< Previous8 OHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE ithin the span of just a few weeks this spring, three things happened to confirm that Ohio’s business climate is firing on all cylinders: •First, Cintas announced that it would invest $10 million to expand its headquarters in Cincinnati, where it will add 125 jobs. •Second, Ohio was recognized by Site Selection magazine as the No. 3 state in the nation for total corporate facility investment projects for calendar year 2023. •Third, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it would award $8.5 billion in CHIPS Act funds to Intel to support the semiconductor company’s $100 billion fab building spree across the country. The award includes $50 million in worker training in Central Ohio, where Intel will build a $28 billion chip factory in New Albany near Columbus. For Gov. Mike DeWine and the economic development corporation known as JobsOhio, events like these are what they designed the unique public-private partnership between state government and JobsOhio to do. JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef talked about this on March 20 when he commented on the historic CHIPS Act award to Ohio for the Intel fab complex in Licking County: “In 2021, Intel started working with JobsOhio to find a site for its first greenfield investment in new semiconductor manufacturing on American soil in 40 years,” Nauseef said. “Since then, Team Ohio has walked alongside Intel to build this opportunity for America, providing everything Intel could BUSINESS CLIMATE OVERVIEW by RON STARNER W HOW OHIO BUILT A BETTER BUSINESS CLIMATE Intel campus under construction in New Albany, Ohio. Upon buildout, this Licking County semiconductor manufacturing complex will total more than $20 billion in capital investment, span nearly 1,000 acres and employ more than 3,000 full- time workers. Photos courtesy of Intel OhioOHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE 9 expect in a partnership and more. Megaprojects legislation in 2021, the DeWine-Husted administration’s leadership, alignment with Ohio’s Legislature, and support from Ohio’s bipartisan delegation to pass the CHIPS Act to ensure federal funding for construction are all examples of collaboration to move the project forward.” He added that, “With today’s announcement of CHIPS funding for Intel and Ohio One, the U.S. has come on board to show the world that Ohio is leading the way to bolster the semiconductor industry’s return to being made in the USA for the betterment of our nation’s economic prosperity and defense.” For Gov. DeWine, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and Nauseef, landing game- changing projects like Intel and Cintas are the latest evidence that the Buckeye State’s approach to economic development works. Rankings Tell the Story For example, just last fall, Site Selection magazine ranked Ohio No. 1 in the nation in the publication’s annual Global Groundwork Index, a ranking that refl ects how well each state performs in total infrastructure investment. Columbus and Cincinnati each earned top 5 metro rankings in this national index too. Meanwhile, Area Development magazine named Ohio a top 5 state in its annual Top States for Doing Business ranking, and Site Selection named Ohio No. 3 in its annual Governor’s Cup ranking of states based on corporate project performance. Ohio is no stranger to strong fi nishes in the Governor’s Cup race. In the mid-1990s, the Buckeye State claimed the No. 1 spot fi ve years in a row. Over the last decade, Ohio has consistently placed second or third. Even more remarkable is how Ohio accomplishes this. Unlike other states, which may have one or two major markets that draw corporate investment, Ohio garners capital expenditures from fi rms to cities large and small in every corner of the state. Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton and Toledo consistently rank among the top-performing metro areas in the country in total project performance. But did you know that Ohio’s hidden strength lies in its many small towns, or what the U.S. Census Bureau calls micropolitan areas? These are towns of less than 50,000 people located outside of the urban metropolitan areas. In many ways, these smaller communities are Ohio’s biggest assets. Ohio had 16 small towns make Site Selection’s list of the top 100 performing micros in the U.S. — the most of any state in the nation. Ohio also boasts the No. 1 micropolitan area in the country, “ The investments the DeWine- Husted administration has made in the success of businesses are creating neighborhoods where dreams fl ourish and new Ohioans, and longtime Buckeyes alike, can fi nd the perfect place to call home. ” — Lydia Mihalik, Director, Ohio Department of Development Ohio fi nished No. 3 in the nation in total economic development projects in 2023. Source: Site Selection Magazine10 OHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE Photo courtesy of Intel Ohio Findlay in Hancock County, about 45 minutes south of Toledo. For Findlay, the win bookends a decade of dominance, as it was the community’s 10th consecutive first- place finish. The streak began under Lydia Mihalik while she served as Findlay’s mayor. Today, she is the Director of the Ohio Department of Development. “The Site Selection magazine rankings are a tremendous accomplishment for our state and local communities that earned these accolades,” she said. “The investments the DeWine- Husted administration has made in the success of businesses are creating neighborhoods where dreams flourish and new Ohioans, and longtime Buckeyes alike, can