Is Ohio more competitive a decade after privatizing its lead economic development organization? The OMA’s latest “Retooling Ohio” examines the track record of JobsOhio. Key findings from the analysis include:

• Under JobsOhio, the Buckeye State was No. 2 in the U.S. for new economic development projects each of the last 10 years. (More than half of the new projects were typically tied to manufacturing).
• For 2021, pledges of new Ohio jobs and payroll set record highs. (Last year’s pledges did not include those from the Intel project, which was announced in January 2022.)
• Among JobsOhio’s targeted sectors, manufacturing projects led the way last year with 178. And manufacturing projects represented the largest amount of capital investment ($1.91 billion).

Allowing JobsOhio to maintain its independence, financial resources, and innovative approach are critical to ensuring future success, the analysis says. 9/6/2022