New report shows $3.7 billion in research spending in Northeast Ohio

Research and development spending is having a strong impact on the Northeast Ohio economy, but the region’s R&D investment is lagging the rest of the country, according to a recent study commissioned by the Greater Cleveland Partnership.

The first-of-its-kind report looked at total R&D spending in the nine counties surrounding Cleveland, Akron and Canton.

It shows that in 2021, private companies and institutions invested $3.7 billion in research.

Two-thirds, or $2.53 billion, is private sector spending. The rest is split evenly between universities, hospitals and the NASA Glenn Research Center.

The study showed that between 2016 and 2019, R&D expenditures in Greater Cleveland grew by 25%.

While significant, Greater Cleveland Partnership President and CEO Baiju Shah said local R&D investments aren’t keeping pace with the 32% increase seen nationally over that period.

“You do see growth, but not growth at the rate we could achieve if we were at pace with the United States,” Shah said.

The report looked at the research spending of 31 companies with major investments in the region, including Nestle, Bridgestone, Eaton, Goodyear, PPG, Rockwell Automation and Parker Hannifin.

Automotive parts, machinery and chemical manufacturing led research spending. Food research also had an impact due to R&D investments from Nestle.

Case Western Reserve University by far outpaced other local institutions, accounting for 73% of the $575 million in R&D spending in 2021.

A majority of R&D spending by academic institutions, 75%, goes to the life sciences field.

Shah said he hopes to connect manufactures with universities to boost the economic impact of research dollars.

“We want to see companies and institutions connect on opportunities that allow them to co-create, and through that co-creation remain even more competitive on a global scale,” he said.

The Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals comprised 96% of the $505 million in healthcare research in the region.

NASA Glenn contributed $557 million to the total R&D ecosystem.