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From
Gov. Kasich...
Editorial:
Making things, making
progress
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The
aftershocks of the Great Recession
aren’t over yet -- far from it, especially with continuing economic
turmoil in
Europe. But the past few days have brought sharp rays of hope about the
prospects for recovery in Greater Cleveland and across the northern
tier of
Ohio.
A
new analysis from Team Northeast
Ohio found that the 18-county area it serves added nearly 8,000 net
jobs during
the past year, a boost that helped drop the regional unemployment rate
to 8.5
percent. That’s still far too high, of course, especially for the
100,000 or so
people looking for work here. But it does mean that the jobless rate in
this corner
of Ohio is lower than the statewide number or the national figure.
Since during
previous recessions, this region has fallen further and recovered more
slowly
than the nation, that’s a good sign.
Better
yet, this improvement is linked
to the region’s historic strength in manufacturing. Firms that make
things
employed 30,000 more people in the third quarter of this year than
during the
same time last year. This reflects a number of trends: continuing local
efforts
to develop new products and improve methods; a weaker dollar enhancing
exports;
equipment orders from the emerging gas exploration industry in eastern
Ohio.
Two
more major pieces of good news
emerged Wednesday. In Toledo, Chrysler executives announced plans to
invest
roughly $500 million in the complex there that makes the Jeep Liberty
and Dodge
Nitro and to add 1,100 workers. In Lorain, Republic Steel officials
announced
they will spend more than $85 million to add an electric arc furnace to
produce
an extra million tons of steel each year. The expansion, executives
said, will
create 450 new jobs.
In
both instances, the Ohio sites had
to compete with plants elsewhere. State incentives played a role -- one
reason
that Gov. John Kasich was on hand for the announcements -- as did the
availability of experienced manufacturing workers and unused plant
capacity.
The
road back to prosperity requires Ohio
to do more to align public policy with existing assets to compete in a
fast-changing market. The federal and state governments need to make
more strategic
investments to drive innovation, as Ohio’s Third Frontier program has
done. But
this week’s news suggests past efforts are paying off -- and it can be
done.
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