CLEVELAND (WJW) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine hosted a press conference today to discuss new job creation plans for the state.
The event included the announcement of the Cleveland Innovation District, which the government describes as “a unique partnership and investment to drive innovation and job creation in Ohio.”
On hand during the press event were representatives from the innovation district’s partners, including Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, the MetroHealth System, Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland State University.
DeWine explained that the initial $565 million investment, much of which is going to the Cleveland Clinic’s new Global Center for Pathogen Research & Human Health, should create thousands of jobs in the area.
“We’re expecting the Innovation District will create an estimated 20,000 jobs over the next 10 years,” DeWine said during the press conference. “Ten thousand of these will be direct jobs in healthcare and high-tech industries throughout the region.”
He said the other 10,000 jobs would come about indirectly because of the investment.
“The expected output over 10 years will create $3 billion in economic impact in Cleveland,” DeWine said.
A timeline for the construction of the new global center, which will be adjacent to the Cleveland Clinic’s campus, has not yet been outlined. But, as the Clinic said in a press statement, upon completion the spot “will be a command center to help solve deadly threats to our health, economy and communities.”
Last March, the state’s first Innovation District was created in Cincinnati.