stange, Ohio is losing job and population, but Calif is losing jobs and gaining population. How can they do it?

CLEVELAND -- The Ohio Chapter of the Swedish- American Chamber of Commerce (SACC-Ohio) was launched last week by Sweden's U.S. Ambassador Gunnar Lund when he spoke at Cleveland's Union Club to an audience of business leaders, government officials, economic development officers and regional leaders of chambers of commerce.

 

Seated in the audience of over 200 attendees were David Daberko, chairman at National City Bank; Ohio State Senator Eric Fingerhut; Richard Pogue, civic leader from Jones Day, and John Carlson, Sr. Economic Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank to name a few who heard Ambassador Lund say, "The establishment of SACC-Ohio is an important milestone in our efforts to stimulate trade between our countries. I am very pleased to be part of the official opening event here in Cleveland, and you can count on my continued support for your activities"

 

 

SACC-Ohio is the organization's 20th chapter, and Ohio is Sweden's fifth largest U.S. trade partner. The Chapter was formed to foster more trade between the regions and to encourage Swedish businesses and investments to consider the Ohio region, which includes communities in western Pennsylvania, northern Kentucky and eastern Indiana.

 

 

Christian Bernadotte, president of SACC-Ohio, described Ohio as an attractive gateway to the U.S. and Canada when speaking to the audience on Monday. He said the Ohio area is an ideal location because of its important manufacturing, diverse communities, low cost of living, accessible modes of transportation, and many recent activities that are bringing entrepreneurial companies to the region. "We're a great window to the U.S. market. Businesses can locate here and use us as a springboard to the rest of the country."

 

 

Bernadotte described Ohio as a gateway to reaching nearly 50 percent of the manufacturing base, consumers and households in the U. S. within an overnight trucking distance of 500 miles. He also said that Sweden can be an attractive springboard for U.S. companies in this region for accessing the Scandinavian, Baltic region and European Union markets.

 

 

Gunilla Girardo, President of SACC-USA, in her address, pointed out that the addition of Ohio to the SACC-USA network, the second largest European Chamber of Commerce network in the U.S., closes a gap in coverage and will allow members in this region access to hundreds of companies and thousands of other members in the SACC network on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as access to the Sweden's Entrepreneurial-Days in August where U.S. companies can meet potential partners from Sweden or Scandinavia. She also said that "SACC- Ohio's application to become a member of SACC-USA has been exemplary".

 

 

Anders E. Berg, CEO and owner of the Berg Group, also spoke to the audience as he told why he located one of his investment companies in Ohio as opposed to consolidating its operations with another of his companies in a southern U.S. state. The Berg Group had acquired in 2005 all assets of McKinley Machinery in Avon. Berg was planning to merge the operations with those of EMBA in Atlanta, which was the U.S. headquarters for the Swedish holding company. The Ohio Department of Development recruited the help of Michael Miller, head of the Swedish Consulate in Cleveland and a founder of SACC-Ohio, who alerted other Swedish-American business people based in Ohio.

 

 

"Mr. Berg decided on Ohio, as I understand, largely because he found this area to have lower cost, readily available facilities for manufacturing and a skilled labor force here which is already trained and available for manufacturing," said Miller. "These qualities translate into a less expensive, quicker and efficient start-up for a new business.

 

 

"EMBA is one of six businesses started or acquired by Swedish investment in Greater Cleveland within the past year. I think the attractions of this part of the U.S. are being re-discovered by many others, including Swedes."

 

 

Ambassador Lund met with Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson previous to the SACC-Ohio ceremonies, which conflicted with the meeting of Cleveland City Council. They exchanged insights into the opportunities facing their respective regions:

 

 

  -- transitioning from a traditional manufacturing city to a modern city.

  -- attracting immigrants and managing the availability of quality

      education.

  -- balancing quality of life against the demands of growth.

  -- inspiring public-private partnerships to the benefit of the region.

 

Swedish Change Ikea, are you taking notice? ;)

From Business First of Columbus, 6/21/06:

 

 

Think tanks take aim at Ohio's tax reform

Business First of Columbus - 2:23 PM EDT Tuesday

by Saleha N. Ghani

Business First

 

The Buckeye Institute and a national anti-tax group are challenging last year's reform of Ohio's tax code, saying the changes are covering up continuing problems in the state's tax system.

