COLUMBUS, OHIO – As it closes the accounting of its 10th Anniversary Year, JobsOhio – Ohio’s private economic development corporation – today announced the official results of its first decade of operations to drive job creation and new capital investment across the State. In the period from its founding in 2011 through 2020, JobsOhio executed more than 2,800 economic development project deals that attracted 500 new companies to the State and retained or expanded more than 2,100 existing Ohio businesses. The agreements with those private-sector employers generated and retained more than 800,000 jobs and secured more than $45 billion in payrolls that generate more than $1.35 billion in Ohio State Income Taxes annually.
In the decade before House Bill One created JobsOhio in 2011, Ohio lost more than 230,000 of its critical industrial jobs – an 18% decline – according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW). JobsOhio set its initial focus on nine strategic industries with the highest productivity, wages, and economic impact:
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Aerospace and Aviation
- Automotive
- Energy and Chemicals
- Financial Services
- Food and Agribusiness
- Healthcare
- Logistics and Distribution
- Technology
These sectors account for 33% of gross state product, 22% of jobs, and 40% of payroll in the State.
JobsOhio projects and investments have helped to reverse Ohio’s industrial job decline. According to QCEW data, employment in JobsOhio’s target industry sectors is up 14% since 2011. In fact, job commitments from JobsOhio projects accounted for 80% of all jobs added in its target industry sectors in 2018 and 2019. The average wage per job was over $74,000 in 2020, versus $58,000 for the rest of Ohio’s private industry. Moreover, JobsOhio client companies committed to invest $64 billion to build new capital assets in the State.
JobsOhio 10-Year Results (2011 – 2020)
- More than 2,800 Economic Development Projects
- Attracted 500 Companies from Outside of Ohio to Establish Operations in Ohio
- More than 210,000 New Jobs Created
- More than $10 Billion in New Payrolls Added
- More than 590,000 Ohio Jobs Retained
- More than $35 Billion in Retained Ohio Payrolls
- Helped Companies Invest $64 Billion on New Capital Assets in the State
- More than $380 Million in Profit-Sharing Payments to the Ohio General Fund
- Resulting Jobs Generate More than $1.35 Billion in Ohio State Income Taxes Annually
JobsOhio is a unique economic development platform. It is state-authorized, but private, and staffed by seasoned professionals with more than 200 years of private sector experience. JobsOhio operates alongside (but outside) of State government, giving it the freedom to move at the speed of business and the expertise to speak the language of business.
“The public/private partnership we’ve built with JobsOhio has proven to be a powerful competitive advantage for Ohio and these 10-year results speak to the enormous impact our collaboration has generated for businesses, workers, and communities across the state,” said Governor Mike DeWine. “As we look at the entrepreneurial talent and businesses coming to Ohio and the groundbreaking innovations coming from the industries already here, Ohio’s economic future is looking as bright as ever.”
“While we’re proud of these 10-year results, we’re really just getting started,” said J.P. Nauseef, president and CEO of JobsOhio, “Thanks to the leadership of the DeWine-Husted Administration and the dedication of our regional economic development partners across the State, we’ve significantly expanded our impact investments, grants and programs to capitalize on megatrends and to react to the global pandemic. While our new programs will take time to mature, we can already see promising results.”
JobsOhio has accelerated from $150 million of investment loans and grants in nine sectors per year in 2018 to nearly $500 million in 2021. JobsOhio added Military and Federal as its tenth focus sector and launched 12 major new program initiatives to address both gaps and opportunities in Ohio’s economic fabric. JobsOhio also launched new strategies to put Ohio ahead of the curve and better position the State to capture the upside of future trends, tech innovations and industry advancements.
- Innovation Strategy – Innovation Districts, Research and Development Grants, and Growth Capital to make Ohio the best place in the country for technology and life science jobs.
- Talent & Workforce Strategy – Proactive talent attraction, workforce reskilling and upskilling, and pandemic recovery initiatives to provide a welcoming environment for prospective talent and job-ready workforce for businesses.
- Inclusive Development Strategy – JobsOhio Inclusion Grants to provide financial support to small- and medium-sized businesses in distressed areas of Ohio; and Vibrant Communities Program to help distressed communities implement catalytic projects that represent significant reinvestment in areas struggling to attract new investment.
“When JobsOhio was created ten years ago, it was a new way of thinking about economic development at the state level by using a private model that was unlike anything else in the United States, and it has proven to be a competitive advantage for the people of Ohio,” said Lt. Governor Jon Husted. “Our economy is more diversified, we are on-shoring manufacturing and projects that JobsOhio has worked on have continually performed above company commitments in terms of job creation and capital investment.”
In 2013, JobsOhio raised capital in the bond market and paid the State Treasury $1.4 billion to acquire the rights for Ohio’s Liquor enterprise through 2038. JobsOhio’s business model provides a stable source of funding with no taxpayer money involved. JobsOhio shares profits from the spirits enterprise with the State and employs the rest to fund economic development operations and impact investments across Ohio. From FY2013 – FY2020, JobsOhio made profit-sharing payments totaling $380,364,118 to the Ohio General Fund.
About JobsOhio
JobsOhio is a private nonprofit economic development corporation designed to drive job creation and new capital investment in Ohio through business attraction, retention and expansion. The organization also works to seed talent production in its targeted industries and to attract talent to Ohio through Find Your Ohio. JobsOhio works with six regional partners across Ohio: Dayton Development Coalition, Ohio Southeast Economic Development, One Columbus, REDI Cincinnati, Regional Growth Partnership and Team NEO. Learn more at www.jobsohio.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
For more information, contact:
Matt Englehart, JobsOhio
614-300-1152
englehart@jobsohio.com
# # #