NE Ohio ranks high in number of people at headquarters

By Don Shilling

The Mahoning Valley has nearly 3,300 people employed at corporate headquarters.

Northeast Ohio is among the nation’s leaders in corporate headquarters when the region’s size is considered.

Team NEO, a regional economic development agency, said today that the region ranks fourth nationally in its share of employment that is at corporate headquarters.

The finding was part of Team NEO’s quarterly report on the health of the regional economy. Each report includes a detailed look at one segment of the economy.

Tom Waltermire, chief executive of Team NEO, said the 16-county region has about 40,000 workers employed at corporate headquarters. This ranks 11th out of the nation’s 20 largest metropolitan areas, and places Northeast Ohio ahead of areas such as Atlanta, Phoenix and Houston.

Waltermire said the ranking is impressive because the size of the region’s economy ranks about 15th.

When total employment is considered, however, Northeast Ohio fares even better. The region’s employment at corporate headquarters, when compared with total employment, is 60 percent higher than the national average.

The top five in this ranking are St. Louis, New York, San Francisco, Northeast Ohio and Detroit.

Waltermire said he uses Northeast Ohio’s extensive network of corporate headquarters when he meets with companies that are considering moving here. Companies prefer to be in an area where there is an infrastructure of support and talent, he said.

The figures are taken from U.S. Census Bureau data. The data covers all locations that serve as the main administrative headquarters for an operation. Waltermire said, however, that some headquarters probably are missed if they are connected to a manufacturing operation because the Census records the location as either a headquarters or a manufacturing plant but not both.

The Census listed the Youngstown-Warren metropolitan area as having 3,290 headquarters employees.

The Team NEO report also includes an update on employment in Northeast Ohio. The region’s employment in the third quarter of 2008 was flat when compared with the second quarter at just under 2.03 million, when normally the third quarter sees an increase. Third-quarter employment in 2006 and 2007 exceeded 2.04 million.

The report also noted that Moody’s Economy.com is projecting the gross regional product for Northeast Ohio will grow by 0.4 percent in 2008. Final figures are not available yet. The GRP is the total value of goods and services produced.

Waltermire said that the growth is small but that some growth would be welcome news in a recession.