 

The Buckeye Institute and the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation, in a report on the state's economy, said lawmakers are using a 21 percent cut in personal income taxes over five years to cover up the state's continuing uncompetitive taxes on businesses compared to the rest of the country.

 

The reform package included a phasing out of the state's corporate franchise and inventory taxes in favor of a commercial activity tax on gross receipts. The report said that might actually hurt the state's competitiveness, however, because it could tax goods and services at several stages in the production process and because companies may owe taxes even when they're not profitable....

 

 

The full report is available online at www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/1672.html.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/06/19/daily12.html?from_rss=1

 

From the 7/6/06 Enquirer:

 

 

PHOTO: Robert Murdock, owner of Murdock Inc. in Sedamsville, says its too early to tell whether Ohio's new commercial activity tax will help his water-fountain manufacturing business.  The Enquirer/ Carrie Cochran

 

PHOTO: Bill Fellhauer drills mouth guards for water fountains at Murdock Inc.  THE ENQUIRER/CARRIE COCHRAN

 

PHOTO: Rob Adams grinds the top of water fountains at Murdock Inc.  THE ENQUIRER/CARRIE COCHRAN

 

Businesses await tax's impact

BY ALEXANDER COOLIDGE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

A year after taking effect, Ohio's commercial activity tax remains a hotly debated topic among interest groups, even as some businesses say it's too early to tell whether the tax overhaul is making it easier to compete.

 

The tax was implemented on July 1, 2005, and is being phased in through 2009 as it replaces other levies, including the corporate franchise tax and tangible personal property taxes on inventory, fixtures and equipment.

 

The changes were hailed as a way to eliminate some business taxes, close tax loopholes and place a broader but less onerous tax on more of the state's businesses. They also were designed to nurture ailing manufacturers, whose capital-intensive industries were especially hurt by inventory and equipment taxes....

 

 

 

E-mail [email protected]

 

About the tax

Ohio's commercial activity tax, sometimes referred to by the acronym CAT, is based not on profits but on revenues generated in the state by business. When fully phased in 2009, its rate will be 0.0026 (or $26 on every $10,000 worth of revenue over $1 million).

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060706/BIZ01/607060327/1076/rss01

 

[b]‘Green’ businesses wooed with incentives[/b]

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Jodi Andes

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Rising phoenixlike from the ashes of Columbus’ former trash-burning power plant, the Grossman Group is the type of business Mayor Michael B. Coleman wants to see more of.

 

The company pays other businesses for their trash and separates paper and cardboard from the garbage. Then it resells the recyclables to make a profit...

 

 

[email protected]

http://dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/07/13/20060713-D1-02.html

From the 7/14/06 Dispatch:

 

 

State tries to entice auto-parts suppliers

Zero-percent financing on loans to be offered to companies for building, expanding in Ohio

Friday, July 14, 2006

Paul Wilson

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Two weeks after losing the derby for Honda’s new assembly plant, Ohio said yesterday that it will offer zero-percent financing on loans for auto suppliers that want to build factories or expand in the state.  "We wanted to capture the attention of potential suppliers to Honda, and we wanted them to seriously consider our state for expansion," said Lt. Gov. Bruce E. Johnson, who also oversees the state Department of Development.

 

Last month, Honda chose Greensburg, Ind., for its 2,000-worker plant, rejecting two Ohio sites.  After the announcement, disappointed Ohio officials vowed to help the state’s auto suppliers compete for work from the new operation.  Honda officials said the new plant will mean an additional $1 billion in business each year for Ohio companies and more than 1,000 new jobs in the state.

 

Johnson said Ohio officials began working on the zero-percent financing plan after the automaker announced in May that the plant would be built in the Midwest.  With 150 Honda suppliers, Ohio officials knew the plant would be a boon for the state, even if it was built in Indiana.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/07/14/20060714-G1-00.html

 

From the 7/18/06 ABJ:

 

 

Grant will support fuel cell work

Contained Energy explores carbon for energy

By Jim Mackinnon

Beacon Journal business writer

 

A small Shaker Heights company that is developing specialized fuel cells has received $400,000 from the Northeast Ohio nonprofit venture capital organization JumpStart Inc.

