Friday, March 16, 2012COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio Third Frontier Commission has recommended a funding commitment totaling $2.33 million for Parker Hannifin Corp.'s Parflex Division in Ravenna. The award is through the Ohio Third Frontier Industrial Research and Development Center Program.
The division was approved for a funding commitment to create the Parflex Advanced Polymer Research and Manufacturing Innovation Center. This funding would support consolidation of the Parflex Division's polymer research and development activities, currently in nine global facilities, into a single integrated polymer research and new product pilot manufacturing center in the city of Ravenna, according to Christiane Schmenk, director of the Ohio Department of Development. Collaborators involved with Parker Hannifin on this project are the University of Akron and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
The Ohio Third Frontier Industrial Research and Development Center Program is designed to attract and build high-quality, large, nationally-designated and highly-visible corporate, nonprofit, or federal research and development centers, or laboratory facilities in Ohio. The funding is contingent upon Parker Hannifin's official commitment to locate the Parflex Center in Ravenna.
"The Parflex Center will create 34 jobs and retain 304 positions in this high-tech field and develop the type of innovative technology that continues to make Ohio a leader in advanced materials," Schmenk noted. "By encouraging collaboration with the University of Akron and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio Third Frontier is fostering an environment that enables high-tech companies like Parker Hannifin to locate and grow in Ohio."
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.