OHIO Official: Unity is key for jobs

The desired high-tech jobs, he said, pay an average of $51,000 to $85,000 a year.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
ROOTSTOWN -- Communities must work together if a $1.6 billion economic initiative aimed at bringing high-tech, high-wage jobs to Ohio will work, a top state official says.
"I think there's nothing more important for development than for economic development groups to come together for the greater good to get things done," Bruce Johnson, director of the Ohio Department of Development, told a group of Northeast Ohio economic development professionals.
"Political boundaries aren't something that is going to make something happen," he said. "One of the worst things we can do is start to bring it down into regional economics again and say, 'What's in it for Canton, Ohio, or Akron, Ohio?'"
The state instead must work as one to compete against cities such as Detroit, Tokyo and Beijing, he explained.
Johnson discussed Gov. Bob Taft's 10-year "Third Frontier Project" during the meeting of the Northeast Ohio Trade & amp; Economic Consortium and the Portage County Chambers of Commerce, at the Northeast Ohio Universities College of Medicine.
Johnson said Ohio would have a "quantum advantage" over an area like Research Triangle in North Carolina if areas combined their industry, government and educational assets and marketing powers to re-create a pioneering entrepreneurial spirit.
Focus of program
The governor's project targets advanced materials, biomedicine, power and propulsion, information technology and instruments, controls and electronics.
The plan encourages product development and new businesses in these areas, Johnson said. It would combine new funds with current grant, loan and tax credit programs to attract businesses with high-tech jobs and high wages.
Such jobs, he said, pay an average of $51,000 to $85,000 per year.
The "most important" factor, Johnson said, is work force development, which will be targeted by a work force office within his department.
Mahoning County Commissioner Edward Reese, who attended the meeting, said he was optimistic about the plan and that Youngstown State University could help train workers locally.
"I've always thought our work force was second to none. It seems we'd want to market it more," he said. "It's something we have to build on. We can start with investing [in the work force] and specialize down the road."
Also at the meeting was Columbiana County Commissioner Jim Hoppel, who said the county has been working to attract high-speed communications companies.
He, too, said the Mahoning Valley has an excellent work force, but training would be crucial for high-tech positions.
Efforts elsewhere
Johnson pointed to areas where the state has already shown a commitment to economic development, including an incentive package that provided a $20 million business development grant and $4.5 million in training funds to the General Motors assembly plant in Lordstown, helping to preserve more than 2,500 jobs.
He also spoke of Delphi Packard Electric System's $58.5 million plastic injection molding facility being constructed in Vienna. The plant received $5.45 million in state loans and grants and will employ about 200.
Other focuses in Taft's Third Frontier plan include:
U New product development and creating longevity for those products.
U Creating connectivity in the computer age through a broadband initiative.
U Expansion of fuel-cell research and employee training, turning that into a $40 billion industry between 2010 and 2020.
XStaff writer Ian Hill contributed to this report.