The Ohio group BioEnterprise has ramped up its activities recently–publishing a glossy magazine about the state’s bio-enterprises and issuing regular reports on how the state is doing vis-a-vis other midwest states. This month the news is that Minnesota, Ohio and Missouri are ahead in the second quarter.

Let’s hope that our bio-promoters and governments will be wise and take into account the long-term health of the biosciences in the state as well as who’s the most popular today. Just as U.S. corporations are at last answering the call to think of the long-range “health” of their companies as just as important as near-term profits–the Japanese have seen it this way for decades–so too, in the race to win the most bioscience business, a balanced view is critical.

Like a company that sprints to the short-term revenue finish line by sacrificing customer service and employee satisfaction, a too-intense focus on who’s ahead can lead governments to trade too high, give up too much that they can’t pay back later.

But at the start, it’s good to prove yourself a worthy competitor–and it’s nice to see that Ohio’s promoters have finally stepped up to the plate.