American Greetings, Diebold choose to remain in Ohio

By Marc Kovac | April 14, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS

Gov. John Kasich said retaining big companies like American Greetings in Cleveland and Diebold in the Akron-Canton area will provide jobs for Ohioans — and help make the state “cool.”

“We want the Midwest to be a place where people say, ‘Really cool,’” Kasich told Statehouse reporters Wednesday. “That’s part of what we have to accomplish here. It’s not just the numbers. It’s not just the atmosphere. We’ve got to make Ohio cool.”

Kasich made the comments during a press conference at the Statehouse, in response to a question about accomplishments during his first 100 days in office and his plans moving forward.

The governor has a growing list of accomplishments since taking office in January, establishing a new JobsOhio nonprofit to head the state’s economic development efforts, a Common Sense Initiative for reviewing regulations affecting small businesses and a handful of company-expansion plans secured through state incentives.

The latter includes American Greetings and Diebold, two companies that were considering new digs in other states before Kasich and his administration stepped forward with packages to keep them in Ohio.

“We’ve done a lot, and we just have to keep going,” Kasich said. “We have a long way to go because, look, we’ve lost 600,000 jobs in the last 10 years. We’ve got to get moving. ... We’re not going to slow down. Are you kidding? We haven’t even hit third gear yet.”

Kasich said he also wants to make Ohio a “cool” place for young people, who may be more prone to seek out careers on the East or West coasts or in Texas.

“You ever been to Austin?” the governor asked. “It’s very cool. You want to go to the Triangle down in North Carolina? Go down there and check it out. It’s cool, OK. We need to make Ohio cool.”