YOUNGSTOWN Governor Taft praises Turning Technologies company

Ohio needs to nurture small businesses, the governor said.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Gov. Bob Taft touted Turning Technologies, a Youngstown company, as a business that will help the state advance its economy.
"We are fighting for our economic survival," Taft said Thursday at the software developer company based in the Youngstown Business Incubator. "Ohio is competing in a brutally competitive world economy and that's why I am focused on spending every day doing all I can to help create jobs for Ohioans."
Turning Technologies announced last week that Thomson Higher Education will use software created by the Youngstown company to allow college students to communicate immediately with professors during lessons using computer technology. Thomson has annual revenues of $7.5 billion from selling books, software and Internet-based materials.
Support for entrepreneurs
Taft said that in addition to providing incentives for larger companies, it is important for the state to also provide assistance to smaller companies, particularly those in cutting-edge industries such as information technology.
Among Taft's proposals announced during last week's State of the State address are: extending enterprise zone programs and job-creation tax credits, investing in training the state's work force by doubling the funding it provides to job-training programs, enacting tax reform to lower tax rates and broaden the tax base, and passing tort reform legislation and workers' compensation reform.
"Small businesses, especially, are threatened by frivolous lawsuits," Taft said. "It can put small companies out of business."
Taft said he and the state Legislature, which has been at odds with the governor in recent years, are on the same page when it comes to economic development.
"It is our No. 1 priority," he said. "They've done everything we've asked."
The state has lost more than 100,000 manufacturing jobs in the last three years, Taft said.
"But we have 850,000 good manufacturing jobs, and we'll do what we can to keep them," he said. "Will there be more jobs? Not necessarily. Companies are getting more productive, but we are staying competitive."
Defense of Marriage Act
The governor was asked about last week's signing the Defense of Marriage Act, which determines that a valid marriage in the state is between a man and a woman only. Taft said he signed the bill because of a Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that recognizes the legality of same-sex marriages.
"It allows us to defend ourselves from an attack from other states," he said. "It has to do with defending our marriage law."
skolnick@vindy.com