News Room

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2007

Columbus, OH -- Lt. Governor Lee Fisher today announced that $275,000 in Business Development grants have been awarded to three Ohio companies to aid in the growth and development of businesses and the creation and retention of jobs in Ohio. The grants, administered by the Ohio Department of Development, were approved today by the State Controlling Board and are expected to create 130 jobs and retain 50 positions.

"The projects approved for state assistance today represent the very best of Ohio's traditional manufacturing strengths, as well as job creation in growing high-tech fields," said Lt. Governor Fisher, who also serves as Director of the Ohio Department of Development. "I want to commend each company for considering Ohio for projects that will help further develop our existing business base and boost new and growing industry sectors in the state."

Resource Ventures, Ltd. (Resource Ventures), located in Columbus (Franklin County), will receive a $50,000 Business Development grant (412) for costs associated with the acquisition of machinery and equipment. Resource Interactive was founded in 1981 to perform channel marketing for Apple Inc.'s computers. The company helps its business clients plan, create, build, assess and optimize the digital experience of their customers and other constituencies through e-commerce sites, micro-sites, intranets and extranets, community sites, display advertising and blogs. Resource Interactive proposes to reconfigure its existing 41,825 square-foot space and purchase machinery and equipment in order to expand its e-commerce development, advertising and marketing operations. The machinery to be purchased includes a Storage Area Network system, a blade server system, computer servers, routers, and related equipment. Ohio is in competition with Minnesota and New York for this $2 million project, which is expected to create 90 jobs and retain 133 positions within the first three years of the project's initial operation.

Mondo Polymer Technologies (Mondo), located in Marietta Township (Washington County), will receive a $25,000 Business Development grant (412) for costs associated with the acquisition of machinery and equipment. Mondo was established in 1995 as a recycler of low-end films (polybags, shrink and stretch wraps, etc.) and became the first manufacturer of polymer guardrail offset blocks. The company recycles low-end films, such as polybags and shrink wrap, that are difficult to recycle due to high levels of contamination and mixes in the polymer contents. Mondo plans to construct a new 84,000 square-foot facility to be utilized as a manufacturing operation and administrative offices. The machinery and equipment to be purchased includes fire suppression equipment, specialized recycling shredders, extruders, a mixing silo, granulators, conveyors and related equipment. This more than $3.8 million project is expected to create 30 jobs and retain 44 positions within the first three years of the project's initial operation.

Qbase, Inc. (Qbase), located in Springfield (Clark County) will receive a $200,000 Business Development grant (412) for costs associated with the acquisition of machinery and equipment. Qbase specializes in data management, data analysis and marketing. The company primarily serves non-profit organizations, higher education, healthcare and government. Qbase plans to establish a new company division at Nextedge Applied Research and Technology Park in Springfield that will design and build an innovative computer-intelligence platform for the healthcare industry to help control healthcare costs and improve the quality of patient care. The company will lease 15,000 square-feet of a 54,000 square-foot building located withint the park. The facility will house research and development, software development, business development and sales and marketing functions. The machinery and equipment to be purchased includes production computer servers, Web services servers, certification servers, testing servers, data fabrication servers, data storage servers data analytics servers, and related computer equipment. This more than $4.1 million project is expected to create 100 jobs and retain six positions within the first three years of the project's initial operation.

The Business Development Account (412) is a grant program to assist companies and communities that are creating or retaining jobs in Ohio.