find the perfect place to call home. I am proud that Ohio can boast being home to five of the top 10 micros in the nation, including my hometown Findlay celebrating its 10th straight year as the No. 1 micro.” Companies Find Many Assets in Ohio Ohio recorded a robust 2023 because it was able to convince companies large and small to invest in it. From Amazon and Wells Fargo to Google and Joby Aviation, these firms wagered big bets on Ohio as the place to grow and flourish. They did so because the state works hard to build a better business climate. This includes offering a simplified tax structure; diversified industrial base; robust supply chain; central U.S. location; multimodal transportation and logistics infrastructure; innovative technology; and R&D hubs that are tailor-made for growing products and services. That is how Ohio built the seventh-largest economy in America and 21st-largest in the world. And it is also how Ohio plans to dominate the next decade just like it did the last. iddletown is appropriately named because it is halfway between Cincinnati and Dayton on Interstate 75 in southwest Ohio, but there is nothing mid-level about its performance as a business destination. This city of 51,427 people in Butler and Warren counties earns its stripes as an industrial powerhouse in multiple sectors. “Steel, paper and chemicals are our three big industries,” says Lisha Morlan, assistant economic development director for the City of Middletown. “Cleveland-Cliff s is our biggest manufacturer. They make steel for the automotive industry, the nation’s electric grid, and other critically important markets.” The I-75 Corridor for decades has served as the automotive manufacturing belt of America — and Middletown sits squarely in the middle of it. “Southwest Ohio has a focus on manufacturing. We have the last available parcels along the I-75 Corridor,” says Morlan. “We are strategically located on I-75 between Cincinnati and Dayton. That gives us a unique, strategic opportunity.” The Middletown executives we interviewed concur. An example is Fry Steel, which has been in business for 75 years and employs 117 workers. Fry recently invested $6 million into opening its fi rst- ever plant in Middletown. The fi rm marked its grand opening in April. Matthew Goeree, sales manager for Fry, says the expansion creates 135 jobs. He says Fry is in Middletown for a reason. “About 75 to 80% of our work is aerospace-driven. We are headquartered in Santa Fe Springs, California, where we have 180,000 square feet,” he says. “Now we have a 108,000-square- foot plant in Ohio. We are here for strategic reasons. We were servicing all these customers from California. Shipping costs were driving our raw materials costs higher. Moving here helps INVESTMENT PROFILE: MIDDLETOWN, OHIO Small town makes a big impression in Southwest Ohio. by RON STARNER M IN THE MIDDLE OF EVERYTHING 12 OHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDEus service the East Coast in a more streamlined and efficient manner and lower the costs for our customers.” Goeree notes that “we looked at a few locations along the East Coast. We chose Middletown because we have our family of companies that owned this building. We stepped in and used the same building that Phoenix Metals was using.” Other factors that sealed the deal, says Goeree, include workforce and quality of life. “We like the workforce. There are a lot of steel- and industrial-minded individuals here,” he says. “Reaching out to find candidates to fill roles is not a problem.” Fueling an Entire Country Fry has lots of company, including Hightowers Petroleum Co. Stephen L. Hightower founded the firm in 1982, continuing a family legacy of entrepreneurism that began in 1957 with the establishment of the family’s cornerstone business. Today, the firm delivers fuel to customers throughout the country. “I stand on the backs of three generations of business entrepreneurs in Middletown, starting with my grandfather, who was headed to Detroit to work for Chrysler to get out of Jim Crow, Mississippi,” Steve Hightower says. “He never made it there. He stopped in Middletown and got a job at Armco Steel. That is why we are here today.” Today, HPC does business in all 50 states, Canada and Mexico with a staff of 40 people. “We do $450 million in revenue a year. Fuel is all about volume, and this is a small- margin business,” Hightower says. “Being in Middletown has helped us. It has always been important that we stay in Middletown. There have been efforts to move us to Cincinnati, Dayton or Houston. Our stance has always been to stay here. It has helped us in attracting talent to Middletown from both Cincinnati and Dayton. I don’t think this region gets enough recognition for how many Fortune 500 companies are based here.” Local resources enable the company to grow, says Hightower. “Within the past 10 years, we have had tremendous growth. The property we are on now, we bought it and built a new building. We recently added fuel trucks. We bought four new semi-tractor-trailers and started HT Transport; and we expanded into other lines of business. We have expanded into renewable fuels and EV charging stations.” Another innovator is Phillips Tube Group, a welded steel tube manufacturer in Middletown since 1993. “We make steel tubes for applications like fuel filler systems,” says Angela Phillips, CEO of PTG. She notes that “there are benefits to being in this location. A lot of our business is south and west of here. Our customers run from Mexico to Canada. The infrastructure is here. The support is here. Rail is available. And there is