The No. 1 issue facing manufacturers in Ohio is the difficulty finding qualified skilled workers to meet the needs of the industry in the state, according to sources at the Manufacturing and Distribution Update held June 27 at The Pinnacle in Maumee by Gilmore, Jasion & Mahler Ltd. (GJM).

Staff members from GJM learned about the continuing need for skilled workers while meeting with about 20 manufacturers in Northwest Ohio this year, reported Charles Heid, lead tax partner for the Manufacturing Specialist Group at GJM.

“We continue to hear that wherever we go in Ohio,” said Ryan Augsburger, managing director of public policy services for the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association (OMA), who spoke to an audience of about 120 people at the update.

The continuing problem of finding qualified workers for manufacturers is the No. 1 issue facing that industry, according to Gary Thompson, vice president and director of JobsOhio for the Regional Growth Partnership (RGP).

From left, Ryan Augsburger of the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association, Charles Heid and Kevin Gilmore of Gilmore, Jasion & Mahler Ltd., and Gary Thompson of Regional Growth Partnership at the Manufacturing & Distribution Update. TOLEDO FREE PRESS PHOTO BY DUANE RAMSEY

Mike Mulholland, chief operating officer of the Freeman Co. in Fremont, said “it’s a continuing struggle” to find qualified skilled workers for the tool-and-die business with 58 employees. He said the company has faced a need for 10 to 15 new workers over the past two years.

Mulholland reported the firm is seeking skilled tool-and-die makers, as well as design, process and programming engineers for its modern, high-tech operation. Freeman focuses on thermal-form tooling for plastic containers used in the food industry.

He said they have found that students today are not encouraged to go into manufacturing if they have aptitude in engineering, math or science. Manufacturing is now a high-tech business that needs workers who are trained to meet their needs, according to Mulholland, who attended the update.

“Ohio is a manufacturing state that is among the top five in the U.S.,” said Augsburger. “Manufacturing was the leading source of new private investment in Ohio, which ranked first in the U.S. in new site selections.”

The $80 billion in manufactured goods in Ohio in 2010 ranked fifth nationally and was 17 percent of the state’s gross domestic product. The 600,000 manufacturing workers comprise 10 percent of Ohio’s workforce with $33 billion in payroll, according to the OMA.

Ohio ranks first in several manufacturing product categories and second or third in many more, Augsburger reported. The state is the ninth-largest exporting state with $46 billion in products shipped to 216 countries.

Augsburger said that manufacturing locates where the “all in costs” — including labor, energy, equipment, environmental, financing, research and development, technology and transportation — are the lowest.

“Ohio is the heart of manufacturing in the U.S.,” said Gary Thompson, vice president of the RGP and director of JobsOhio in this region, who spoke at the update.

JobsOhio is a private nonprofit corporation, formerly part of the Ohio Department of Development. There are six regions for JobsOhio in the state with the Northwest Ohio region representing 17 counties. RGP is the local partner for JobsOhio in this region that is working to bring new business and jobs into Northwest Ohio, said Thompson.

JobsOhio focuses on manufacturing because that industry drives the state’s economy as the largest sector, with 21.2 percent. The state now looks for a return on investment for any incentives offered to companies for locating here under the administration of Gov. Kasich.

Thompson said JobsOhio uses the acronym HITS for Hire, Investments, Training, and Site as its criteria for working with prospective new business. It uses figures of $660,000 in payroll with a minimum of 10 employees and potential to grow by 20 percent for companies to qualify for job creations tax credit in Ohio.

“Manufacturing is part of the impressive economic community in Ohio and it’s important to come and stay together as a community to raise awareness and solve problems,” Augsburger said.

Augsburger is responsible for leading the OMA’s lobbying efforts at the statehouse in addition to spearheading the association’s member involvement in public affairs activities. He previously served as chief of policy and legislative affairs for the Ohio Department of Commerce and as personal aide to former secretary of state Bob Taft.

The OMA represents 1,500 manufacturing members in the state.

GJM is one of the largest accounting firms in the Toledo area and works with a variety of businesses in the manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, construction, government and not-for-profit industries. Heid is an active member of the tax committee for the OMA.

Heid is seeking local CFOs to participate in a CFO round table in Northwest Ohio. Contact Heid at cheid@gjmltd.com.

