JobsOhio released its 2020 annual report on March 1, 2021. JobsOhio was incorporated as a private nonprofit company in 2011 and is now 10 years old. Its mission is to drive job creation and new capital investment in Ohio. JobsOhio works with a statewide network of partners to bring economic development across the state of Ohio. As the 21st largest economy in the world, and the seventh largest in the United States, Ohio has a strong and vibrant business climate with a diverse workforce in a variety of industry sectors. JobsOhio breaks those industry sectors into ten industry targets. It added the tenth – Military & Federal – to highlight the military installations already here and to bring focus to issues impacting veterans living and working in Ohio and to showcase Ohio as the best state for military and federal missions.
In 2020, JobsOhio saw a total of 307 projects, and if all are realized to their potential, Ohio will see an increase of 19,021 new jobs. The 307 projects will also bring $7.8 billion in capital investment to Ohio and a new payroll of $1 billion. This new investment was spread between all ten industry sectors. The top three categories for new investment in 2020 was automotive, information services and software and food sciences and agriculture.
While managing this busy portfolio of new and expanding business projects, the JobsOhio team also worked to assist Ohio communities and the business community during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. To assist with economic recovery during the pandemic, JobsOhio started ten new economic development programs or initiatives making $250 million available through those ten programs. And another $250 million was spent to procure 50 million units of PPE. This COVID-19 response assisted 15,000 business and impacted 300,000 jobs.
Finally, this year saw the announcement of three innovation districts. First announced was a district in Cincinnati which will focus on pediatric cancer. Later in 2020, the Cleveland innovation district was announced, and it will focus on viral disease including the study of pandemics. The third district is located in Columbus, and it will focus on gene and cell therapies. These districts will draw life science and medical technology businesses to the state of Ohio.
The Ohio Chamber of Commerce stands ready to partner with JobsOhio and its statewide network of regional partners as they work to fulfill their goals and keep Ohio’s business climate vibrant. If you need more information about the annual report or the strategic goals of JobsOhio, please feel free to contact me.