2020 Annual Report & Strategic Plan

Governor, Mike DeWine and Lt Governor, Jon Husted

When confronted with unprecedented challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, Ohioans are resilient and create solutions. JobsOhio, Ohio’s private nonprofit economic development model, has been an invaluable asset in moving our economy forward by assisting struggling businesses and everyday Ohioans.

At the beginning of the pandemic, we challenged JobsOhio to be creative and innovative in this effort. JobsOhio has boldly moved the state forward by launching new initiatives to help retain businesses and attract new projects.

In early 2020, we saw the critical need and unprecedented opportunity to produce Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) amidst a global health crisis. JobsOhio worked with state agencies and businesses to identify and acquire these life-saving tools when it mattered most. We saw many Ohio producers expand production of PPE, while others created PPE for the first time. As a result, the state has a skilled workforce and the necessary logistical advantages to re-shore production and meet demands for American-made PPE now and in the future.

It’s vitally important that all Ohioans benefit from economic development activity. In 2020, JobsOhio offered the JobsOhio Inclusion Grant to provide financial support to businesses in distressed areas of Ohio. In its first year, 55 companies benefited from this grant opportunity, including many minority-owned, women-owned, and veteran-owned businesses. Additionally, JobsOhio partnered with several state agencies to create Ohio To Work, a pilot program to help those displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic return to work or discover new job opportunities. The pilot program began in Cuyahoga County, and through the end of last year, helped 363 Ohioans get back on their feet.

Closing the digital divide is a priority of our administration, and the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how essential broadband access is for all Ohioans. We ended 2020 by announcing a pilot program with Starlink to bring new, highspeed broadband technology to our state. Currently, the program brings broadband to 90 homes and 10 small businesses. With help from the Broadband office, JobsOhio will explore additional opportunities to expand broadband access to all Ohioans.

JobsOhio has also continued work on positioning Ohio as a competitive place for world-class talent. Over the last year, our administration has announced Innovation Districts in Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus. In each district, our partners have joined together to invest in and expand innovative, educational, and research-driven opportunities within the technology and healthcare industries. These Innovation Districts build on our strengths in a one-of-a-kind effort to make Ohio a global medical epicenter. We want researchers and businesses to create, develop, and share their ideas from Ohio with the world.

There has been opportunity with every challenge Ohioans face. It is the ingenuity and work ethic of the people of Ohio that will lead us to a full economic recovery. Our thanks goes out to the JobsOhio team and Board for partnering with our administration and continuing its mission. We are confident Ohio’s best days are ahead of us, and the best is yet to come for all Ohioans.

Chairman of the Board, Robert Smith and JobsOhio President & CEO, J.P. Nauseef

Understandably, many may reflect on 2020 as a year they would prefer to forget. The challenges were unlike any in 100 years, shaking the global economy to its core. Ohio was not immune to the effects of the pandemic, but its leadership and people proved resilient and rose to the occasion, positioning our state to capitalize on a generational opportunity. 2020 marked the end of JobsOhio’s first decade in existence, and when it mattered most, our team responded quickly and decisively with leadership and results. Despite the difficulties endured, we believe it was one of the strongest years JobsOhio has ever had.

We began the year, pre-pandemic, with momentum. Governor DeWine and Lt. Governor Husted were on hand to announce the creation of Ohio’s first innovation district in Cincinnati, and Ohio was awarded the “Governor’s Cup” for ranking No. 1 in the USA in Site Selection Magazine’s rankings for the most economic development projects per capita! Then came COVID-19. It was clear JobsOhio and our network partners needed to transform our economic development efforts to meet the critical, immediate needs for Ohioans.

As soon as the pandemic hit our state, Governor DeWine challenged us to soften the impact of COVID-19 on Ohio’s economy and workforce by utilizing the full capabilities of JobsOhio’s unique and powerful attributes: 1) a professional team with extensive private sector experience, 2) a private structure, 3) stable funding, and 4) a statewide reach through the JobsOhio Network Partners.

JobsOhio worked closely with our Network Partners and the DeWine administration to create ten economic development programs targeted to assist businesses and jobs most at risk, resulting in support for more than 300,000 jobs at over 15,000 Ohio businesses. Additionally, along with our Network Partners, we worked side-by-side with the Ohio Development Services Agency and the Ohio Department of Administrative Services to bring much needed lifesaving personal protective equipment to our healthcare workers and other Ohio citizens in need.

While the pandemic has come with unprecedented hurdles, we believe it has created a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Ohio to reemerge as a leader. Governor DeWine’s leadership during the crisis helped Ohio to “stand out,” giving our state positive and persistent exposure at this critical moment. In today’s climate, businesses are looking to bring their supply chains back to the U.S. Moreover, tens of thousands of businesses and people are considering migration away from the high-priced coasts to more diverse, livable, business-friendly, and affordable states like Ohio.

Ohio is positioned to capitalize on this opportunity, particularly because while other states are scaling back their economic development, Ohio is investing, due in large part, to JobsOhio’s unique and differentiated business model. Throughout 2020, we and our partners worked to ensure Ohio emerges out of the pandemic stronger for decades to come.

• We are investing in innovation districts to bolster Ohio’s competitiveness in talent, research, invention, technology, and healthcare while revitalizing communities.
• We launched support for Ohio’s military and federal sector to make Ohio attractive for federal spending, military families, and businesses that support aerospace and aviation, artificial intelligence, and more.
• We initiated an inclusion strategy in 2019 to increase investment in under-represented population groups and geographies, because a sustainable recovery must and will include all Ohioans.
• We piloted the Ohio To Work program in the greater Cleveland area to help displaced workers find long-term employment and to help employers find the workforce they need to be competitive.
• We are investing in job-ready sites through the Ohio Sites Inventory Program to improve Ohio’s success in competing for expanding and attracting businesses.

The ability to move these efforts forward during extraordinary circumstances speaks to the incredible work of JobsOhio’s associates and our partners. We thank them for the long hours and dedication to the people of Ohio. We also want to recognize former House Speaker and JobsOhio board member Bill Batchelder,w who was recently named JobsOhio’s first Board Member Emeritus. We appreciate all he has done for this state and for economic development in Ohio.

Our experiences in 2020 are allowing us to move forward into 2021 with optimism about Ohio’s future. The pandemic has helped to spark a growing realization that Ohio’s unique mix of strong leadership, business climate, skilled workforce, affordability, location, and diverse industries has resulted in the best place to live, work, and achieve each unique vision of the American dream.