 

Contained Energy was formed to build a fuel cell based on technology at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

 

...

 

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/business/15062998.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_business

 

APRIL 2006 NUMBERS

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/mmls_05232006.pdf

 

Large-scale layoffs down in Ohio

Business First of Columbus - May 23, 2006

 

The number of large-scale layoffs in Ohio decreased by a third in April, compared with a year ago, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

 

Ohio employers initiated 53 layoffs of at least 50 workers last month, resulting in 12,182 claims for unemployment insurance, according to seasonally adjusted government figures. In April last year, Ohio employers initiated 80 mass layoffs, affecting 15,288 workers.

 

In March, Ohio saw 32 large layoffs resulting in 6,956 unemployment claimants.

 

The number of mass layoffs also fell nationally to 1,148, resulting in 118,504 initial claimants, from 1,278 actions affecting 139,575 workers last year.

 

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/05/22/daily17.html?surround=lfn

 

MAY 2006 NUMBERS

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/mmls_06222006.pdf

 

Large-scale layoffs fall in Ohio

Business First of Columbus - June 22, 2006

 

The number of mass layoffs is dropping in Ohio, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 

The state had 30 large-scale layoff events of at least 50 workers in May, resulting in 109,858 initial claims for unemployment insurance, the bureau said. In April, Ohio had 53 large layoffs leading to 12,182 initial claims, and in May 2005 it had 42 events resulting in 3,349 claims. The figures are seasonally adjusted.

 

The number of mass layoffs is also dropping nationally. Last month, there were 1,074 layoff events in the U.S., down from 1,148 events in April and 1,195 in May 2005.

 

California had the highest number of large layoffs, with 22,138, followed by Illinois with 6,641.

 

The bureau releases mass layoff statistics on a monthly and quarterly basis.

 

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/06/19/daily29.html?surround=lfn

 

JUNE 2006 NUMBERS

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/mmls.pdf

 

Ohio sees large dip in worker layoffs

Business First of Columbus - July 20, 2006

by Matt Burns, Business First

 

While large-scale layoffs nationwide spurred a 37 percent increase in unemployment claims in June, Ohio experienced the largest drop in the country.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday that mass layoffs, defined as layoffs affecting at least 50 employees, were up 29 percent nationwide to 1,489, compared with a year ago.  That led to 164,761 workers filing for unemployment benefits, up 37 percent from last year.

 

Ohio saw 59 mass layoffs in June, affecting 5,903 workers, down from 62 a year ago putting 11,541 out of work.  The 49 percent drop in affected workers in Ohio led the nation, and was especially encouraging because of the "calendar effect" this year, said Patrick Carey, a bureau senior economist.  This June included five weeks of collected data, compared with four weeks in each June of the past four years.  The extra week normally would signal an increase.

 

In the Midwest, Ohio was an exception as well.  The region had the second-largest number of initial claims, trailing behind the West and followed by the Northeast.  California had the largest increase in claims filed compared to last June with a 43 percent increase, followed by New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  All figures are not seasonally adjusted.

 

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/07/17/daily28.html?surround=lfn

 

From the 7/30/06 DDN:

 

 

Taxes tailored to business helping economy, officials say

Ohio has taken some some blows recently when it lost two high-profile projects, but the state's poised to recover.

By John Nolan

Staff Writer

 

Ohio put itself in better position to compete for new employers or spur current employers' expansion when it started business-friendly tax changes last year, development officials said.

 

"It puts us on a path for development," said Evan Scott of the Dayton Development Coalition, a supporter of the tax revisions.

 

Gov. Bob Taft and Lt. Gov. Bruce Johnson said the tax changes helped encourage Honda Motor Co. to build a new parts distribution center in Troy and Whirlpool Corp. to consolidate manufacturing jobs in northern Ohio. Lyle Dunbar, chief executive officer of DR Technologies Inc., said it was a factor in his California company's decision to begin making aerospace industry parts next year in part of what is now a vacant industrial building in Dayton...

