Chief outlines JobsOhio plan

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Ohio’s new economic development chief told state lawmakers Monday that Gov. John Kasich’s new private-job-creation board of business leaders would make key information public while protecting the privacy of businesses interested in creating jobs.

In the first hearing on the fast-tracked bill creating the nine-member Jobs- Ohio panel, Development Director Mark Kvamme told House members that salaries and bonuses of staff members will be publicized and panel members will be required to comply with a conflict of interest policy and file financial disclosure statements.

However, a bill creating the panel intended to eventually replace the Ohio Department of Development calls for the new entity to do much of its work in private.

Certain JobsOhio records would be exempt from disclosure under Ohio public-records law, most gatherings would be behind closed doors, and neither the state auditor nor the Inspector General would have authority to investigate the private side of the panel’s activities.

Kvamme, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist serving a short-term stint in his job for a salary of $1, told legislators that Ohio must become more nimble in attracting jobs, and that includes giving its development arm the tools to act more like a business. The state has lost about 400,000 jobs during the past four years.

Kvamme said he envisions JobsOhio eventually becoming financially self-sustaining by buying equity in promising companies so that taxpayers can reap the benefits when businesses succeed. He said right now, through its development grants, Ohio is assuming the risk for those ventures and none of the reward.

Some legislators from both parties questioned the wisdom of the approach.

“The upside is you, as a nonprofit corporation, get to play with Monopoly money,” said state Rep. Ron Gerberry of Austintown, ranking Democrat on the House State Government Committee. “Only it’s not Monopoly money. It’s real money, taxpayer money.”

Kvamme said the Kasich administration intends for JobsOhio to be transparent while still protecting enough information on negotiations to build trust in the business community.

The bill calls for JobsOhio to be audited annually by an independent, certified public accountant. Republican State Auditor David Yost would have authority to audit all public funds handled by the panel.