Ohio forms manufacturing task force

The creation of the 21st Century Manufacturing Task Force in Ohio was announced this week by Speaker of the House William Batchelder (R-Medina).

The task force is designed to facilitate discussion between Ohio’s manufacturing community, public policy makers and any interested parties regarding the state of manufacturing and what can be done to improve its competitiveness in the state.

The speaker tasked the group with identifying resources to assist manufacturing, impediments that curtail it, future challenges to it, trends and specific ways to address those trends. It could also facilitate new manufacturing opportunities based on the unique characteristics of each section of the state and ways for it to partner with higher education research and development.

Rep. Kirk Shuring (R-Canton), a longtime and strong supporter of manufacturing in Ohio, was chosen to lead the task force that will consist of five Republicans and four Democrats.

The task force will conduct five hearings around the state and must report its recommendations to the speaker no later than Dec. 31. The task force is expected to hold one of the hearings in Northwest Ohio.

The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association is working with Chairman Shuring on programming for the task force. For more information, contact Ryan Augsburger of the OMA at raugsburger@ohiomfg.com

Tags: Duane Ramsey, Gary Thompson, JobsOhio, Kirk Shuring, manufacturing, Manufacturing and Distribution Update, Mike Mulholland, Ohio Manufacturers’ Association, Regional Growth Partnership, Ryan Augsburger, William Batchelder

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2012 at 12:24 am and is filed under Community, Development, Employment, State of Ohio.
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JobsOhio and the Ohio Department of Development are working together to create economic development and new jobs in the state.

Officials from the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) and JobsOhio conducted a regional meeting in Northwest Ohio on Aug. 31 to discuss Ohio’s new economic development strategy.

The meeting, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Perrysburg, was one of six regional meetings the two state entities organized during the past two weeks. Officials outlined the role of the ODOD and its relationship with JobsOhio and its network partners that include the Regional Growth Partnership (RGP) in Northwest Ohio.

“We need to have sustainable economic development with a positive return on investment,” said Mark Kvamme, president and interim chief investment officer for JobsOhio.

From left, Christiane Schmenk, Mark Kvamme and Dean Monske at the Aug. 31 meeting.

To achieve that, “We need to create a business-friendly environment in Ohio. We’re focused on economic development, working with the Department of Development and governor’s office,” he said.

“The key is to deliver the results and we expect to start seeing results in 2012,” said Christiane Schmenk, director of the ODOD and chair of the Ohio Third Frontier Commission.

Kvamme and Schmenk agreed that a strong partnership between JobsOhio and the ODOD is required for successful economic development in Ohio. JobsOhio will operate as a private nonprofit corporation working on behalf of the State of Ohio.

JobsOhio will do the frontline economic development work but the ODOD will have oversight of the new private entity, Schmenk said.

“It pulls us all together to do what’s best for the state,” she said.

Since January, the ODOD has reduced about 500 positions to about 330 by attrition, retirement and the transfer of some jobs to JobsOhio.

Schmenk reported the DOD plans to change its name to Development Services Agency in 2012.

“JobsOhio already saved $50 million for the ODOD in 2011. We only have about 25 people on staff at present and would likely grow to about 50 by the end of this year,” Kvamme said.

Funds for JobsOhio come from profits from Ohio’s wholesale liquor business. Gov. John Kasich wants to dedicate those funds to help grow the private sector and create jobs.

The Ohio Third Frontier Commission announced funding awards Aug. 29 that included $14.8 million through the JobsOhio Network Program. RGP was awarded $2.18 million for one year of participation in that program.

Since JobsOhio formed in January, Kvamme said it has been instrumental in creating 2,500 new jobs and retaining another 7,300 jobs in Ohio that will result in more than $100 million in new payroll and additional revenue for the state. Kvamme said an announcement is forthcoming about 500 new jobs with the expansion of a distribution center in Northwest Ohio. He declined to share any additional information.

Northwest Ohio’s advantages include medical, manufacturing, solar and alternative energy and transportation with its access to the Great Lakes, Kvamme said.

JobsOhio will work with local economic development partners in the six regions. RGP will represent 19 counties in Northwest Ohio, seven more than it previously represented.

“RGP will have full access to the resources and staff at JobsOhio,” Kvamme said.

“We’ve never had that kind of relationship before,” said Dean Monske, president of RGP. “We will manage the process working with our partners in a larger region.”

