< Previous58 OHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: DAYTON hen the Wright brothers of Dayton built and flew the world’s first airplane, they had no idea how their invention would forever shape the future development of their hometown in southwestern Ohio. More than 120 years after the first airplane took flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the city that produced this world-changing vehicle is still impacting history in the aviation realm. Today, Dayton is home to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — the largest single-site employer in Ohio — and a plethora of aviation and aerospace companies employing tens of thousands of highly skilled workers. Joby Aviation became the latest corporate investor to join the neighborhood. With a $500 million capital investment announced in Montgomery County, Joby Aviation will employ 2,000 skilled workers at a factory producing up to 500 electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft per year. The firm chose a 140-acre tract at Dayton International Airport where it will build up to 2 million square feet of factory space. Some 114 years after the Wright brothers opened America’s first airplane factory in Dayton, “The Birthplace of Aviation” is still flying high. In addition to Joby Aviation, Pratt Industries announced a $32 million investment into a new plant in Dayton last year, while GE Engine Services announced its own $20 million project. Beontag, meanwhile, announced a $60 million facility that creates 200 jobs in RFID technology in Dayton. A thriving city of 134,404 people, Dayton benefits from its proximity to Cincinnati, Columbus, Indianapolis and the rest of the Midwest. In fact, more than 60% of the country can be reached in a one-day truck drive or less from Dayton. Other location factors contribute to Dayton’s business appeal. Forbes magazine named Dayton one of the nation’s “Most Affordable Cities” and “Happiest Places to Work.” Forbes did so because Dayton offers affordability, abundant career opportunities and an enviable quality of life. The City of Dayton, for instance, was named one of the first official “Welcoming Cities” in the country. The median cost of a house in Montgomery County is just $124,000, and the cost of living is more than 10 points below the national average. The Dayton Region STEM School and the Dayton Early College Academy also add to the area’s attractiveness. These and other attributes have made the Dayton area a hub for transportation, logistics, aerospace and defense, advanced manufacturing, automotive, and agriculture and food processing. Skilled workers are the norm in Dayton too, as the community boasts the fourth-largest concentration of engineers per capita in the country. W Still Flying High After 120 Years DAYTON by RON STARNER Dayton skyline Photo: Getty ImagesOHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE 59 COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: FINDLAY city of 40,000 people on I-75 in northwest Ohio has made a name for itself as a manufacturing mecca in the Midwest. Findlay in Hancock County has bested all micropolitan areas in the U.S. for 10 years running by landing more corporate facility deals than any other small town. Its success has become so predictable that the town has trademarked “The Findlay Formula.” Wanting to get a better understanding of this secret recipe for economic development achievement, we turned to Findlay Mayor Christina Muryn. Findlay has a track record of economic development success. Site Selection Magazine has named it the top-performing small town in the nation for 10 straight years. What are the factors behind this? MAYOR CHRISTINA MURYN: We are a community of problem-solvers. We find a way to say yes. When a business has a problem, we come together to solve it. People know from the start that we are a team. Whether it is the Planning Department or another office, our teamwork gives people confidence that when they come to us, we will get the job done. With Sheetz, the city stepped up with infrastructure. The GVS project is an existing business from Italy that is expanding and making Findlay their North America headquarters. They supply the N95 mask for the national stockpile. We provide a stable environment where people can reinvest. It is not flashy, but we know how to get the job done. Findlay and Hancock County have made workforce development a priority for many years. Can you share any best practices? MURYN: We established a Workforce Coalition and raised the bar. We have our business community leading the conversation about what our city will need in the future. By working with our businesses, that helps us in the long run. We are not only addressing the current needs; we are making sure we have the talent employers will need in the future. How does Findlay’s location on the I-75 corridor help? MURYN: I-75 is critical for our community. We have great accessibility for products going to market and components coming in. From a community access standpoint, we have proximity to metro areas that have amenities we do not have. We have access to Detroit, Toledo, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland. We are a draw because we are so easy to get to. Within 100 miles of Findlay are the airports