 

 

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or [email protected].

 

http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/ddn073006ohiolossfront.html

 

From the 8/1/06 Toledo Blade:

 

 

BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Read the report

 

CHART: Factory job losses in Ohio

 

CHART: Factory job changes in other Great Lakes states

 

MANUFACTURING JOB LOSSES

Great Lakes area hit hard in last 5 years

By JULIE M. McKINNON

BLADE BUSINESS WRITER

 

Seven Great Lakes states suffered more than a third of the nation's manufacturing job losses in the last five years, with Michigan and Ohio leading the pack, a new study shows.

 

Metropolitan Toledo, however, fared better than most other cities.

 

The local area lost 11,300 manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2005, down 18 percent, the second lowest in Ohio and eighth lowest among all 25 metro areas in the report by the Brookings Institution think tank.

 

Read More...

 

From the 8/11/06 ABJ:

 

Ohio ad blitz jeers at Mich.

 

Ohio is taking on Michigan -- in the Wall Street Journal.  A new advertising campaign by the Ohio Business Development Coalition, the state's new business marketing arm, started Thursday.

 

The six-ad campaign, ending Aug. 23, tells corporate leaders that Ohio's revamped business taxes are the lowest in the Midwest, and especially lower than Michigan's.  At 3.6 percent, Ohio's effective rate is lower than the five Midwest states, with Michigan scoring the highest, the ads claim.

 

Coalition campaigns in national publications this year focused on companies that expanded in or moved to Ohio.

 

MORE: http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/business/15249831.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_business

 

Ohio mass layoffs drop in second quarter

Dayton Business Journal - August 10, 2006

 

Ohio saw the eighth-largest number of job losses due to mass layoffs during the second quarter 2006, according to a federal report.

 

With 56 layoff events resulting in the loss of 12,344 jobs, Ohio trailed California (51,740), Illinois (23,798), Florida (21,520), New Jersey (16,190), Michigan (12,655), New York (12,617) and Colorado (12,566).  The second quarter numbers were down compared with the first quarter, when there were 45 mass layoffs in Ohio that resulted in 14,195 lost jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  In the first quarter of 2005, Ohio shed 10,470 jobs in 76 layoff events.

 

http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2006/08/07/daily20.html?surround=lfn

 

Okay.... I'll ask the obvious.... where were these guys when Honda was looking to build a new plant? Now they're developing a plan?

 

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/08/14/daily12.html 

 

Ohio plan to lure automotive suppliers, researchers takes shape

Business First of Columbus - 4:36 PM EDT Tuesday

 

The state Department of Development laid bait Tuesday in the form of no-interest financing guidelines with hopes of snagging auto suppliers looking to locate or expand in Ohio.

 

Having identified the automotive supply industry as one Ohio can capitalize on, the department's financing initiative applies to the 166 Direct Loan and the Research & Development Investment Loan Fund programs for the first two years of a prospective loan.

 

Under the guidelines, the state will finance as much as 40 percent, or a maximum $2.5 million of a project's cost, using a 166 Loan and as much as 50 percent with a cap of $10 million under the R&D Loan Fund.  The R&D fund also offers a tax credit of as much as $150,000.

^ As you can see, this is not an idea they just came up with yesterday.

 

JULY 2006 NUMBERS ARE OUT:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/mmls.pdf

 

From the 8/23/06 Cincinnati Business Courier:

 

Ohio layoff picture not rosy, but improving

Cincinnati Business Courier - 1:08 PM EDT Wednesday

 

Mass layoff events nationwide have been climbing since May, but July figures for Ohio and the rest of the nation showed improvement since last year.  The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday the number of mass layoffs, defined as layoffs affecting at least 50 employees, increased nationwide 1.5 percent from June to July, from 1,489 to 1,511 events.  Ohio recorded 79 mass layoff events in July, up from 59 in June.

 

Over the year, however, mass layoffs nationwide decreased 23.7 percent, from 1,981 events in July 2005 to last month's figure.  Ohio's mass layoff events decreased 31.3 percent since July 2005, from 115 to 79 events.