RGP will work with the Northwest Ohio Regional Economic Development Association, which represents the 12 original counties in its jurisdiction and the West Central Ohio Network, which represents the seven southern counties in the new region.

Monske said RGP will operate with a smaller staff, recently reduced from 24 to seven when its Rocket Ventures fund became a joint venture with UT Enterprises Foundation. Rocket Ventures LLC staff relocated to UT’s alternative energy incubator.

Monske announced the hiring of Gary Thompson as director of JobsOhio for RGP. Thompson has served as executive director of the Oregon Economic Development Foundation since Monske left that position.

Monske also reported that RGP will hire two project managers to represent JobsOhio in Northwest Ohio and fill two administrative positions by the end of this year.

Tags: Christiane Schmenk, Dean Monske, JobsOhio, Mark Kvamme, Ohio Department of Development, Ohio Third Frontier Commission, Regional Growth Partnership, State of Ohio

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 1st, 2011 at 12:59 pm and is filed under Development, Toledo Business Link.
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So far, Gov. John Kasich seems to be a shoot-from-the-lip kind of guy. He often makes statements that don’t seem to have a very factual basis, but has rather an almost sanctimonious air that whatever pops into his brain at any given moment is sure to be the answer to all our problems. Of course, if pressed for details, he clams right up and moves on. This has been the modus operandi for his much vaunted JobsOhio program. The more that comes out on this program, the more it seems to be a scam to let Kasich’s financial buddies cut a fat hog in the derriere at the taxpayer’s expense.

The idea of privatizing economic development was sold to us as having great success in other states during the campaign. Florida in particular was held up as a shining example. The blog Plunderbund has reported extensively on what’s in play with this subject and the problems with this entire JobsOhio scam. The newly elected Republican governor of Florida, Rick Scott, recently announced that he was pretty much ending Florida’s experiment with public-private economic development and returning most of those responsibilities to a reinstituted Department of Commerce. This was done with the blessing of the bigger business players in Florida, many of whom led the fight in 1996 to disband the old Department of Commerce.

A Jan. 27 article in Bloomberg stated, “Business leaders Thursday were quick to applaud Gov. Rick Scott’s proposal for reviving Florida’s Commerce Department to streamline economic development efforts. Associated Industries of Florida president and CEO Barney Bishop said attracting new businesses and jobs requires a different approach than what Florida is doing now.”

This is the program that Kasich said was going to completely change the way we do business in Ohio to create jobs. So far, it has created a small number of extremely high-paying jobs for several well-placed cronies, but according to the GOP governor and business leaders in Florida, it is unlikely to do the job we need done in Ohio. Another thing to consider is that the top three states with these types of plans also lead in unemployment rates. I fail to see the upside here for the average Ohioan. Oh well, it’s a good plan if you’re a venture capitalist commuting to Ohio from California to run it.

When we look at the bill, HB1, it’s even scarier. We’re setting up a taxpayer funded state agency that the bill states specifically is not considered a state agency. Huh? Governor Transparency has set up a program that basically removes all oversight, accountability, openness about where the taxpayers’ money is being spent, and allows the employees to lobby while they work! They are not subject to audits by the state auditor, nor subject to state ethics laws. They are not subject to oversight or investigation by the inspector general. They are not considered to be state employees and are not subject to public records laws, including the governor when he is acting as the chair.

The only reports the public will get will be self-analyses of how they basically feel they’re doing. This is what passes for transparency with King John, evidently. I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Apparently, so do all the major newspaper editorial boards in Ohio, with the exception of The Columbus Dispatch (the newspaper equivalent of Fox News). The only good thing I see coming out of this is watching an interesting fight to see who gets the next Pulitzer Prize for reporting on Ohio corruption. This is going to make Coingate look like Amateur Hour. I can hardly wait for the letters and e-mails from all the self-professed libertarian money managers who write me to start rolling, in explaining how wonderful all this is going to be.

An interesting side note was provided by Mark Kvamme, the aforementioned commuting venture capitalist Kasich chose to lead JobsOhio. In an interview with Ann Fisher on WOSU in Columbus, Kvamme stated that what set Ohio apart was its central location and excellent transportation: “We have rivers, we have railroads.” When Fisher asked him how that squared with turning down $400 million for passenger rail, he said she’d have to take that up with the governor’s office. No mention of the fact that his home state of California got that money.

