Welcome to the Business Journal Archives
Search for articles below, or continue to the all new BusinessJournalDaily.com now.
Search
Industry in Eastern Ohio Optimistic about Next 3 Years
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Over the next three years, a survey of 153 industrial businesses in 10 eastern Ohio counties shows, the companies expect increasing revenues, profits and their customer base, and hire more employees.The newly released survey was conducted by the Eastern Ohio Development Alliance in conjunction with Ohio Business Retention & Expansion Initiative. The initiative is sponsored jointly by The Ohio State University Extension and its Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics.Columbiana and Belmont were among the 10 counties in the study.Nearly all of the industrial businesses, 93%, plan to modernize or expand their business, the survey found, the top three types of expansion being manufacturing/production space (31%), office space (17%) and warehouse space (12%).Twenty-four businesses are considering opening another facility, 25 are considering moving, closing or selling for want of land to expand (28%), overcrowding at their present addresses (28%) or transportation problems (12%).Respondents were most satisfied with the fire and police protection and hotels near them, least satisfied with air service, public transportation and street repairs. Regarding infrastructure, respondents rated highest their natural gas services, roads, highways and freeways, and electrical services. They rated lowest water and sewers, telecom services and high-speed Internet access. The goals of the study were helping the participating counties:Develop and improve relations with existing businesses.Create and maintain an information data base for community planning.Develop and deliver programs to address business needs.Increase and retain jobs.The overwhelming majority of the companies returning surveys, 84%, have been in business in the counties where they are based 10 or more years, 61% are incorporated and 79% own their own property.Companies ranged from small (10 or fewer employees) to large (250 and more), with 18% serving Eastern U.S. markets, 38% national markets and 14% international markets.Nine of 10 respondents said they would recommend to another business that it locate in the central eastern Ohio, 65% rating it an "excellent" or "good" place to do business. Commented Tracy Drake, chief executive officer of Columbiana County Port Authority, "I found it particularly encouraging that 54% of the surveyed companies said they expect to add new employees in the near future and that 90% said they would recommend another business locate in their county."Other findings:The three highest costs of doing business are health-care insurance, workers' compensation and inventory taxes. The lowest relative costs is rent.The regional work force was rated good (39%) to average (41%) and the general labor force was accorded slightly higher marks than management and administrative staff.The top three training needs:Programs that teach employees relevant computer skills, listed by 15%.Managerial skills, listed by 13%.General skills, listed by 13%.Top three recruiting challenges:Finding and hiring employees with precision production/specialty skills, listed by 22%.Professionals and managers, listed by 22%.General production labor, listed by 19%."