 

Claims filed in Ohio because of July mass layoffs accounted for 6 percent of all claims filed nationwide.  Ohio, Michigan, California, Indiana and Wisconsin in July accounted for 52 percent of all mass layoff events and 58 percent of all unemployment claims, according to bureau data.

 

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2006/08/21/daily29.html?surround=lfn

 

From the 8/25/06 Dispatch:

 

 

Shell gives OSU $1 million to aid hydrogen research

Friday, August 25, 2006

Kathy Lynn Gray

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Ohio State University research that could help expand hydrogen fuel-cell technology got a $1 million boost yesterday.

 

Shell Oil Co. gave the two-year grant for research by professor W.S. Winston Ho, who is searching for a way to draw pure hydrogen out of waste from fossil fuels. Pure hydrogen is needed to operate fuel cells that can power cars and other vehicles.

 

...

 

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/25/20060825-E5-03.html

 

This is not news to anyone.

http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/topic/90.html

 

From the 8/29/06 Dayton Business Journal:

 

 

Tax Foundation: Ohio, Kentucky have unfriendly tax climate

Dayton Business Journal - 2:06 PM EDT Tuesday

 

Ohio's tax climate is the fourth-worst in the nation for businesses and Kentucky's is the seventh-worst, the Tax Foundation's 2006 State Business Tax Climate Index shows.

 

Indiana came up just short of the top 10, ranking 11th.

 

States were evaluated by the number and types of taxes, such as individual income taxes, major business taxes, sales taxes, unemployment insurance taxes and taxes on wealth or assets, levied on resident businesses.

 

Read More...

 

They always do these studies as if tax rates exist in a vaccum.  Do they have any insight into why Wyoming might have a friendly tax climate, while NY has an unfriendly one?  What might be different about those states?  Hmmm.....

^Good point.  It would be nice to know the reasons why, i.e. where is the tax revenue going?  how is the distribution different state to state?

Where is the tax revenue going?  What obligations and services are the gov't providing for?  Why might there be a more complex tax code in an economically diverse, urban state of 25 million than in a rural state of 500,000?

I'm pretty sure that Ohio has just revised its business tax code to make it much friendlier for economic development. Nationally-renown economic development expert (of CSU's Levin College) Ned Hill did the work.

I love these reports. A friend of mine once made a great comment on this subject: "Indiana is a low-tax state .... and looks every bit of it."

Ads aim to lure CEOs to try Ohio

Coalition's $4M campaign ties business and home life

BY CLIFF PEALE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

September 14, 2006

 

IMAGE: The Ohio Business Development Coalition's new logo. PROVIDED

 

Trying to convince baby-boomer CEOs that they can enjoy both a productive business climate and a fulfilling quality of life in Ohio, the Ohio Business Development Coalition will unveil a $4 million advertising campaign next week.

 

Built around the tagline "Build Your Business. Love Your Life," the campaign will feature print ads in publications including the Wall Street Journal, Business Week and Industry Week.  It also will include an e-mail campaign targeted to top corporate executives who have expressed interest in locating or expanding in Ohio.

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060914/BIZ01/609140329/1076/BIZ

Ad effort aimed at generating jobs

Executives will tout state as good place to work, live

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Paul Wilson and Marla Matzer Rose

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

After struggling for years to create jobs and keep pace with the rest of the nation, Ohio officials are hoping a new "brand" will help reverse the slump.  Next week, the state casts this advertising hook: "Build your business. Love your life."  Officials said the phrase and campaign focus on promoting the state as a place where business folks can find balance in their lives.

 

They said Ohio is different from other states because it has five major cities that are close to small communities offering low-cost, low-stress environments.  "Amongst the decision-makers across the world, we need to correct and or reinforce their image of the state of Ohio as a place to do business," said Lt. Gov. Bruce Johnson, who leads the state’s Department of Development.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060917/NEWS24/60917002/-1/NEWS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Article published September 17, 2006

 

Ohio economy sputters as innovation declines

Politicians miss mark with development policies

 

By JIM TANKERSLEY

and JOSHUA BOAK

BLADE STAFF WRITERS

First in a series

 

CELINA, Ohio — They don’t build Huffys here anymore. These days you can buy one, made in China, for $34.88 at the Wal-Mart Supercenter a field and a fence away from the old plant.

