< Previous20 OHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE innovators, people who do research and take risks. That goes on top of the work ethic we have in Ohio. That has made Ohio a unique state. And we are friendly people. Does Ohio plan to go after another semiconductor manufacturing plant? How big do you think this industry can grow in Ohio? GOV. DEWINE: Yes, absolutely. We are going after the business of the future. This is a manufacturing state. We are putting particular emphasis on the manufacturers of the future like Joby Aviation that will produce flying taxis in Dayton. We will certainly go after any company that we think has a future and will create jobs in the future. We call this the Silicon Heartland. Gov. Mike DeWine joins other state and local leaders in breaking ground for Intel’s first greenfield chip manufacturing plant in the U.S. in 40 years. Photo courtesy of the Ohio Governor’s Office and JobsOhio (continued from page 17)Your state has compiled some pretty impressive wins of late in the electric vehicle sector. Is that the future of automotive manufacturing in Ohio? GOV. DEWINE: It certainly is. Historically, we have been an auto manufacturing state and an auto parts maker. A switchover to electric vehicles is occurring. For us to be where we want to be, we have to make that switchover as well. Honda has established its battery technology research center at The Ohio State University. There is a partnership to build a new battery plant in Jeffersonville, Ohio. GM invested $750 million in Toledo to produce electric drive units. And Ford is investing hundreds of millions to make new EVs here too. Do you have any other advice for corporate executives who may be evaluating Ohio right now as a potential business location? GOV. DEWINE: Yes. The dollars and cents of the deal have to make sense. We have relatively low taxes. We have stability in our public policies. Businesses do not like surprises. When people make decisions, they want to know that the people moving here are going to like living here. I have discussions with CEOs about that. Also, 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. Our ability to follow up is very important. We do that very well in Ohio. 22 OHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE INTERVIEW WITH OHIO LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR JON HUSTED Husted: ‘The more friction you take out of the process, the more businesses will prosper.’ by RON STARNER O HOW OHIO STREAMLINED THE WAY IT SERVES BUSINESSES hio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted has made a career out of streamlining government. From digitizing business licensing to launching TechCred to help Ohioans gain valuable new job skills, Husted is an innovator and an entrepreneur when it comes to reimagining the way government agencies serve taxpayers. An All-American defensive back when he played for the Dayton Flyers football team that won a national championship in 1989, Husted knows what it takes to compete and win in economic development too. Among his former jobs is a stint as vice president of economic development for the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce. We recently caught up with Husted and asked him about a variety of issues that benefit economic development. It has been said that you reduced the cost for starting a business in Ohio by 21%, making Ohio the least expensive state in the Midwest Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted can be seen addressing the crowd in January 2022 to announce Intel’s $28 billion investment in Ohio. Photo courtesy of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of OhioOHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE 23 to launch and operate a business. How did you achieve that cost reduction? HUSTED: Mostly through automation. We took a paper process and turned it into a digital one that allowed us to turn a people process into a digital one. We were able to cut the business licensing fees by 21%. We now have lower rates than almost any state. For many business owners, this is their first interaction with the state government. We continue to try to build on that. We use technology to improve the way we serve our customers. Every year after we launched this new digital application, we saw record-setting filings for new businesses in the state of Ohio. The more friction you take out of the process, the more businesses will prosper. Think about how the process used to work. You would fill out a form and mail it in with a check. By turning this into an exclusively digital process, we turned a 4-day process into a 4-hour process. It led to a change of culture on how we do so many other things. We did this across all of the state government. Instead of having to show up in person in an office, you can now do everything remotely, digitally, and that alone has saved hundreds of thousands of hours and tens of millions of dollars in costs. That is creating some amazing results across the board. To get your driver’s license, you would have to go to the DMV. Nobody likes that. Now you don’t have to do that in Ohio anymore. We have moved that entirely to a digital process. Part of your job is overseeing the state’s Common Sense Initiative (CSI). Can you describe that program and explain how it helps businesses? HUSTED: Anytime a law is passed, there are new rules promulgated. CSI makes sure that we give businesses the ability to weigh in on whether those rules are anti-business. In 53% of the rules that agencies have written, we have amended those to find improvements. We have also gone through the entire administrative code with an AI tool to eliminate 2 