Ohio officials may close overseas trade offices

COLUMBUS (AP) — The head of the Ohio’s development agency says the state may end its ties with trade offices overseas as the department prepares to hand over job-creation duties to the new JobsOhio entity.

JobsOhio is a semi-private, nonprofit corporation created by the governor to lead the state’s economic development efforts.

Director Christiane Schmenk says in preparation for the transfer of duties to JobsOhio, the department is reducing the size of its global markets division.

The division has ties with international offices in Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Chile, Brazil, Israel, South Africa, Southeast Asia, China, Japan and India. Each office is under evaluation.

The Columbus Dispatch first reported the division’s restructuring.