UT, BGSU researchers conduct study that identifies potential industrial clusters
UTNews, March 15, 2004
By Kimyette Finley
Dr. Neil Reid, Dr. Michael Carroll and Sue Wuest talk about the two-year study of the industrial fondations of northwest Ohio. Wuest is the project manager for the study.
Identifying and strengthening industrial clusters could be the answer to improving area economic development, suggest two University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University researchers.
The University of Toledo Urban Affairs Center's new Metro Economic Research Collaborative is conducting a study of the industrial foundations of northwest Ohio. Dr. Neil Reid, UT associate professor of geography and planning, and Dr. Michael Carroll, BGSU assistant professor of economics, are conducting the research. They are six months into the two-year project and recently presented their preliminary findings to the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, Toledo's Regional Growth Partnership, city and county officials, northwest Ohio economic development agencies, and UT and BGSU stakeholders.
"For many years, the Urban Affairs Center, along with Dr. Reid, had talked about doing a cluster study of this type. Within the last two years, there has been an awareness of the value of this approach in the community. The timing was right, and we raised some resources to fund the study," said Sue Wuest, a research associate at the center. She said the port authority, the Regional Growth Partnership, the area chamber of commerce, and regional city and county officials, along with the two universities, joined together for the project. In addition to monies that were already in place, local and state representatives helped secure $365,000 from Ohio to fund the study.
"With this project, the professors get to do the academic research, but we have the resources and the community commitment upfront to implement and make the research turn into a real strategy," Wuest said.
Reid and Carroll sifted through data from the U.S. Department of Commerce for an eight-county region. Their findings identified the industry clusters that drive the northwest Ohio economy: - Automotive - Containers - Transportation and warehousing - Fabricated rubber parts - Engineering and architectural services - Petroleum refining
"These are the six largest existing concentrations of industry in this region," Reid said. "When it comes to clusters, it's about getting the components of those industries together, including the universities and the public and private sectors, and identifying solutions to common problems, and making connections that don't exist already or currently exist in a weak way. We want to strengthen those connections to make the industries stronger."
He added that wice the implementation phase of the study begins, the six industries identified would not necessarily be part of the process, and that some businesses not included on the list could be targeted, such as the greenhouse industry.
The philosophy of cluster building represents a shift away from narrowly focused, firm-based strategies to a more holistic approach toward economic development. Carroll said that within clusters,, firms or industries could share specialized resources. "A lot of technology transfer happens quicker if the firms have clustered and they share common resources. If the firms work as clusters, we can get the public and private partnerships established."
The researchers acknowledged that there could be concerns about competition when being part of a cluster. However, the different companies within the industries compete differently, and there are some mutual benefits to being part of a cluster, Carroll said. And the industries could set the parameters and rules for being involved in the clusters, Wuest added.
Although the professors identified six potential clusters that may be targeted in a regional economic development strategy, Wuest said the actual list is less important than "the discussion of how we change the way we approach economic development."