million words from the regulatory code. We made it easier for people to comply. We are eliminating the unnecessary. We make sure that the rules we do write are not onerous to businesses. We have been doing this since 2019. This has produced very positive feedback. We believe that regulators ought to listen to the voices expressing concern at the front of the process. CSI is an advocate of business-friendly regulations. We have certainly changed the ways the regulators and the rule writers think about their jobs. You also oversee the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation. What does this office do, and can you share any recent milestone achievements? HUSTED: We coordinate with the business community to make sure all the money we are spending across the workforce platform is being spent thoughtfully and strategically to assure positive workforce outcomes. We have launched TechCred — a program where anyone in Ohio can get free job training for a tech credential — and there are thousands of job skills to choose from. You can pick the training provider. We pay up to $2,000 of the cost of earning that short-term credential. It is pay for completion. We don’t pay unless you “ We were able to cut the business licensing fees by 21%. We now have lower rates than almost any state. ” – Lt. Gov. Jon Husted24 OHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE earn the credential. We always get something for our investment. It has been very popular. Everybody wins. The employer wins a good employee. The employee gets more earning potential. This has been one of the most successful programs we have launched in this administration. This is one of the top-tier issues in our state. It makes sure that our high school system and career centers are aligned. We have more funding for them now. We have bought new equipment. We are helping 15,000 more students each year graduate from our career centers — from robotics to welding to medical techs. You can earn all those credits in high school. You can even land good jobs before you graduate. Where does Ohio stand in the ongoing effort to deliver broadband connectivity to every Ohioan? HUSTED: It is our priority to include everyone in the modern economy. To live in our world today, you must be connected to high-speed internet. We had, at the start of the initiative, about a million people who did not have access. We are aggressively connecting people to access. We are using our workforce initiatives to train people to be tower techs and broadband installers. We are making great progress, including telehealth services in our schools and more health care options for the elderly. They may have limited mobility. All those things are being benefited by investments of state and federal dollars. What are the top priorities of Innovate Ohio this year? HUSTED: It is designed to make Ohio the most innovative and entrepreneurial state in the Midwest. We worked on the Ohio IP Promise early on. Colleges and universities made it difficult to take technology launched on campus to be commercialized. IP Promise makes it simple and easy to facilitate commercialization of technology off of the college campus and into the private sector. That is an example of how we are trying to use Innovate Ohio to improve the way we do business in state government. We are also working with schools to create an AI toolkit to help educators learn how to find trusted resources and begin to incorporate AI in the classroom. We want to make sure teachers have access to these tools. Recently, you wrote about the need to increase access to affordable child care for working families. What is Ohio doing in this regard, and do you propose any additional measures to help workers who have young children? HUSTED: Ohio uses its state and federal dollars to support working families. Child care can cost $20,000 a year. That does not work for working families. We have to figure out ways to provide more access to affordable child care. We are also trying to encourage more employer-based child care. I have Lt. Gov. Jon Husted announces Google’s expansion in Ohio. Photo courtesy of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of OhioOHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE 25 been to many businesses that are putting child-care facilities on their campuses. That has been a real win for them because employees know their children are just a few steps away. That makes people want to come work for a company. We are tackling this in a variety of ways. We are working to help working families have child care. This administration has made it a priority to attract more military veterans into the workforce of Ohio. What is the state doing to facilitate that, and do you have any results you can share? HUSTED: We aspire to be the most military-friendly state in the country. We have 35,000 active military members on base at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. We have a very large veteran population. Veterans are very good people to have work for you because of their work ethic and character. That is part of our strategy. How did Ohio win the landmark Intel chip plant project? What ultimately set Ohio apart from the competition? HUSTED: First of all, we are in a really good state to do business. We have good Midwestern values of hard work, patriotism and a proud manufacturing heritage. If you were looking to build a chip plant east of the Mississippi, I can’t think of a better place than Ohio. We have wonderful infrastructure and great universities and colleges. We were in an incredibly competitive environment, but we did not have Ohio communities fighting over it. When Intel asked a question, we