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Ohio University has created a supply chain database to prepare Ohio companies for the influx of industry needs. 

 

Scott Miller is with the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs at OU.

 

He helped develop the database and says it can be used by companies to make local business connections .

 

"We wanted to understand what this industry looked like, we wanted to understand what opportunities there are for ohio manufacturers and suppliers, and we're interested in trying to figure out how to knit those folks together to try to improve the manufacturing competitiveness and also the supply database, supply industry for this industry in the state of Ohio," said Miller.

 

Ohio Shale Energy dot com is the website. 

 

Any company can take a survey, create a profile of the company's needs and capabilities and search for other companies in the database.

 

Right now, Miller says there are 1,000 Ohio companies already in the database.

 

He expects the database to increase as the website expands from 12 southeast Ohio counties to all 88.

 

Miller says all types of companies benefit. 

 

"There's all kinds of different folks, from up and down the supply chain these are small companies, medium-sized companies and very large companies," said Miller.

 

Miller says the shale energy industry has seen some push-back because of the controversial nature of the business, but he says he thinks Ohio University's project will help advance well-paying manufacturing jobs in the state.