Ohio Tech Innovation Zone aims to leverage regional strengths

Central Ohio wants to be a place that is conducive to innovation in transportation, such as autonomy and electrification, especially as they relate to agriculture.

“Mobility, smart mobility and agriculture are definitely intertwined,” said Doug McCollough, the first and newly appointed executive director of The Beta District, an area that stretches from Columbus through Dublin, Marysville and Union County. The Beta District, launched in 2021, is an economic development initiative that leverages the region’s strengths in transportation technology sectors to establish Central Ohio as the next technology innovation zone.

“We try to stay away from things where other places have more advantages than we do,” McCollough said, describing Beta’s strengths while also distinguishing it from other innovation zones. “If you look at distribution, agriculture, energy, logistics, we’re the thought leaders in the middle of the country in that space. So it makes sense for us to focus on those types of technologies.”

Each of the different parts of Central Ohio brings something unique to the district, McCollough explained, pointing to Marysville’s long history as a manufacturing site for Honda and Columbus’ history with smart cities. Dublin is a central player in the Smart Mobility Corridor, a 35-mile stretch of U.S. Route 33 equipped with fiber-optic communications and other technologies to support connected vehicles and next-generation mobility ideas. Dublin brings high-bandwidth fiber-optic communications and data centers to the Beta District, said McCollough, who was named executive director in late July.

“It’s competing on a global scale in the smart communities movement,” he said, noting that both cities are located wholly or partially in Union County.

Alongside these tech clusters is the region’s agriculture industry, a leader in the production of commodities including dairy, eggs, tomatoes and pumpkins. The state ranks first in the nation in Swiss cheese production, according to the Ohio Secretary of State. These industries are also ripe for transportation innovation, thinking about the possibilities of electric or autonomous farm equipment or advanced air mobility, the executive said.

“You can’t run a modern farm today, a modern large-scale farm, without satellite imagery and significant data analytics,” he said, adding that the combination of resources in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and automotive “explains why the Beta District is here in central Ohio and not in Detroit or Kansas or anywhere else like that.”

Other regions are also working to create innovation zones based on regional strengths. Tulsa Innovation Labs (TIL) in Oklahoma is building on its region’s long history in aircraft maintenance and energy sectors like oil and gas.

The goal of TIL is to build “an innovation economy that connects our community and allows it to continue to thrive, grow and build something that is truly authentic to the people of Tulsa, to our region,” said Jennifer Hankins, executive director of Tulsa Innovation Labs. Government Technology last month.

Like The Beta District, which sees itself as “more than a physical location,” according to its website, TIL is coordinating “assets and resources in our community that are aligned to creating testing environments if a company needs them,” Hankins said. “But we’re also working in the workforce development space, and we’re also working to secure capital. We’re supporting the creation and convening around the creation of those kinds of resources in our community that support those industries.”

TIL was selected last month as one of 12 regional innovation centers to accelerate growth in a range of technology innovation areas, such as artificial intelligence, semiconductor manufacturing and energy. The locations are known as Tech Hubs.

McCollough of Beta District said it’s important for a district, corridor or other entity trying to do this to “be true to yourself” and play to your strengths.

“We are part of the bigger picture of American competitiveness,” he said. “And those innovations directly impact the progress of our economy.”