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Job creation was a key point in McDavis' reaction to Governor John Kasich's State of the State speech today.

 

McDavis says he believes Ohio education is part of many themes that Kasich mentioned this afternoon, such as health care and energy policy. 

 

But most importantly, McDavis says, he wants to contribute to Ohio's economic development by creating jobs throughout the university. 

 

"We're creating partnerships with businesses in the region, through our Innovation Center where we now have 19 small businesses that have started. What we call start-up businesses. If we can grow those 19 businesses, they'll eventually become large enough that they'll be going to hire more people in the region. And as they hire more people in the region, we help to create jobs. Through faculty discovery, we get more faculty involved in discovery, coming up with products that they can take into the marketplace. We think, that's another way that we can help top create jobs," said McDavis.

 

Kasich spoke directly to the idea of taking university research across the state and turning it into a product for the marketplace. "It's no good to do research if it can't be commercialized and turned into jobs," said Kasich.  The governor also addressed universities' degree programs, saying school should be directing students to fields of study that result in viable job opportunities.

 

McDavis says Ohio University plans to increase its graduation rate and that, too, will lead to better employment possibilities in Ohio.