 

George Huffman’s Ohio-born company popularized BMX racing, powered U.S. Olympic teams to gold, and once led the world in bicycle sales. Huffy Corp. also axed 1,000 factory jobs in Celina, a two-hour drive southwest of Toledo near the Indiana line, in 1998. It went bankrupt in 2004.

 

Public officials, union leaders, and news reporters insisted for years that Huffy embodied Ohio’s turn-of-the-millennium economic slide. They blamed a manufacturing exodus by household names such as Rubbermaid, Hoover, and Mr. Coffee on the search for cheap foreign labor to satisfy discount stores such as Wal-Mart.

 

More at link above:

perhaps a new license plate slogan will do the trick... "Ohio... Cradle of Play-Doh!"

It was a good article, but it seems to me that Strickland was saying essentially what they were saying.  Perhaps it was an effort to be "fair and balanced" by not calling one candidate right and the other wrong, even though it was so.

Good article...but yet we continue to hand out tax breaks to shopping centers  :roll:

From the 9/20/06 Dispatch:

 

 

GRAPHIC: Growing, but slowly

 

GOP links 36,000 new jobs to tax cuts

But experts say it’s too soon to credit ’05 overhaul

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Jim Siegel

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Some Republican lawmakers are highlighting the 36,000 jobs created in Ohio during the past year, and they’re giving healthy credit to the state tax overhaul passed in 2005.

 

"These efforts have proven to be effective recently with more than 36,000 jobs created," read an August GOP "guest column." (Such essays are often written by legislative staffers and sent to local newspapers in lawmakers’ names.)

 

But experts say Ohio’s tax overhaul is so young that it’s difficult to say recent job numbers reflect the changes....

 

 

 

[email protected]

 

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/09/20/20060920-B1-01.html

 

AUGUST 2006 NUMBERS ARE OUT:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/mmls.toc.htm

 

From Business First of Columbus, 9/21/06:

 

Ohio has nation's 5th highest unemployment claims in August

Business First of Columbus - September 21, 2006

 

Mass layoffs in Ohio dropped slightly last month compared with 2005, but the state had the fifth highest number of initial unemployment claims in the nation.  The state had 23 large-scale layoff events of at least 50 workers in August, resulting in 3,772 initial claims for unemployment insurance, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday.

 

In July, the state had 79 mass layoffs in July resulting in 10,108 initial claims.  In August 2005, the bureau reported 26 mass layoffs resulting in 2,881 initial unemployment.  The figures are seasonally adjusted.

 

California had the highest number of initial claims in August with 20,339 from 227 layoff events.  New York, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, California and Ohio had the highest number of initial claims filed, accounting for 54 percent of all mass layoff events in the nation and 57 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2006/09/18/daily25.html?from_rss=1

 

Part two from the 9/24/06 Toledo Blade:GRAPHIC: Ohio's venture-capital funding down[/size]

 

SPECIAL REPORT: 'BUSINESS AS USUAL'

Investors turn away from Ohio as heavy use of tax dollars to woo jobs doesn't pay off

By JIM TANKERSLEY and JOSHUA BOAK

BLADE STAFF WRITERS

 

Second in a series

 

As he shaves each morning, David Morgenthaler ponders the one investment he can't spin into gold. It matters more to him than Apple computers and Nextel phones. It is the state he calls home.

 

Mr. Morgenthaler, perhaps America's oldest living venture capitalist, can turn his head past the medicine cabinet mirror and spy Lake Erie, where about 20 percent of the world's fresh water flows toward Niagara Falls. A short drive from his suburban Cleveland house, workers bend metal into sculptures of global commerce. Cars. Boilers. Bearings.

 

"I ought to be able to figure out how to put this together and make money out of it," the 87-year-old says. "I haven't been able to do it. I'm not innovative enough."

 

More at:

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060924/NEWS24/609240334/-1/RSS

 

Because it doesn't keep track, the department can't say how many patents, or what types of salaries, or even how many jobs, resulted from its $634 million technology-targeted investments around the state. The state can't even list all the companies those investments funded, just like it can't list what it gets for billions of dollars it forgoes in corporate tax breaks.

