Ohio State welcomes business leaders to campus to strengthen relationships

The Columbus Partnership held its first meeting on Ohio State’s campus at the Fisher College of Business.

The Ohio State University is committed to working with the statewide business community on workforce development and advancing innovation and development, President Ravi V. Bellamkonda said during a recent meeting of the Columbus Partnership.

“We have some bold things happening,” he said. “We are reimagining business education. We’re reimagining what partnerships with companies will look like.”

The meeting brought central Ohio business leaders to the Fisher College of Business – the first time the Columbus Partnership held a meeting on Ohio State’s campus. The Columbus Partnership is a nonprofit, membership-based organization of executives from Columbus businesses and organizations.

Bellamkonda said Ohio State has a long-standing relationship with the business community. He noted that Ohio State recently announced BuildX, an initiative designed to help student founders move through every stage of the startup process, from idea exploration to building a company and investor readiness.

Ohio State also recently announced a partnership with Google in which the technology company will establish an on-campus space in the university’s Innovation District.

Bellamkonda said the partnership will accelerate research across fields from biomedical engineering to the humanities through access to premier AI models, high-powered computing capabilities, student research ambassadors and collaboration with Google DeepMind technology.

“The partnership is not just Google’s first announcement of a physical presence of any U.S. university right here on our campus, the Innovation District, but also their personnel being here and engaging with our students, offering internships,” Bellamkonda said. “They’ll be working with our professors to take on deep research in multiple spaces, from health to earth sciences to national security and other spaces.”

In addition, the university maintains a host of educational programming and facilities that promote workforce development, Bellamkonda said.

“Right here on our campus, we have a 45,000-square-foot classroom for manufacturing,” he said. “One hundred and fifty companies work with undergraduate students on equipment that companies use in their plants.”

Fisher Interim Dean Aravind Chandrasekaran encouraged the business leaders to tap into the university’s resources and increase engagement by providing internships and employment opportunities for Ohio State students.

“If you think about problems in your organizations, we would love to have those as a learning lab for our students, because at the center of what we all do is our students,” Chandrasekaran said. “We want to make sure they get to see, they get to experience your organizations.”

Huntington Bank CEO Steve Steinour, co-chair of the Columbus Partnership, said Ohio State’s research and the expertise of the university’s faculty are assets to the business community.

“There are clearly things happening. There’s an energy about the place,” Steinour told Bellamkonda and Chandrasekaran. “We’re thrilled with the energy and effort you’re bringing on so many fronts, including what you’re doing around innovation and entrepreneurship.”