1 HAMILTON COUNTY REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION BIOTECHNOLOGY CLUSTER ANALYSIS – CINCINNATI CMSA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Biotechnology is among the popular industrial clusters for many regional economic development initiatives in the United States and around the world. Cincinnati is no exception. Conceptually, industrial clusters are ““geographic concentrations of competing, complementary, or interdependent firms and industries that do business with each other and/or have common needs for talent, technology, and infrastructure ” (Hamilton County’s Comparative and Competitive Advantages, Business and Industry Clusters, 2003, Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission (HCRPC)). The HCRPC study identified Bio-Medical/Bio-Technical as one of 10 clusters for regional economic development. A recent study by the Economics Center of the University of Cincinnati for The Cincinnati USA Partnership includes Biotechnology as one of 10 recommended clusters. The operational definition of any cluster varies from study to study. An examination of several studies shows a wide range of supportive and linked activities in biotechnology clusters. The most commonly agreed upon core biotechnology industries in other studies, including Cortrigh