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Ohio’s polymer industry is big: 142,000 jobs, 2,800 companies. So why should farmers care?

For one, new technologies in this field are vital to the state’s economic future, according to Lt. Gov. Bruce Johnson.

But perhaps more importantly, new research may result in the polymer industry relying more on Ohio farmers for a source of renewable resources.

That’s the idea behind the new Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center (OBIC), which will develop chemical conversion technologies to take raw materials such as corn and soybeans and make products such as lubricants, adhesives, plastics and resins.

Johnson announced in May an $11.6 million grant to fund the center through Ohio’s Third Frontier program, which is aimed at developing high-tech industries in the state.

Johnson, who also serves as chair of the Third Frontier commission, said the Third Frontier does not make Ohio’s first two frontiers, agriculture and manufacturing, obsolete.

"What we’re building on is an incredibly broad platform," he said.

Johnson announced the grant at Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. in Union County to highlight how agriculture, research and manufacturing can work together.

Bobby Moser, dean of Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences where OBIC will be housed, said the partnership of Ohio State and Battelle research institute gives Ohio a competitive advantage over other states. Moser cited the strengths of Ohio’s $49 billion chemical industry and $80 billion agriculture industry.

"The idea is to supply the new chemical industry with a ready source of renewable bio-products," he said.

Moser said OBIC will link research and commercial partners to find solutions to market-based problems, an approach dubbed "cell to sell." Among the center’s collaborators are Cargill, Ohio Polymer Strategy Council, Procter & Gamble, Sherwin-Williams and Scotts.

Amy Davis, chairman of the Ohio Soybean Council (OSC), said the announcement shows that Ohio soybean farmers' checkoff investments have paid off. The checkoff has generated $8 million for soybean research and new use developments over the past decade, according to OSC.

Davis said manufacturers will begin looking to products grown in Ohio fields rather than chemicals brought in from somewhere else.

"Today, right here we are going to celebrate," she said. "And we are celebrating the future for soy and other bioproducts."

Caption: Lt. Gov. Bruce Johnson (left) learns how biotechnology can be used to make a variety of products during a visit to Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. in Union County.