Spending to create Ohio jobs is smart — and necessary

Spending to create Ohio jobs is smart — and necessary

To those who like to say that government should be more like business, we respond with one of the basic truisms of business: You have to spend money to make money.

And on that count, Gov. Ted Strickland’s Building Ohio Jobs proposal that he unveiled in Wednesday’s State of the State address is just smart business.

What Strickland laid out was a $1.7 billion program that would be funded by bonds that will fall well below the state’s indebtedness ceiling. The proceeds of those bonds would provide for both traditional government investment in infrastructure — $400 million in state money that could be combined with federal and local funds to finance more than $1 billion in roads, bridges, water and sewer projects — and for investments that would spur the development of the industries of tomorrow.

There would be $250 million to promote advanced and renewable energy products and technologies; $100 million in bioproducts that would use corn and potatoes to produce plastics without petroleum, and $200 million in the biomedical industry.

There would also be $150 million to improve the state’s network of roads, rails and ports to support the logistics and distribution industry. Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties would provide a particularly good target for these kinds of investments. And there would be $200 million for urban redevelopment and $400 million for cleanups of abandoned factory sites.

Close to home

From a provincial standpoint, we in the Mahoning Valley should be especially excited about the ways in which these various funding sources could be utilized to help the Valley. And, certainly, as one of the areas of the state that has chronic economic redevelopment problems — and as an area that is likely to be hardest hit in an economic recession — the Mahoning Valley would be a prime candidate for a healthy share of the Building Ohio Jobs money.

But Strickland’s plan is important not just to regions such as ours, but to the entire state.

Strickland’s predecessor, Bob Taft, championed the Third Frontier program, which provided a start for high technology investment in the state. The Youngstown area benefited directly from that with the construction of the Taft Technology Center that is being built adjacent to the highly successful Youngstown Business Incubator.

But more needs to be done, and sooner rather than later.

Some Republicans gave the governor’s proposal a tepid response. But they should remember that the Third Frontier received bipartisan support, and Building Ohio Jobs should now receive no less.

The Ohio economy is fragile, as are those of many states, especially in the old industrial areas of the nation.

The roads and bridges we drive over now were built through the wisdom and sacrifice of earlier generations. But they are outdated and wearing out. Ohio must compete with other states in infrastructure and in offering support to the next generation of high tech industries in medicine, energy, plastics and software.

Gov. Strickland’s proposal is not a guarantee of future prosperity. But it offers a chance. Without such investment, without recruiting and nurturing the industries of tomorrow, Ohio’s future will surely be bleak.