Another big thank you to the diligent team at Plunderbund for doing the job that the mainstream media is largely ignoring.

E-mail columnist Don Burnard at letters@toledofreepress.com

Tags: Don Burnard, Hot Corner, JobsOhio, John Kasich

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 12th, 2011 at 6:06 am and is filed under Opinion, The Hot Corner.
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Gov. John Kasich argued the state needs to take a new approach to business and showed support for Chinese investment in Toledo during a recent visit to the city.

At a joint session of the Toledo Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Toledo on Feb. 7, Kasich spoke bluntly about the problems facing business in the state, including many regulatory obstacles and high taxes.

The governor emphasized that he’d like to make it easier for individuals and companies to do business in the state in order for Ohio to compete with the rest of the country.

“These other states are eating our lunch,” Kasich said. “That’s why I am trying to create JobsOhio to be able to fight back. That’s why I want to balance the budget without taxes.”

JobsOhio is a nonprofit public-private partnership that will promote economic development and eventually phase out the state’s Department of Development. The administration would move all the effective economic programs in Ohio under JobsOhio and would pursue new businesses for the state.

Kasich said bureaucrats are often too slow and the state needs to operate at the “speed of business” to attract business.

JobsOhio would be comprised of a board of business professionals and it will be their job to attract business to Ohio, Kasich said.

“The most effective person to talk to a business person is a business person,” he said. “Business people talking to business people is who gets it done.”

Kasich said he hopes JobsOhio can eventually eliminate funding from the state and be solely from private funds.

Kasich said he’d like JobsOhio to be an organization that can “answer the bell” and work with the potential of a Coke plant or Jeep site.

House Bill 1, which addressed JobsOhio, was passed in the state House without Democrat support.

Democrat Representatives Matt Szollosi and Teresa Fedor both said they have concerns about the transparency of JobOhio, without which the organization is ripe for abuse.

“I have concerns about House Bill 1; for example why limit the inspector general’s authority to investigate wrongdoing and corruption with respect to this new entity? Why wouldn’t we require the state auditor to conduct an annual audit of JobsOhio so taxpayers know how their money is being spent?” Szollosi said. “I hope it works. I would love to see jobs created in the state, but jobs will be created with or without this bill.”

Republican Representative Barbara Sears said House Bill 1 just sets up the parameters of study for House Bill 1 and more will be added later dealing with transparency.

The Senate has the bill and if it passes the House will vote on changes.

In addition to the administration’s JobsOhio effort, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor is working on examining the regulatory laws to make sure they all make sense, Kasich said. He said Taylor is working with different chambers of commerce and the small business community to end the friction of getting business started.

“If you find yourself tripping over the anthills imposed by government on your way to the pyramids, you call or e-mail us,” Kasich said.

While taking questions from the audience, Kasich applauded Mayor Mike Bell’s efforts to sell city property to Chinese investors. Kasich said the mayor and the city should not let the “naysayers win.”

“If we can get significant foreign investment in Toledo … you have to be kidding me if we pass that opportunity up. That would be sinful, because there are a lot of people that would gain from it,” he said.

City Council passed the sale of The Docks property Feb. 8 and the city entered into a memorandum of understanding that morning for investment in the Marina District by the same Chinese investment group.

Kasich also spoke about the charter school movement and the possible privatization of the Ohio Turnpike. In addition, Kasich addressed the $8 million deficit facing the state.

The governor said he doesn’t shudder at the large deficit because it’s something the state has to deal with, without raising taxes.

“We can’t raise taxes to deal with [the deficit] … I don’t want the state to be in a worse competitive situation than we’re already in,” he said.

Tags: JobsOhio, John Kasich

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 10th, 2011 at 4:08 pm and is filed under Community, Development, Politics.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — As President Obama was in Downtown Columbus on Aug. 18 attending a Democratic fundraiser for Ohio Democrats like incumbent Gov. Ted Strickland, Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor, a Republican running for Lt. Governor along side ticket topper running mate John Kasich, engaged reporters in a short conference call in which she called Strickland an “incompetent administrator” and said JobsOhio, a new non-profit proposed by her campaign to replace the state’s existing development department, would help create the jobs she said Strickland has failed to do on his watch.

Read the full story here.

Tags: JobsOhio, Mary Taylor, State of Ohio, Ted Strickland

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 19th, 2010 at 6:20 am and is filed under Community, State of Ohio.
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