dynamic support of trucking companies capable of hauling steel. The automotive corridor runs through here up to Michigan. We are right off I-75. So, a lot of supply base and customers are here.” Educational System Equips Workers Location is everything in her business, says Phillips. “This location makes a dramatic difference. We are three miles to I-75. To downtown Cincinati is 35 minutes, and it is 35 minutes to downtown Dayton. It is just 90 minutes to Columbus and two hours to Indy.” PTG employs 100 people at its headquarters and factory. “We hire locally from the tech schools and high schools and from local career schools like Butler Tech,” says Phillips. “We recruit within a 30-mile radius. The school system knows what we need.” PTG is growing, she adds. “Last year, we opened our new $2 million corporate headquarters here. We have another plant in Shelby in Northern Ohio and one in Indiana. We also added a fabrication operation in Middletown in 2020.” Another local asset is quality healthcare. Atrium Medical Center fills that need with a 340-bed hospital, 633 physicians and 41 specialty areas. Kevin Harlan, president of Atrium Medical Center, says that people who live and work in Middletown can enjoy “the benefit of good schools, low crime, low cost of living, and a world-class medical center.” This Investment Profile was prepared under the auspices of the City of Middletown. For more information, contact Lisha Morlan at 513-425-7847 or by email at lisham@cityofmiddletown.org. On the web, go to www.ChooseMiddletownOH.org. Angela Phillips CEO, PTG Kevin Harlan President, Atrium Medical Center Stephen Hightower COO, Hightowers Petroleum Co OHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE 1314 OHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE INTERVIEW WITH GOVERNOR MIKE DEWINE Gov. DeWine invests in education, quality of life and site infrastructure. by RON STARNER HOW OHIO SHAPES POLICY TO HELP BUSINESSES GROW hio Gov. Mike DeWine has been called “a uniquely Ohio story.” From a young age, he was taught the value of hard work, strong leadership and wise money management. He had to learn all those things because his family was counting on him to pull his own weight at the family business — a seed company in Yellow Springs. He worked alongside his parents and grandparents at the seed business in a town of 4,000 people in southwest Ohio. He loaded seed bags onto trucks and boxcars, shoveled wheat out of trucks during harvest, and worked in the wheat fields to help ensure OOHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE 15 the purity of the seed. During that time, he watched his parents stay committed to each other for 65 years, up until they passed away just four days apart. DeWine applied those values and those lessons to public service. He would eventually become Greene County Prosecutor, Ohio State Senator, U.S. Congressman, Ohio Lieutenant Governor, U.S. Senator and, ultimately, the 70th elected Governor of Ohio. His life story has affected every decision he has made during his lengthy career as a public servant. In the following interview, he shares how his values impact his policies. You said in your State of the State Address last year that it is a moral imperative to see that all Ohioans are fully educated. How do you plan to accomplish that goal, and where does Ohio currently stand in that regard? GOV. MIKE DEWINE: We owe it to our kids to help them live up to their God-given potential. A well-educated population coincides with the needs of the state. To move forward, we have to have the workers of the future. When we talk to companies about coming to Ohio, they want to know — do we have the employees with the requisite skills they need? For our future, we know that a well-educated workforce is very important. We take the attitude that it has to be an all-of-the-above approach. We put a big emphasis on birth to five years of age. We have expanded the number of kids in pre-school and other programs. We have created programs to reach out to pregnant mothers even before their child is born. In K-12, our big emphasis is on the science of reading. Reading is the key to being successful in school and in life. The science of reading is phonics — it is based on what we have learned over the years. We are putting a major emphasis on that. We are investing money to retrain teachers. We are also giving local schools money to make sure that the curriculum is aligned. We are also expanding the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Over 400,000 kids in Ohio have signed up for that. We are mailing out over 400,000 books a month to kids from birth to age five. That is the most of any state. We are investing in career tech too. We continue to expand career tech for kids in high school. Career tech schools are doing a good job working with local employers. The students work while they are still in high school. They move into a job right upon graduation. We are also attracting more kids to come to Ohio for college. We are a net importer of students to Ohio colleges. We also are putting more of an emphasis on keeping our young people home to go to college. Students will get an Gov. Mike DeWine speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Honda and LG Energy battery plant in Jeffersonville. Photo courtesy of the Ohio Governor’s Office and JobsOhio16 OHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE extra $20,000 in scholarships for four years if they are in the top 4% of their class. Access to affordable housing for working families has become a top economic development concern around the country. How