GOVERNOR SIGNS GILLMOR BILL TO GROW BIO-PRODUCTS INDUSTRY, STIMULATE JOB CREATION IN OHIO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Erica M Pitchford

Saturday, February 27, 2010

614.466.8049

COLUMBUS—Ohio Governor Ted Strickland today signed Senate Bill 131, legislation sponsored by State Senator Karen Gillmor (R-Tiffin) which will establish a bio-products preferred purchasing program in Ohio in an effort to spur growth in our state’s promising bio-products industry, support Ohio farmers, and help attract business development and job creation to our local communities. Ohio now becomes the first state in the country with such a program in statute.

Sen. Gillmor, who introduced SB 131 in June 2009 and has spent many hours over the past several months meeting with stakeholders and working to build bipartisan support for the bill, called this a historic day for Ohio.

“This is a historic day for Ohio and important news for the future of our economy, the well-being of our state’s workforce and the success of Ohio agriculture,” said Gillmor, who is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.  “I would like to thank Governor Strickland and my colleagues in the General Assembly on both sides of the aisle for their strong support of SB 131.”

SB 131 creates an Ohio bio-products preferred purchasing program for state agencies and state-supported colleges and universities. Similar to “Buy Ohio” provisions in current law, which say that the state must support Ohio vendors whenever possible, SB 131 would require these public institutions to give purchasing preference to bio-based products when a bio-based alternative is available.

Sen. Gillmor held a press conference at the Statehouse last summer to announce the introduction of SB 131 and was joined at the event by the Ohio Soybean Association, the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, the Ohio Corn Growers Association, and the Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center, as well as Barry McGraw, a project manager at Battelle in Columbus, and Ross Youngs, founder & CEO of Univenture, Inc. in Marysville. Battelle and Univenture are part a of group of several companies in Ohio that are developing plastics, paints, polymer foam, packing supplies and many other innovative products from corn, soybeans and other renewable materials native to Ohio.

For example, Univenture makes compostable, biodegradable nametag holders and CD sleeves using a renewable plastic composed of corn starch. The company, which was founded in 1988, surpassed $1 million in sales in only three years and has since expanded its facilities in Ohio and other parts of the world.

Sen. Gillmor explained that SB 131 would allow the state to use its considerable purchasing power to support the growth of these businesses and expand the market for other innovative products made from Ohio crops, helping to stimulate investment and jobs, enhance research opportunities at Ohio colleges and universities and provide a significant boost to Ohio farmers and agriculture production in our state.

“Thanks to recent advances in research and technology, acres of soybeans, corn, and other agriculture resources growing across Ohio have the tremendous potential to transform our state into a center for bio-products development in this country, breathe much-needed life into our economy, and create a market for good-paying jobs in our local communities,” said Gillmor. “This legislation will help further the development of the bio-products industry in Ohio by directing money the state is already spending to support companies that are manufacturing bio-based materials in our state and promoting the growth of other bio-products businesses.”

SB 131 is modeled after the Federal BioPreferred program, which was established in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002. However, the Federal program also includes a testing and certification process to create a list of approved bio-products. To save time and taxpayer dollars, SB 131 would rely on this Federal list to determine what products should get preference in Ohio. In addition, to ensure the program does not create an undue financial burden on state government or our public higher education institutions, the bill allows for an exemption if the bio-product is not available within a reasonable period of time, fails to meet performance standards, or is too costly.

SB 131 will take effect in 90 days.