 

Thats interesting.

 

I always wondered how they measured the results or outcomes of all this.

 

In your Boston office, I accept on the spot," Mr. Morgenthaler recalled the second student saying. "In your Cleveland office, never."

 

Ouch!

 

(but a pretty good series of articles.  I've read in some economic history how patent generation, combined with entrepeneurialism, really led to takeoff in urban economys...particulary Dayton in the 19th and early 20th century)

 

 

 

State doesn't keep the right graduates

Science PhDs tend to go elsewhere

By JOSHUA BOAK

and JIM TANKERSLEY

BLADE STAFF WRITERS

 

Last in a series

 

CLEVELAND - The human heart sparks electricity with each beat. When it skips and its rhythm breaks, life turns fragile.

 

It took Charu Ramanathan, Ping Jia, and their graduate adviser in a Cleveland lab to map the heart to show what trips its electrical circuits. They knew their work belonged in hospitals, so they patented it.

 

A business was born.

 

Ms. Ramanathan came to Case Western Reserve University a decade ago to pursue a doctorate in biomedical engineering, which no college in her native India offered. Ms. Jia left China for the same reason.

 

More at:

 

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061001/NEWS24/610010318/-1/NEWS

 

Cincinnati tops Ohio for manufacturing

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Business Courier of Cincinnati

 

More than 34,000 jobs and 384 plants have left over the past 12 months, but Ohio remains among the top three states in the country for manufacturing jobs.

 

Ohio accounts for 5.8 percent of U.S. industrial employment, according to the Ohio Manufacturers Directory, published annually by Evanston, Ill.-based Manufacturers' News Inc.

 

The state's three largest cities account for more than 236,000 of Ohio's 1.1 million industrial jobs. Cincinnati tops the list, with 99,700 jobs and 1,589 plants; followed by Cleveland with 80,367 jobs and 1,977 plants; and Columbus with 56,282 jobs and 1,017 plants.

 

Read More...

 

i guess this is a good and a bad thing for cincy

wow Cincy used to have over 144k in manufacturing jobs. What happend? The service industry has taken over i guess. And no way Cincy is #6 in the nation in  manufacturing jobs.

hhhmmmm, interesting, wouldnt have figured.  WOuld have guessed cland would have the highest by far and away.  Has Cincy done a better job at keeping these jobs I guess?  Cuz theres no way Cincy has always been higher than Cland.

Bad reporting again. The numbers are off.

 

http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet;jsessionid=f030a34089b1$7F$3FY$

I think this measure is using strict municipal boundaries rather than metro-areas (e.g., Cleveland and Mentor counted separately) which would account for its divergence from the BLS stats and the status of Cinci as #1 in the state.

From the 10/7/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:

 

 

Steelmakers see big half, cautious about the future

By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle

 

Strong global demand and stable prices fueled Ohio steelmaker gains in the first half of the year, but companies are watching cautiously rising import levels, auto production cuts and energy costs, an industry group said.

 

The Ohio Steel Council, which includes Warren’s WCI Steel Inc., reported shipments by its members rose nearly 9.9 percent in the second quarter to 4 million tons compared to the year-ago period. Production was 3.9 million, up 12.8 percent.

 

...

 

http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=9637

 

From the 10/8/06 Warren Tribune Chronicle:

 

 

Business and political leaders marketing the Buckeye State

By RAYMOND L. SMITH Tribune Chronicle

 

Trying to get more businesses to consider moving to Ohio, business and political leaders have created a multi-million dollar marketing campaign designed to convince corporate decision makers to place their operations here.

 

“We’re branding Ohio,” said Ed Burghard, executive director of the year-old Ohio Business Development Coalition in Columbus. “With the slogan — ‘Build Your Business. Build Your Life’ — we’re telling corporate executives that Ohio is a good location to build successful businesses as well as live comfortably in communities that have good schools and a variety of entertainment opportunities.”

 

Developing a marketing campaign to attract new businesses was a brainchild of Gov. Bob Taft, who two years ago suggested the state needed something to increase the state standings as a place where company CEOs and CFOs will look to place a new headquarters or a satellite plant.

