2011 was a good year in Ohio for attracting new development

Once again, Site Selection mag- azine has found that Ohio is a good pace to do business.

Gov. John Kasich has every right to be proud of the Governor’s Cup awarded by the magazine to Ohio as the top performer among the 50 states in attracting capital-investment projects.

In 2011, Kasich’s first year in office, Ohio reported 498 new or expanded operations, ahead of runner-up Texas, which had 464, according to the magazine.

In noting that Ohio had reclaimed the Governor’s Cup from rival Texas, the magazine reported that 2011 was a good year for many states. Ohio registered a 30 percent jump in the number of projects over a year earlier, and it was not alone in making impressive gains.

Site Selection suggested that the increasing level of activity reflected an interest on the part of capital investors to pursue expansion plans. In some cases, the projects represented a move of operations back to the United States as increased productivity and comparatively lower costs made domestic operations more attractive.

Here’s what counts

In compiling its figures, Site Selection tallies capital investment projects that meet one or more of three criteria: a minimum investment of $1 million, creation of 50 or more new jobs and new facility construction or floor space of at least 20,000 square feet.

Of Ohio’s 498 projects, 83 involved new manufacturing plants, 200 were expansions of existing plants, and 215 involved new or expanded offices, distribution centers, research and development facilities, or mixed-use operations, according to Conway Data’s New Plant Database, which collected information for the magazine, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

Texas finished second this time around with 464 projects, followed by Pennsylvania, 453; North Carolina, 310, and Virginia, 273.

The magazine credited Gov. John Kasich’s efforts to make the state more business friendly, along with Ohio’s prime location in the Midwest, with attracting projects.

Mark Kvamme, whom Kasich appointed to head JobsOhio, told Site Selection: “Jobs are the number one priority of the new governor. We were the number one job creator in the Midwest in 2011 and number nine in the United States. In 2010, we were 47th in job creation in the United States. The governor built the Cabinet and development group that was solely focused on job creation — that was the main factor.”

Ohio’s record of success

It should be noted, however, that Ohio has traditionally fared well in the Site Selection competition over the last decade. Former Gov. Ted Strickland won the honor three times and Gov. Bob Taft won it twice.

Those successes did not translate into the hundreds of thousands of jobs that are necessary for a state of this size to weather a severe national recession. But they have combined to put Ohio in an encouraging position to emerge from the recession in a stronger position than those states that have not been as successful in attracting new investment.