OhioNet forms Ohio Industrial Resource Cooperative
By Terry Troy
It’s a case of a nonprofit helping for-profits.
While it’s clearly a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, OhioNet has formed the Ohio Industrial Resource Cooperative (OIRC), an organization that aims to leverage the collective buying power of industrial libraries cross the state. The idea is to enable access to vital research and resources that will help companies support research, technology and other business development.
“We are 501(c)(3),” says Hannah Rosen, MLIS, director of member programs for OhioNet, who heads up the OIRC. “OhioNet is basically a membership organization for libraries. We have been working for libraries across the state of Ohio since the ‘70s.”
As far as the OIRC is concerned, it could be the first of its kind in the nation.
“There are a lot of consortia in the country, but we mostly serve the state of Ohio,” says Rosen. “As far as we can tell, no other consortia around any library organization has ever focused on corporations or ‘for-profit’ companies.”
Powered by OhioNet, the OIRC was inspired by Jim Clarke, knowledge management specialist at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.
“When Jim came to me with the idea that corporations could also benefit from working collectively to get the best pricing on their research needs, it was something of a ‘light bulb’ moment,” says Rosen. “Many people think that ‘for-profit’ companies have all the money in the world and they can just buy all the research that they want—but that is not true.
“Corporations’ research divisions are vital for innovation. They require access to the latest research, technology or pathology, when it comes to biological or medical research,” she adds. “But many of these research divisions are under-funded, because profit margins are slimmer than we think. Research divisions often have limited budgets, but they don’t have anyone to advocate for them.”
So the OIRC was established with a pilot group of seven founding members, mostly comprised of Fortune 500 companies located in Northeastern Ohio.
The OIRC completed a successful pilot last year, sealing a purchase agreement with one of the top five scientific research publishers in the world, which resulted in cost savings of over $15,000 for the participating libraries, and increased access for new and existing customers.
By leveraging collective buying power, these libraries can now gain access to important research materials and resources that will foster innovation and strengthen their R&D capabilities. While the founding members are Fortune 500 companies, the concept could prove to be an especially important tool for smaller companies and startups.
“We are eager to help smaller companies, especially startups, which have very low access to cutting-edge research,” says Rosen. “In fact, we would like to work with as many small organizations that we can. The more organizations we have, the greater our ability to help them.”
But not in a competitive intelligence way, Rosen stresses.
The OIRC wants to play an important role in technological advancement and also economic development. Now, the consortium is looking to expand its relationships with trade organizations such as CincyTech, TechGrowth Ohio and the Youngstown Business Incubator as well as other organizations and establish alliances that advocate and provide resources for “for-profit” companies around the state. A longer term goal could be supporting the major tech hubs in our state.