The Associated Press

AKRON - An organization that hoped to create thousands of jobs by helping scientists and entrepreneurs turn plastics technology into marketable products has died in less than two years.

The Ohio Polymer Enterprise Development Corp. aimed to help inventors fledge about a half-dozen new companies a year around their ideas for polymers, used to make rubber and plastics.

But tough economic times and an inability to strike deals with university research departments made it difficult to meet those goals.

"We thought we had something here to rival Silicon Valley," said the group's chairman, Bob Handelman. "In a short time, we did a lot of good. With more time, I think we could have done even better."

Earlier this year, Ohio cut funding to the group, which had received a total of $2 million from the state since it began in 2001.

"These types of funds are never designed to be ongoing," said Pat Valente, deputy director of the Ohio Department of Development's technology division.

"Unfortunately, I think that groups that get these grants don't always look to the future and develop a plan to make themselves self-sustaining."

The group closed its Akron offices in June and eliminated its two-person full-time staff after dismissing a team of part-time management consultants months earlier.

Polymers are long, stringy molecules that can be engineered into a wide variety of plastic and rubber products, from plastic forks to artificial organs.

The project was intended to be a catalyst for new business in an area already heavy in polymer research, with labs at the University of Akron, Case Western Reserve University and NASA Glenn Research Center.

The project hit snags as soon as it tried to execute its business plan.

It was rebuffed by several state universities when it offered to help commercialize their polymer research in exchange for a small equity ownership in any resulting venture.

Officials at the University of Akron and other schools said they wanted to control their own research, in which they had invested millions of dollars and decades of work, rather than handing it over to an outside group.

"They said, 'You're absolutely not going to own anything,' " Handelman said.

The organization had more luck persuading foreign companies to set up new ventures in northern Ohio.

It helped PolyDisplay, a Norwegian firm, open an Akron office to develop window-tinting technology.

An Israeli company, Advanced Coatings International, used its help to start a small operation in East Akron to make polymer coatings for circuit boards.

In all, the organization helped woo eight companies to the area, which created about 25 new jobs, the Akron Beacon Journal reported Sunday.

The organization's president, Ronald Clark, also mentored would-be entrepreneurs.

"What Ron Clark did was to run a little boot camp and polish up these people so they could make a presentation to a bank or a venture capital fund or an angel investor to get some backing," said Alan Robbins, who served on OPED's board.

However, the economic downturn made it difficult for most of them to obtain financial backing.