Ohio Code 166.14 – Determining eligible innovation projects – confidential information
(A) In determining the eligible innovation projects to be assisted and the nature, amount, and terms of innovation financial assistance to be provided for an eligible innovation project under sections 166.12 to 166.16 of the Revised Code:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 166.14
- Eligible innovation project: includes an eligible project, including any project facilities associated with an eligible innovation project and, in addition, includes all tangible and intangible property related to a new product or process based on new technology or the creative application of existing technology, including research and development, product or process testing, quality control, market research, and related activities, that is to be acquired, established, expanded, remodeled, rehabilitated, or modernized for industry, commerce, distribution, or research, or any combination thereof, the operation of which, alone or in conjunction with other eligible projects, eligible innovation projects, or innovation property, will create new jobs or preserve existing jobs and employment opportunities and improve the economic welfare of the people of the state. See Ohio Code 166.01
- Financial assistance: means inducements under division (B) of section 166. See Ohio Code 166.01
- Innovation property: includes property and also includes software, inventory, licenses, contract rights, goodwill, intellectual property, including without limitation, patents, patent applications, trademarks and service marks, and trade secrets, and other tangible and intangible property, and any rights and interests in or connected to the foregoing. See Ohio Code 166.01
- Person: means any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, or governmental agency, and any combination thereof. See Ohio Code 166.01
- Project facilities: means buildings, structures, and other improvements, and equipment and other property, excluding small tools, supplies, and inventory, and any one, part of, or combination of the above, comprising all or part of, or serving or being incidental to, an eligible project, an eligible innovation project, an eligible research and development project, an eligible advanced energy project, or an eligible logistics and distribution project, including, but not limited to, public capital improvements. See Ohio Code 166.01
- Property: means real and personal property and interests therein. See Ohio Code 166.01
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
(1) The director of development services shall take into consideration all of the following:
(a) The number of jobs to be created or preserved by the eligible innovation project, directly or indirectly;
(b) Payrolls, and the taxes generated, at both state and local levels, by or in connection with the eligible innovation project and by the employment created or preserved by or in connection with the eligible innovation project;
(c) The size, nature, and cost of the eligible innovation project, including the prospect of the eligible innovation project for providing long-term jobs in enterprises consistent with the changing economics of the state and the nation;
(d) The needs of any private sector enterprise to be assisted;
(e) The amount and kind of assistance, if any, to be provided to the private sector enterprise by other governmental agencies through tax exemption or abatement, financing assistance with industrial development bonds, and otherwise, with respect to the eligible innovation project or with respect to any providers of innovation property to be included as part of the eligible innovation project;
(f) The likelihood of the successful implementation of the proposed eligible innovation project;
(g) Whether the eligible innovation project involves the use of technology in a targeted innovation industry sector.
(2) The benefits to the local area, including taxes, jobs, and reduced unemployment and reduced welfare costs, among others, may be accorded value in the leasing or sales of innovation project facilities and in loan and guarantee arrangements.
(3) In making determinations under division (A)(1) of this section, the director may consider the effect of an eligible innovation project upon any entity engaged to provide innovation property to be acquired, leased, or licensed in connection with such assistance.
(B) Financial statements and other data submitted to the director of development services or the controlling board by any private sector person in connection with innovation financial assistance under sections 166.12, 166.15, and 166.16 of the Revised Code, or any information taken from such statements or data for any purpose, shall not be open to public inspection.