubber City. Federal funding will leverage private sector and community investments to bring key technology and industry capacity building initiatives to fruition.”

Key technology projects funded by this award will focus on:

• commercializing recycling of end-of-life tires;
• the development of sustainable polymer composites via liquid phase mixing;
• manufacturing sustainable biobased butadiene for green synthetic rubber;
• advancing formulation of carbon nanotube-based polymer composites; and
• the development of safer antidegradants for tires and plastics

The chamber says company leadership for this work will come from a broad group of industry leaders and partners including Full Circle Technologies, The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., BioVerde; Huntsman International, Flexsys, Bridgestone; Continental, Parker Hannifin, Synthomer, Promerus and more.

In addition to driving new technologies, funding also will be used to advance a number of workforce development initiatives with area educational institutions including The University of Akron, Kent State University, Case Western Reserve University, Stark State College and Central State University, and workforce partners to expand the region’s sustainability talent pipeline at all skill levels and facilitating job placement. Support also will be provided to the cluster collaborative, facilitated by the Greater Akron Chamber, which will continue to coordinate this work and grow involvement in the cluster by local, national and international companies that can bring jobs and investment to Greater Akron.

“The technology and industry development catalyzed by this award are expected to result in the removal of millions of tons of carbon dioxide annually and development of new solutions that can have less impact on the environmental ecosystem,” the chamber says in its funding announcement. “In addition, the technology innovation to be created will support the attraction of new businesses, talent and investment capital, resulting in over 4,000 jobs created or retained, over $1 billion of potential private investment in expanded production capacity and $5 billion in total economic impact for Northeast Ohio.”

The Tech Hubs Program was enacted as part of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which authorized $10 billion for the program over five years as the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs program. As part of the fiscal year 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, Congress appropriated EDA $500 million to launch the program, which invests in U.S. regions that are focused on technologies within or across the key technology focus areas outlined in the statute.