JobsOhio Board of Directors Holds Public Meeting in Cleveland

CLEVELAND – The JobsOhio Board of Directors held its quarterly public meeting at Case Western Reserve University’s think[box] innovation center. The meeting included a summary of JobsOhio’s performance and financial position, an update on its Revitalization Program, and an energy and chemicals sector update.

“In the first half of 2016, JobsOhio worked on 135 projects with companies that committed to create 8,580 new jobs and committed to $2.3 billion in total capital investments,” said JobsOhio President and Chief Investment Officer John Minor. “Our project activity was solid across all of our targeted industries.”

JobsOhio Senior Managing Director for Automotive Kristi Tanner provided an overview of the JobsOhio Revitalization Program. She said the amount of Revitalization Program projects has steadily increased each year since its inception and noted that 12 percent of all JobsOhio projects in 2015 included a revitalization component.

“Since the Revitalization Program began in 2014, we have provided a higher number of grants than loans, however, we have allocated more dollars in loans,” said Tanner. “So far, we have successfully introduced the ability to use loans in redevelopment projects, and we believe that is important for the long-term sustainability of the program.”

JobsOhio Managing Director for Shale Energy and Petrochemicals Dana Saucier followed with an energy and chemicals sector update. He said 85 percent of the United States’ growth in shale energy in the last five years has come from the region Ohio shares with neighboring states. He estimated that the energy and chemicals sector in Ohio has invested between $20-30 billion in just five years. He said Ohio’s global energy advantage has helped bring companies to Ohio from many other sectors.

An additional overview of chemicals and polymer activity in Ohio was presented by industry experts Diana Strongosky, Senior Vice President of R&D, Sherwin Williams; Thomas Kinisky, Chief Executive Officer and President, Saint Gobain US; and Chester Fox, Vice President, Treasurer and Investor Relations, Omnova.

Team NEO Chief Executive Officer Bill Koehler provided a regional update. He said it is important for Northeast Ohio to build on its advantages, which include its large population, outstanding supply chain, quality of life and economic diversity.

JobsOhio is a private, nonprofit corporation designed to drive job creation and new capital investment in Ohio through business attraction, retention and expansion efforts. JobsOhio works with six regional partners across Ohio: Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth, Columbus 2020, Dayton Development Coalition, REDI Cincinnati, Regional Growth Partnership and Team NEO. Learn more at www.jobsohio.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

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For more information, contact:

Matt Englehart, JobsOhio
(614) 300-1152
englehart@jobsohio.com