Akron

Akron exists because rubber—a polymer—needed somewhere to bounce. More than a century ago, tire manufacturers clustered here, making Akron the 'Rubber Capital of the World.' Goodyear, Firestone, and B.F. Goodrich built empires on vulcanized rubber. When globalization scattered tire production, the factories closed—but the polymer expertise remained embedded in the workforce, the university, and the supplier networks.

Now Akron is attempting something unusual: a deliberate return to first principles. The Polymer Industry Cluster has attracted $100 million in federal, state, and local funding, including $51 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce and $31.25 million from Ohio's Innovation Hub program. The goal: reestablish Akron as a national leader in polymers—rubber's scientific successor.

Goodyear itself is co-chairing the initiative. Erin Spring, Goodyear's senior director of Global Material Science, stated that 'these qualities were the impetus for the formation of the tire industry here more than 125 years ago' and that 'with the Polymer Innovation Hub, we have before us an unprecedented opportunity to take our community's history and build our next exciting chapter.' A $9.4 million Goodyear proposal will develop liquid-stage polymer mixing technologies.

$25 million is slated for a polymer pilot plant near the University of Akron, providing labs and equipment for entrepreneurs. Bounce's Synthe6 Materials Accelerator received $5 million to spur polymer startups. By December 2025, 13 polymer science projects had received funding, including ACE Innovations (recycled asphalt additives), GelPure (PFAS water filtration), and Seauciel (water-based plastic recycling).

By 2031, the hub must create 2,400 new jobs, train 500 workers, and attract $75 million in research funding—or risk state clawbacks. It's a bet that the specialized knowledge accumulated over a century of tire manufacturing can evolve into something new. Akron is testing whether path dependence can be deliberately redirected.