Leadership

Ohioans Say No to Issue 2

Ohioans overwhelmingly voted against State Issue 2. In fact, Issue 2 failed in a landslide, 79% to 21%.

“Today, Ohio voters delivered a loud and clear message that Issue 2 was a deceptive and seriously flawed proposal. A large majority of Ohio voters concluded Issue 2 wouldn’t have solved any problems; it would have made things worse,” said campaign manager Curt Steiner in a media release.

The OMA board opposed the measure. 11/9/2017

Dayton Area Rep. Introduces Ballot Reform Resolution

Earlier this month Rep. Niraj Antani (R-Miamisburg) introduced Joint Resolution 5 to reform the procedures for initiated statutes and constitutional amendments.

The Joint Resolution would increase the number of signatures needed for both initiated statutes and constitutional amendments, increase the vote total needed for passage to 60% and ban the paying of petition gatherers.

Ohio has long been seen as a venue for out-of-state interests to campaign pet ballot projects, not unlike State Issue 2, which went down in defeat this week.

Reforms have been discussed over the years to raise the bar on accessing the ballot to ensure Ohio’s Constitution does not enshrine out-of-state special interest policy projects. 11/9/2017

Manufacturers and Workforce Suppliers Hold Summit

This week, almost 500 OMA members, manufacturers and their workforce suppliers, including government, education and training, and economic development professionals, met in Columbus to work on improving the talent pipeline for Ohio’s leading industry: manufacturing.

Attendees from all regions of the state learned about the characteristics of successful regional workforce partnerships, best practices and initiatives underway throughout Ohio.

Industry sector partnerships are a recognized best practice with demonstrated results across the country for addressing real and common manufacturing workforce shortages and/or skill gaps.

Manufacturers also need to continue upping our game in communicating to young people and other job seekers about the many job and career opportunities that exist in modern manufacturing. To that end, a new brand, Making Ohio, was debuted and promoted at the event.

If you want to be kept informed about OMA’s workforce services and activities, see this “Next Steps” flier and sign up form. 11/2/2017 

Pictured: OMA president Eric Burkland addressing attendees at Ohio Manufacturing Workforce Summit 2017

Timmons: We Must Be the Solution

National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons presented a keynote address to the Ohio Manufacturers’ Workforce Summit this week.

Regarding the problem of workforce shortages, Timmons said:  “As business leaders…we are in no position to sit back and say this is “someone else’s” problem.

We could blame the education system. We could blame politicians. We could blame outdated attitudes about manufacturing or career technical education.

But if America doesn’t transform the workforce and talent pipeline, we will have to blame ourselves. No one knows the problem better than we do. So no one is better equipped to help offer solutions and be partners for progress.

At the NAM, we firmly believe we (in manufacturing) must be the solution.”

He lauded manufacturing leaders in Ohio for stepping up to lead the development and deployment of solutions to the growing problem of workforce shortages.

“Parents and teachers,…they just want to steer young people toward jobs that will offer them stability and security and a future, especially in a world that is changing so, so rapidly.

Young people are looking for something that’s meaningful, challenging, cutting edge. The good news? We can answer all these priorities and concerns in manufacturing.

The challenge for us though…is getting that message across,” Timmons said.  11/2/2017

OMA and Allies React to Newest Unemployment Comp. Proposal

This week the OMA and business community allies submitted a letter to the House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee expressing opposition to the provisions of unemployment compensation reform legislation, House Bill 382, but support for a separate proposal (HJR 4) that would allow the state to bond future unemployment compensation debt.

The group defined its principles for unemployment compensation system reform legislation, including: “Any workable solution must address both spending and revenue to balance the cost of benefits with employer contributions and simply pouring more money into the system without addressing benefits undercuts Ohio’s job-creating economic competitiveness.”

The group also wrote: “Meanwhile, we believe that House Joint Resolution 4 is an important piece of any solvency package in that it allows the state maximum flexibility if required to borrow federal funds to support the UI system in the future. Our organizations have long supported bonding as a helpful option when dealing with UI insolvency.” 11/2/2017

Automakers Map Out Policy for Autonomous Vehicles

Honda, Ford, General Motors, and Tesla testified in an information hearing of the House Transportation and Public Safety Committee on autonomous vehicles and the appropriate public policies to have in place for their evolution on the state’s roadways.

The companies discussed the five levels of vehicle automation defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (levels four and five are when human control is completely removed). They also briefed the committee on issues of liability, cybersecurity, insurance rates, and the likely path of deployment from limited access highways to urban streets. They urged the legislature to enact a statute that specifically authorizes self-driving cars on Ohio roads.

Read the Ford testimony here, Honda here, and Tesla here. 11/2/2017

OMA Opposes Garrett Nomination for Ex-Im Bank

Next Wednesday, November 1, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on nominations to the Export Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) – including the nomination of Scott Garrett to lead the bank.

OMA president Eric Burkland sent this letter to Sen. Sherrod Brown that describes OMA’s reasons for opposing the nomination of Scott Garrett to lead the bank.

He wrote, “Mr. Garrett has a long record of opposing the fundamental mission of the Ex-Im Bank to support U.S. jobs through exports. Manufacturers in Ohio are concerned that he will not empower the agency to achieve its full capability but will instead hobble it. Beyond his votes against a multi-year reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank in both 2012 and 2015, his opposition appears to be based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the agency and a disregard of the extremely tilted international landscape that manufacturers in the U.S. face.” 10/26/2017

Cybersecurity Analysis and Lessons Learned

The IT Services division of OMA Connections Partner, GBQ Partners, analyzed the recent surge of disclosed security breaches. The recent big brand announcements from firms such as Deloitte, Equifax, Accenture and others contributed to a record setting year for cybersecurity failures.

GBQ identified common issues with these events. Among the lessons learned:

• Being compliant does not equate to being secure.
• Testing to meet compliance requirements may not be adequate for security purposes.

Read more here. 10/25/2017

Opportunity to Participate in Manufacturing Economic Survey

The Manufacturing Industry Group of OMA Connections Partner, Schneider Downs, is calling for participation in its 2017 Annual Economic Survey of the Manufacturing Industry. This is the seventh year for this survey which aims to provide manufacturers with a snapshot of industry’s performance over the last year.

This survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete and is anonymous. Responses are invited by by November 15, 2017.

Here are the 2016 survey results. 10/25/2017

Unemployment Compensation Reform Bill Has First Hearing

This week in the House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee, House Bill 382 had its initial hearing. The bill, which makes a variety of changes to Ohio’s unemployment compensation system, is sponsored by Rep. Kirk Schuring (R-Canton).

In testimony, Rep. Schuring stated that the bill is a starting place for discussion to shore up Ohio’s insolvent unemployment compensation system.

The bill makes a myriad of changes including changing the number of weeks employees are eligible to receive benefits and creating a new co-pay for employees based on their employer’s insurance rating. (See bill analysis and fiscal analysis.)

The bill is expected to receive a lot of attention and input from interested parties over the course of the fall. The OMA continues to advocate for a solvency solution that is fair for manufacturers and their employees. 10/19/2017