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Dayton
Business Journal...
Development
leader: Ohio needs to tout
achievements
Thursday, October 6, 2011
By Ginger Christ
Ohio
is poised for growth and its
leaders intend to do whatever it takes to realize success, according to
speakers
at the South West Regional Development Forum.
The
event, which featured Mark Kvamme,
head of JobsOhio, as well as a panel of local leaders, served as a
sounding
board for ideas about how best to bring jobs — and economic success —
to
southwestern Ohio.
Ohio
is poised for a manufacturing
renaissance, but its business leaders need to do a better job of
touting the
state, said Kvamme, keynote speaker at the forum.
“Ohio
is America’s best-kept secret.
California is really good about promoting itself. There’s a reason why
Hollywood is in California,” said Kvamme, the head of JobsOhio, the
nonprofit
development entity formed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
His
point was that Ohio is a great
place to do business, thanks to its natural resources, location, access
to
transportation, and its workforce.
“People
in Ohio actually work,” he
told the crowd.
Kvamme
also referred to the Dayton
area as the Silicon Valley of Ohio, citing companies such as Teradata
Corp. and
Stratacache.
Part
of the way Ohio is helping
businesses grow is through the JobsOhio program, which privatized the
economic
development function of the Ohio Department of Development . An
example of improving the way the state
interacts with business is speeding up response. Kvamme said if there’s
an
issue with keeping a business or bringing a new one in, he can pull
Gov. John
Kasich or any member of his cabinet to immediately go to work on it. He
cited a
case where JobsOhio was able to help GE Aviation, part of General
Electric Co.,
quickly gain permits to move engines
over the July 4 weekend, which saved the company $5 million.
“Government
doesn’t create jobs. It
impedes jobs. We need to create an environment that allows you to
compete on a
world stage,” Kvamme said.
The
organization also is working to
speed up communication.
“We
want to get an answer to you in 72
hours or less,” Kvamme said. “A quick no is almost as good as a yes.”
To
finish his presentation, Kvamme
played a recording of Steve Jobs reading the “Think Different”
advertisement
for Apple Inc. Kvamme was close to tears, as he worked with Jobs for
nearly 15
years.
Read
the rest of the article at the
Dayton Business Journal
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