gave them an honest yes or a quick no. They could count on Ohio to deliver what we promised. We have exceeded their expectations on that front. We have worked very diligently to serve them. What is the one thing about Ohio that most people in other states don’t know? HUSTED: We make the things that people need to live and thrive. We are the “Heart of It All” — from the food you eat to the cars that drive and the chips that power our devices. Intel has labeled us the Silicon Heartland. That is who we are, and we are proud of who we are. “ It is our priority to include everyone in the modern economy. To live in our world today, you must be connected to high-speed internet. ” — Lt. Gov. Jon Husted Lt. Gov. Jon Husted addresses the crowd at Intel’s groundbreaking ceremony. Photo courtesy of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Ohio26 OHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE J OBS O HIOINTERVIEW State economic development leader lays out the business case for investing in Ohio. A HOW JOBSOHIO DELIVERS ROI TO BOTH COMPANIES AND TAXPAYERS s president and CEO of JobsOhio, J.P. Nauseef leads an organization that oversees and advances economic development statewide. Project wins for JobsOhio recently have shattered both state and national records. While Intel’s $20 billion commitment to building out the world’s most advanced semiconductor manufacturing complex in New Albany in Licking County is the landmark win that grabs all the headlines, other impactful corporate facility investment deals are happening with regularity all across the Buckeye State. From Xenia to Zanesville and from Chillicothe to Sandusky, companies are making decisions to establish new plants and expand existing ones in every corner of Ohio. Here is how it all happens, in the words of JobsOhio’s leader. by RON STARNER JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef discusses economic development initiatives with Ohio HQ’d company CEOs. Photo courtesy of JobsOhioOHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE 27 How does the JobsOhio model help foster and advance economic development statewide? NAUSEEF: JobsOhio is an economic development corporation that exists to help companies and their people thrive right here in the Heart of America. We are private, which means less red tape. We help companies avoid game-changing surprises with a proven process that protects their confi dential information. We’re nonprofi t, which means companies and their people come fi rst. We’re absolutely obsessed with their bottom line and see their success as our own — building ROI for Ohio. We’re independent, which means less drama. We advocate for companies alongside local and state government and help them avoid pitfalls. We’re fl exible, which means we customize our work to the company’s needs now and in the future. We move at their pace — with their vision in mind — at the speed of trust. How is JobsOhio organized statewide? NAUSEEF: We work through seven regional partners who represent a diverse mix of large and medium cities and wide-open rural areas and work with companies to provide a soft, local touch. We focus on 10 industrial traded sectors to protect and grow high-wage jobs. We have four strategic initiatives that create a better growth environment. • Our talent initiative helps companies solve their toughest talent challenges. • Our innovation initiative helps leverage Ohio’s strengths in academia, research, and the private sector to advance discovery and commercialization. • Our sites initiative identifi es and readies development sites, infrastructure, and buildings so companies can move quickly and confi dently when ready to grow. • Our community development initiative provides catalytic investments in Ohio’s smaller towns that have exceptional quality of life to attract outside investment, jobs, and energy, and our small business programs off er support, coaching, advice, and funding for small businesses, which are job growth engines in Ohio. We don’t just see company growth as a metric — we want Ohio to be their competitive advantage. And we’re willing to work as hard as it takes to make it happen. Your organization has a unique funding model. Can you describe how it works? NAUSEEF: JobsOhio is a private nonprofi t corporation wholly funded by an independent private source — the profi ts from the JobsOhio Beverage System (JOBS), which owns Ohio’s spirituous liquor enterprise and manages it in partnership with the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Liquor. On February 1, 2013, JOBS purchased an exclusive 25-year franchise from the state of Ohio for the sale of spirituous liquor for $1.4 billion, plus future supplemental payments from the enterprise’s profi ts. The authority for the sale of the liquor enterprise to JobsOhio was authorized by an act of legislation (ORC 4313). No public funds were used to purchase the franchise. JOBS liquor profi ts provide a stable funding source. Private and stable funding gives JobsOhio the fl exibility to make long-term commitments and invest in projects that will have a positive impact, promising long-term, in-state growth and good-paying jobs for all Ohioans. At the end of the fi scal year 2024, JobsOhio has paid $594 million in supplemental payments to the state and continues to pay down the $1.4 billion in bonds used to purchase the enterprise. As a result of running the enterprise as a business, JOBS has doubled its revenue growth since “ We are private, which means less red tape. We help companies avoid game-changing surprises with a proven process that protects their confi dential information. — J.P. Nauseef, President and CEO, JobsOhioNext >