is Ohio attacking this challenge? Do you have any specific goals you plan to reach in Ohio on this issue? GOV. DEWINE: This is very crucial. Every state is facing this. It is important to the overall health of our communities and our quality of life. We talk a lot about quality of life in Ohio. In our last budget, we set aside a significant amount of money to make housing a reality for more Ohioans. The Ohio Department of Development is providing $100 million in tax credits for this program. You also mentioned last year that “we simply don’t have enough shovel- ready, development-ready sites for the kind of calls we are getting from companies all over the world.” To counter that challenge, you announced a one-time investment of $750 million to get sites like that ready. How is that money being spent, and are you satisfied with the progress that Ohio is making? GOV. DEWINE: If you drove through Ohio, you would think it is all rural, but we are a state of city-states. We have 88 counties. Around 70 Ohio counties have less than 50,000 in population. It is a very diverse state. There is not just one or two major cities. And we have learned over the last five years that when companies are thinking about relocating or expanding, they are always in a big hurry. Once they decide to move, they want to move. We know we have a competitive advantage if we have sites that are ready to go. This $750 million is being spent strategically. We know we have good sites in every region of the state. But a number of these sites are not shovel ready. They are not ready to go right away. We are picking these sites based on what we think will have the highest possibility of being attractive to companies. It is a unique plan that we are executing. We have identified these sites along with local economic developers. They exist in all different Ohio Governor Mike DeWine speaks at Intel’s Groundbreaking in 2022. Photo courtesy of the Ohio Governor’s Office and JobsOhioOHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE 17 locations in Ohio. Access to water and access to a major highway are key assets. By investing this money, we will have a lot more sites ready to go. We landed Intel because we had a site that was ready to go. A lot of our wins came because we had sites ready to go. Do you consider the Intel project in New Albany to be your administration’s singular economic development accomplishment? What does that investment mean for Ohio? GOV. DEWINE: It certainly is the achievement that has gotten everyone’s attention and is probably the biggest. We were competing with 39 other locations around the country. I told our team that if we can pull this off, this will send a signal to companies all over the world that Ohio clearly has a lot going for it. Not only have we got Intel, but a lot of their suppliers have come to Ohio as well. A lot of their suppliers are expanding. It has sent the signal that Ohio is a great place to do business. We have seen that in the number of inquiries we are receiving.They are up significantly since then. Ohio this year has 15 small towns ranked among the top 100 performing micropolitan areas in the country, according to Site Selection magazine. To what do you attribute Ohio’s small town economic strength and resilience? GOV. DEWINE: Part of the quality of life in Ohio is that the vast majority of our counties have a county seat of less than 50,000 people. That is the center of that particular area. The quality of life in those communities is good. The cost of living is low. All of them are within a fairly easy drive of one or more major cities. They can see the Buckeyes or Browns or Bengals. They can see major theaters and art museums. You can live in a small town and be close to major cities. That is just one of the things that makes these small communities so special. Vibrant Communities is a JobsOhio program. We look and see if we can help the downtown there. It will have a multiplier effect. FC Cincinnati and the Columbus Crew were arguably the two most successful teams in Major League Soccer last year, with the Crew winning MLS Cup and FCC winning the Supporters Shield. Each is playing in a gleaming new stadium. How important has the growth of soccer been in your state? GOV. DEWINE: Our kids play a lot of soccer. They have been playing soccer for a long time. Having two very successful MLS teams in Ohio is important. They are both playing in brand new stadiums. They are wonderful places to watch soccer. It gives us the ability to get people excited about soccer. It is another thing that increases quality of life. Your own personal story has been called a uniquely Ohio story. Why is that? GOV. DEWINE: My wife and I both grew up in Yellow Springs, a town of 4,000 people in Southwest Ohio. We both went to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. My family was in the wholesale seed business selling to farmers’ elevators in four different states. My wife, Fran, worked there in high school and college as well. We have experience in small business. We know what it takes to make a small businesses work. We have eight children, 27 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Family is very important to Ohioans. What does it mean to be an Ohioan? GOV. DEWINE: I have described Ohioans as “No Drama People.” We get up in the morning and we do our job. We are a state of “ After we work a deal out, we do not look at that as a time to walk away. We redouble our efforts to help you cut through red tape and get anything you need to construct your business and stay on time. ” — Gov. Mike DeWine (continued on page 20)Next >