of Detroit, Toledo, Fort Wayne, Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton. What is your town’s best-kept secret? MURYN: I will give you two options. One is Japan West. It is a fabulous restaurant. The other is the Mazza Museum on the campus of the University of Findlay. It is the world’s largest collection of children’s picture book art. Pop-up artwork books are on display here. It is a cool facility, and it expanded recently to include a STEAM center. It is free and a lot of fun. A Harnessing the Findlay Formula FINDLAY by RON STARNER Downtown Findlay, Ohio. Phot courtesy of VisitFindlay.com60 OHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: TOLEDO he marketing slogan for the Regional Growth Partnership, based in Toledo in Northwest Ohio, is “Where Talent Drives Your Future.” It’s an appropriate metaphor, given that Toledo sits squarely in the heart of America’s I-75 Automotive Alley. The fourth largest city in Ohio, Toledo has an estimated 2024 population of 271,700. Only Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati have more people in Ohio. While Toledo may not be as populous as the Big 3, it more than makes up for its size with its economic development performance. Known as the Glass Capital of the World because it was the historic home of such luminaries as Libbey, Owens, Ford and other notable glass pioneers, Toledo more recently has been branching out into a variety of industries. Over the past 12 months, Toledo has reaped large capital investments from Mobis North America, New Horizons Baking, the Heavy Beer Co., Greenhouse Development Group and Jam Tire Inc. Together, these five companies invested over $50 million and created more than 430 new jobs in Toledo. They come from diverse industries — electronics, chemicals and plastics, food and beverage, and machinery, equipment and construction. This diversity of investment mirrors the economic landscape of modern-day Toledo. The city’s key industries today include advanced manufacturing, automotive, energy, food processing, and logistics and distribution. The Mobis expansion is indicative of the growth taking place in Toledo. A leading Tier 1 auto supplier, Mobis recently announced it will invest $13.8 million to locate a new electric vehicle battery assembly plant in Toledo. “We’ve been manufacturing in Toledo, Ohio, for nearly 20 years, and we are excited to continue to invest in the community with this new battery plant,” said Dong Hee Son, general manager of Mobis. “The state-of-the-art facility will bring 185 good-paying, upskilled jobs to the area and be a driving force in automotive electrification here in the Midwest.” New Horizons Baking, meanwhile, committed to investing more than $13 million to add 45 jobs at a second muffin line at its plant in Toledo. The firm, based in Norwalk, Ohio, employs more than 550 workers at its four plants in Ohio and Indiana. “We are very excited about the economic growth opportunity of a new production line in our Toledo facility,” said Trina Bediako, CEO of New Horizons Baking. “However, we know that we cannot succeed without a strong and committed workforce. The city of Toledo and its economic development partners have been exceptional in helping us meet that goal.” The Regional Growth Partnership, based in Toledo, serves as the main economic development organization for Toledo and surrounding Northwest Ohio. A 100% privately funded organization, RGP over the last five years has spearheaded efforts to attract more than $14 billion in capital investment and 22,700 jobs to the 17-county region. T Visitors to the Toledo Museum of Art. Courtesy of Tourism Ohio Building on a Legacy Of Autos and Glass TOLEDO by RON STARNER62 OHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE SITES & INFRASTRUCTURE LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR HIGH-FLYING GROWTH ne of the keys to Ohio being ranked No. 1 in Site Selection magazine’s 2023 Global Groundwork Index may be leaving the ground itself behind. That annual ranking evaluates corporate facility investment project numbers and public infrastructure project investment numbers to see which regions of the United States are performing O by ADAM BRUNS JobsOhio has helped fund more than 20 Breeze Airways fl ights from the Akron-Canton, Columbus and Cincinnati airports. Image courtesy of Breeze Airways64 OHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE well in those two complementary areas and therefore laying the groundwork for prosperity. Ohio’s reputation for logistics connectivity is well known: It sits, after all, within a day’s drive of 60% of the North American population. But JobsOhio’s domestic and international air service restoration and expansion efforts are doing their part too. Strong evidence occurred in June 2023 when British Airways’ inaugural flight from London Heathrow Airport to Cincinnati/ Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) touched down. The service is offered five times a week during summer flying season and four times a week the rest of the year. “When we look at the Cincinnati region, we see a vibrant part of the U.S. with a great mix of business and leisure travelers who have long asked for more international service and global connectivity, which is what made it so attractive