 

MORE: http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=9669

 

Report: Ohio among worst business tax climates

Cincinnati Business Courier - 2:16 PM EDT Thursday

 

Ohio is second from the bottom in a ranking of the best places to do business.

 

In the Tax Foundation's 2007 State Business Tax Climate Index, Ohio ranked 49th, ahead of New Jersey, for its overall business climate.

 

Wyoming had the best tax climate for businesses, followed by South Dakota, the Tax Foundation said.

 

...

 

Full results are available at taxfoundation.org/research/show/1371.html.

 

Read More...

From the 10/16/06 Dispatch:

 

 

Ohio business group wins award for ad campaign promoting state

Monday, October 16, 2006

 

The Ohio Business Development Coalition won top honors for its "Why Ohio?" campaign from the International Economic Development Council, it was announced last week. The annual awards program recognizes excellence in the economic-development profession.

 

The group took first place in the category of Paid Publication Advertising Campaign by organizations serving areas with populations exceeding 200,000.

 

Created by Columbus-based Paul Werth Associates, the ads feature Ohio-based companies and executives touting the business climate in Ohio.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/10/16/20061016-G6-04.html

 

From Crain's Cleveland Business, 10/17/06:

 

 

HydroGen to demo fuel cell plant

10:44 am, October 17, 2006

 

HyrdoGen Corp. of Cleveland, a developer of fuel cell technology, has signed an agreement to install and operate a fuel cell power plant at the Ashta Chemicals Inc. manufacturing plant in Ashtabula.

 

The 400-kilowatt fuel cell will be installed in early 2007, according to a statement from HydroGen. The company will fund the project with $1.25 million previously received from the Ohio Department of Development.

 

...

http://crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061017/FREE/61017006/1005/

 

UltraCell to build $74M Dayton plant, hire 360 workers

Project will get $15M in state aid and become the first big volume plant to make fuel cells.

 

By Timothy R. Gaffney

Staff Writer

Thursday, October 26, 2006

 

DAYTON — California-based UltraCell Corp. will open a Dayton-area plant and employ 360 workers over the next four years, the company's chief executive announced Wednesday.

 

UltraCell Chairman, Chief Executive and President James Kaschmitter said his company will invest $74 million in what he described as the world's first high-volume production plant for fuel cells.

 

...

 

http://www.daytondailynews.com/search/content/oh/story/news/local/2006/10/25/ddn102606ultracell.html

From the 11/5/06 Canton Repository:

 

 

Center will fuel development

By G. PATRICK KELLEY

REPOSITORY BUSINESS EDITOR

 

JACKSON TWP. Rolls-Royce's decision to put its U.S. fuel-cell headquarters here means more than a few new jobs - much more according to development and public officials.

 

"This puts Stark County on the map for companies looking at fuel cell development," said Steve Paquette, president of the Stark Development Board.

 

...

 

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=317354

 

SEPTEMBER 2006 NUMBERS ARE OUT:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/mmls.toc.htm

 

From the 10/25/06 Dayton Business Journal:

 

Ohio sees more mass layoffs

Dayton Business Journal - October 25, 2006

 

Mass layoffs in Ohio climbed last month compared with September 2005, and the state had the second highest number of initial unemployment claims in the nation.  Nationally, mass layoffs dipped slightly last month to 1,132 events, down from 1,193 in August and 2,219 in September 2005.

 

The state had 39 large-scale layoff events in September, resulting in 5,276 initial claims for unemployment insurance, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday.  Ohio had the largest year-over-year increase in the number of initial claims -- an increase of 2,868 claims -- due largely to layoffs in transportation equipment manufacturing.  In September 2005, the bureau reported Ohio had 21 mass layoffs resulting in 2,408 initial unemployment.

 

California had the highest number of initial claims in September 2006 with 21,642 resulting from 81 layoff events.  California, Ohio (5,276), Kentucky (5,133), Pennsylvania (4,895) and Michigan (4,072) had the highest number of initial claims filed.  Together the five states accounted for 51 percent of all mass layoff events in the nation and 47 percent of all initial claims for unemployment insurance.

 

http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2006/10/23/daily17.html?surround=lfn