Wednesday, December 10, 2014CHICAGO -- The American Economic Development Institute ranks JobsOhio, a private agency that oversees development initiatives for the state, as one of the top-10 economic development organizations for 2014, placing it seventh in its rankings.
The institute is a privately funded public policy and research organization that describes itself as nonpartisan. In announcing its rankings, the first for the organization, AEDI lauded JobsOhio's “distinctive approach to economic development, which it said sets the organization apart from those in other states.”
"Creativity is the hallmark of Ohio's JobsOhio program, which is unlike any other economic development model in the country,” said Ron Pollina, chairman of the American Economic Development Institute and president of Pollina Corporate Real Estate Inc. “Key to JobsOhio's success is its board of directors made up of leaders of some of America's most successful corporations, education facilities, and medical research organizations," he continued.
Pollina drew attention to JobsOhio’s dedicated funding stream from liquor profits and its network of regional economic development partners. “This six-region network provides the necessary connectivity to achieve a 'One Firm, One State' collaborative approach to selling Ohio,” he said. “Other states would do well to emulate Ohio's success with this very creative approach to economic development."
Missouri is No. 1 in the institute’s rankings, followed by Virginia, South Carolina, Nebraska, Kansas, Louisiana, Ohio, Alabama, Mississippi and Utah.
The results are based in large part on what the institute’s calls its “corporate top 10 pro-business states, which examines 32 factors relative to state efforts to be pro-business.” Among these factors are taxes, human resources, Right-to-Work legislation, regulation, energy costs, infrastructure spending, worker compensation legislation, and jobs lost or gained. Other factors include an analysis of how each state is marketed to employers, efforts for attracting new business and assisting existing employers to grow, and state incentive programs.
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Source: American Economic Development Institute
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