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3Q report highlights economic development in NE Ohio
YOUNGSTOWN
Economic development efforts spurred new projects, job growth and investment in Northeast Ohio’s economy, according to a report released by Team NEO, a regional and private-sector organization.
Based in Cleveland, Team NEO highlighted the attraction and expansion of 16 projects that led to the creation of 3,521 jobs, $260 mil- lion in total payroll and $289 million in capital investment for the third quarter of 2014.
“[The region] is working to continue to see a gradual recovery,” said Tom Waltermire, CEO of Team NEO.
The report for the second quarter of 2014 highlighted 20 expansion projects, 5,667 jobs, $377 million in payroll and $214 million in capital investment. However, Jenny Febbo, vice president of marketing and communications for Team Neo, said there’s not much value in the comparison of the two quarters since the reports depend on companies’ decisions.
“We’re not the generators of these projects,” she said.
It’s also why the organization does not set year-end goals, Waltermire said.
However, “reasonable comparisons” can be made between 2014 and 2013 based on a year-to-date period, he added.
For the first nine months of 2014, there were 63 projects compared with 79 projects of the same period in 2013. However, jobs increased to 14,002, on a year-to-date basis, from 12,654 in the first three quarters of 2013. The total payroll for the first three quarters of 2014 was $875 million compared with $530 million last year. Additionally, capital investment increased to $1.2 billion, year-to-date for 2014, from $729 million in 2013.
On the other hand, Febbo said it’s too soon to make conclusions about the region’s progress based on the comparisons. That’s because it’s only the organization’s third year conducting the reports and that it’s still in the learning phase.
“Tracking this data is relatively new,” she said. “We don’t know what a normal year is.”
Aside from the data, the Mahoning Valley received the spotlight with the arrival of Matalco Inc., an aluminum-billet manufacturer, in Trumbull County that would create 60 jobs.
“There’s a clear sense of momentum,” Waltermire said, attributing the shale-gas industry and the entrepreneurial drive from the Youngstown Business Incubator as significant components.
But it’s not just about the Valley.
“We’re dedicated to the idea that these economies are not local,” he said. “We present our information as a region.”
Additionally, the report’s purpose is to communicate the Northeast Ohio region’s economic progress internally, Febbo said, adding that it’s a reliable snapshot.
Team NEO was founded in 2003 by the First Energy Corp., the Greater Akron Chamber, the Stark Development Board, the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber and the Greater Cleveland Partnership. Representing 18 counties in Ohio, it became one of the six regional partners of JobsOhio, the nonprofit created by Gov. John Kasich, in 2011.
Guy C. Coviello, the Youngstown/Warren chamber’s vice president of government affairs and media for the YWRC, said it was encouraging to see the Mahoning Valley contributing to the region’s economic progress.