MANSFIELD – Collaboration is key when it comes to economic development, hence Richland County’s Economic Club inviting two organizations to speak on moving the region’s economy forward together.
Representatives from both JobsOhio and Team NEO spoke to the Economic Club on Monday afternoon. JobsOhio is a private company that drives job creation and new capital investment in Ohio through business attraction, retention and expansion efforts. Team NEO is an economic development organization focused on creating jobs for northeast Ohio.
“This is a bottom up, top down approach that starts in this room,” said Dana Saucier, managing director at JobsOhio. “It’s a big state and it’s hard to keep on top of what’s going on, that’s why as an economic development team it’s really important for Richland County, Team NEO and other regional partners to have very close relationships at the local level.”
JobsOhio was first created in 2011, back when Ohio was ranked 47th in economic growth and was the second highest in job loss for the nation. Now, according to Saucier, Chief Executive magazine ranked Ohio 10th in economic development in 2016; Forbes ranked Ohio 11th, and Site Selection magazine ranked Ohio third.
“Five years in we feel like we’re good and effective, but how do we make this thing great at an even higher level?” Saucier said.
One way to bring Richland County to the next level is through SiteOhio, a program started by JobsOhio in 2016 designed to identify the most competitive sites available to companies who are considering bringing their industries to the area. Steve Fritsch, director of network engagement for Team NEO, said Richland County was already leading the way.
“We’ve had 464 sites submitted for consideration, of those 23 met the criteria, and the first one to get certified in northeastern Ohio was right here in Richland County,” Fritsch said.
“This particular certification project is now considered a best practice for other communities to consider, not only in identifying sites but the experience that they provide to the customer that comes to look at the sites, and that is critical.”
Team NEO partners with JobsOhio to help raise awareness and coordinate a regional economic competitiveness strategy for northeastern Ohio, including Richland County. Fritsch emphasized the importance of including local partners to collaborate towards improved results.
“That’s what we’re trying to focus on now, we’re trying to do things with partners, not next to partners,” he said. “We don’t want to duplicate efforts; there are finite resources out there in order to support our efforts, so if we can do things more collaboratively and more effectively.”
Both Team NEO and JobsOhio identified key industry sectors they believe Richland County has the potential to grow: advanced manufacturing, aerospace and aviation, automotive, biohealth, information technology, shale energy and petrochemicals, financial services, food process, and distribution and logistics.
For both Fritsch and Saucier, that means continuing to help companies realize their full potential in Ohio and Richland County.
“We felt it was important that we be a one-stop shop so we can put together a fully-integrated offering,” Saucier said. “I’ve seen times where a company comes in and we’re able within a week to put together a pretty healthy offering of exactly what they’re trying to accomplish.”
“We identify what companies want, and what we believe we can provide,” Fritsch said. “We continue to put together tools that economic development partners can leverage in order to show companies that there is good opportunity to grow here, and this is a competitive place to grow.”
