BioEnterprise President Tells Chamber Medical Mart Is Big Boost for Cleveland

Although some people question whether the Medical Mart facility's benefits will outweigh its cost, Baiju Shah doesn't have any doubts.

Shah is president, chief executive officer and founder of BioEnterprise, a firm which serves as an incubator to grow health care companies and provide commercial platforms for bioscience technologies. He said the Medical Mart will enhance the Cleveland area's reputation within the health-care industry.

"This becomes the no-brainer choice when you're going to set up to do business in the U.S.," he told members of the Mayfield Area Chamber of Commerce at a lunch meeting Thursday.

Shah said 65 companies have signed letters of intent to set up at the Medical Mart's permanent facility and he expects about 50 of those to actually take up residence once it opens. He said there will also be a convention center that will house temporary exhibits.

He's clearly excited about the project and said it will be quite a sight soon when 90 cement trucks line up to pour the foundation.

"Construction is moving along faster than you'll ever see in a public project," Shah said.

Cleveland has made a transition from a manufacturing town to a health care town, said Shah, who highlighted the growth that has occurred since 2001. About 10 years ago, Cleveland was unable to attract sufficient health care venture investment. He said five or six companies were able to garner about $30 million from investors.

In 2002, area leaders made a commitment to developing a health care enterprise system and foundation funding and the state of Ohio's $2.3 billion Third Frontier program helped Cleveland to compete with places like the Minneapolis Research Triangle, which sees about $150 million a year in private investment.

Despite the troubled economy, Cleveland has averaged about $146 million in private investment in the health care sector in the past five years, Shah said. He noted that Cleveland's biomedical industry has a national reputation and 80 percent of that funding comes from outside this area.

To illustrate his point, Shah quoted stories in Business Week, the Wall Street Journal and other publications that highlighted Cleveland's biomedical and health care industry. The latest of these was a June 7 USA Today article about how Northeast Ohio has battled a loss of traditional factory jobs by developing industry clusters in biomedicine, renewable energy and aerospace.

Shah added that the growth of start-up biomedical firms isn't just about jobs and money, but improving lives. He illustrated that with a video showing how a device created by NDI Medical to restore nerves helped a man with severe tremors steady his hands so he can do everyday chores and have a better quality of life.

"This isn't inventing another iPhone app and trying to make money doing that," Shah said.

Jim Spring, chamber executive director, was impressed with Shah's presentation.

"With people like this doing what they're doing to promote the city, how can this not be the best location in the nation," he said.