Butler County Lays Out $100 Million Tech Strategy

In an effort to create a high tech center, officials in Ohio's Butler County anticipate spending more than $100 million during the next five years to increase telecommunications, biomedical innovations, electronic commerce, and other research. Funding for the measure would come from as much as a half-penny sales tax hike, according to a story published August 1 by the Cincinnati Enquirer. 



Butler County already has approved $2.7 million for an 86-mile fiber-optic network, the article reports. Another $113 million in matching funds may come from the State of Ohio for related projects, including start-up help for high-tech entrepreneurs and the construction of highways to improve transportation. Technical assistance also is coming from the Milken Institute, a California-based company paid almost $300,000 in 2000 to develop a high-technology plan for the Butler County economy and to assist in its implementation. 



Similar to other areas in the U.S., Butler and the surrounding region have faced a brain drain. The Ohio county saw a 4.9 percent drop in 20-to-34 year olds between 1990 and 2000, despite being home to Miami University in Oxford and near the major metropolitan areas Cincinnati and Dayton. The tax hike has been endorsed by two of the three Butler County Commissioners. 



For more information, visit the commissioners' home page: http://www.butlercountyohio.org/commissioner/