to us and why we’re confident this new route will be a success,” said Neil Chernoff, director of networks and alliances at British Airways. The launch of that flight is making the Cincinnati region more vibrant already. When payment processing company Worldpay in December 2023 announced the return of its global corporate headquarters to Cincinnati, the retention of over 900 current jobs and the creation of more than 500 new jobs, Charles Drucker, Aer Lingus employees celebrate the airline’s new route between Dublin and Cleveland in May 2023. Photo courtesy of Aer LingusOHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE 65 incoming CEO, said, “Access to talent, quality of life, great educational institutions and the new direct flight from CVG Airport to London significantly contributed to the decision to make our corporate headquarters in Greater Cincinnati, connecting us to our customers worldwide.” London will now serve as the company’s international headquarters as Worldpay begins operating as an independent company. The same thing is happening in the opposite corner of the state, where Aer Lingus began regular service between Dublin, Ireland, and Cleveland in May 2023, connecting Ohio business leaders and leisure travelers to the fifth largest hub airport in the entire North America – Europe marketplace. The two international flights alone are estimated to contribute a combined $75 million in annual economic impact. Domestically, Alaska Airlines recently launched a flight from Cleveland to Seattle, and JobsOhio has helped fund more than 20 Breeze Airways flights from the Akron-Canton, Columbus and Cincinnati airports. Strategic moves like those are exactly why JobsOhio threw its support behind an Air Service Restoration Program in 2020, setting aside $10 million annually in order to provide short-term revenue guarantee incentives to airlines. “Simply put, if we want to land new company operations in Ohio, we need to land new passenger flight routes here as well,” the organization says. SiteOhio Also Takes Flight The world knows Ohio landed a $28 billion commitment by Intel to build two new chip fabs in New Albany in Licking County. To land the next big investment, the state needs to invest in big land. The state’s budget for 2024/2025 includes $750 million for the new All Ohio Future Fund, which prepares locations to be ready for large strategic economic development projects; $350 million investment in brownfield remediation to revitalize and prepare sites for future economic “ Some sites were sold before we even got them certified. No other state in the country has seen the kind of return on investment that JobsOhio has. ” — Tonya Crist, Owner, InSite Consulting Group, on the SiteOhio program66 OHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE development opportunities; $124 million for water infrastructure modernization for townships, villages, and cities; $150 million for the Ohio Building and Demolition and Site Revitalization Program; and $30 million for the Rural Industrial Park Loan Program. The state’s SiteOhio program continues to build its portfolio of sites, totaling 23 at year end and certain to increase soon. “Authentic” was chosen as the 2023 Word of the Year by Merriam- Webster. So it’s appropriate that Ohio’s SiteOhio database only contains authenticated sites and properties. Tonya Crist, owner of InSite Consulting Group, has been directly involved in authenticating SiteOhio sites since the launch of the program in 2015. What impressed her was JobsOhio’s hunger for doing things the right way, with no political agenda and a wide-open invitation for communities across the state’s 88 counties to have the opportunity to be vetted for readiness. “JobsOhio already was seen as a very flexible organization moving at the speed of business,” she told me earlier this year. “They just didn’t have the product ready to match their culture.” British Airways’ inaugural flight from London Heathrow Airport arrived at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in June 2023. Photo courtesy of PRNewsfoto/British AirwaysOHIO BUSINESS GROWTH GUIDE 67 Today they do, to the tune of more than $13 billion invested and 22,000 jobs created so far. What stood out to Crist was the number of rural communities hungry for investment and ready to bring their execution up to speed with InSite’s coaching and guidance, whether the parcel was 50 acres or 1,000. In one community, there was a need for $2 million worth of water infrastructure. “Next thing you know, they got the water there and people located there,” she says. Not only have the wins increased, the leads have too, bringing consistent visibility to communities that weren’t being seen before for the authentic places they were. “One region that saw one prospect in a year saw over 90,” Crist says. Meanwhile, “the talent side of JobsOhio supports the site side,” she says. “We’re not just myopically looking at the dirt. In our decision-making model we’re also assessing the labor pool, and how it corresponds to the types of companies that might locate on the site.” The pace has been such that, Crist says, “some sites were sold before we even got them certified. No other state in the country has seen the kind of return on investment that JobsOhio has.” Next >