Ohio scores with new plants
'Site Selection' ranks state No. 1 for landing projects, expansions
Thursday, March 6, 2008 3:22 AM
By Paul Wilson
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Top ranking
Ohio ranked first last year in the number of new plants and expansions, according to Site Selection magazine. It was the second consecutive year Ohio placed first in the annual report, which does not factor in jobs in its rating. The top 10 states and number of new plants and expansions:1. Ohio, 399
2. Illinois, 362
3. Tennessee, 293
4. North Carolina, 291
5. Texas, 281
6. New York, 244
7. Michigan, 210
8. Virginia, 207
9. Florida, 203
10. Kentucky, 197
For the second year running, Ohio has been ranked tops in the nation by Site Selection magazine for landing industrial and corporate operations and expansions.
Ohio was home to 399 new plants or expansions last year, about 40 more than second-place Illinois. Areas of strength in Ohio included Cincinnati-Middletown, Akron and Dayton.
It was the third time in five years that Ohio placed first in the report, and Gov. Ted Strickland and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher said yesterday that Ohioans should see the benefits in the years to come.
"We have confidence that Ohio is back and is back to stay," said Fisher, who also leads the state Department of Development.
Site Selection tracks only corporate projects, excluding retail, government, school and hospital activity. The projects counted also must involve investments of $1 million or more, must create 50 jobs or involve an addition of at least 20,000 square feet.
While Ohio's ranking sounds good, particularly in the context of current economic woes, experts say it is an economic indicator that should be viewed with other data, such as annual job figures, which are not factored into the ranking.
This year, a group of officials sought to address those concerns and released figures that show 21,000 jobs were created from the expansions and new plants in 2007, compared with 15,400 jobs lost because of layoffs and plant closings.
"We just don't hear or read about the plants that are expanding," said J.C. Wallace, executive director of the Ohio Economic Development Association. "And if you look at our output, we continue to improve on gross state product. That's why we're seeing such expansion."
Wallace said the job-loss data come from notices that employers file with the state under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act. The act requires employers to give notice if they close a plant or cut at least 50 jobs.
That means smaller job gains or cuts were not counted, but Wallace said his group's methodology is "as close to apples and apples as we can get."
Job totals in Ohio in recent years have been on the decline, especially in manufacturing. Last year, despite the jobs created by the projects cited in Site Selection , the state lost nearly 24,000 jobs, including nearly 14,000 in manufacturing, said George Zeller, an economic research analyst in Cleveland.
"If we're gaining operations at a robust pace, that's good," he said. "But that doesn't mean we gained jobs. We lost jobs at a time when the country was gaining a large number of jobs in 2007."
Ohio has lagged the nation in jobs created for more than a decade, Zeller said.
Wallace's data and Site Selection's report don't show job declines in the retail sector, which had heavy losses last year, particularly in central Ohio, Zeller said, pointing to the empty stores along Brice Road as an example.
Ohio's total of new plants and expansions fell slightly in 2007 compared with 2006. Strickland attributed the drop to a slowing U.S. economy.
The state had about four times as many new plants and expansions last year as closings and downsizings, Wallace said.
Zeller agreed with Strickland and Fisher that the Site Selection news bodes well for the future. But Ohio's economy is still struggling, he said.
"We want to encourage the state to track new firms," he said. "We don't want to badmouth this Site Selection list. But we don't want to say from this list that everything is fine and no one is suffering. That's just wrong."
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Copyright © 2008, The Columbus Dispatch
_______________________________________________ Swlfest mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swlfest
To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], or visit the URL shown above. For more information on the Fest, visit: http://www.swlfest.com http://swlfest.blogspot.com
