|
State
Representative Jim Buchy
Labor
Day Celebrates the Values
That Make Our Country Great
Labor
Day to most people marks the
unofficial end to summer. Kids are back to school, football season revs
up and
the days keep getting shorter and shorter. Particularly here in west
central
Ohio, where farming and other agricultural industries make up such a
large part
of our economy, the end of summer is a perfect time to celebrate Labor
Day.
There
is so much more value to
working than simply earning an income. Work brings people together and
instills
important values like confidence, cooperation and self-worth. Working
hard—both
on the job and through volunteering our time to help others—is a tenet
that has
made our country so strong.
Just
a few short years ago, too
many Ohioans were stuck looking for work in order to provide for
themselves and
their families. Those were certainly difficult economic times by
anyone’s
calculations. While there are still people who are looking for a job,
our state
has seen considerable improvement over the past couple of years and
people are
returning to work.
Just
since the beginning of 2011,
Ohioans have created more than 160,000 new private sector jobs in the
state.
Additionally, compared to 2010, there have been 13,338 more new
entities have
filed to do business in Ohio this year. More than just statistics,
these are
new opportunities for people to make their own way that were not
available just
a few years ago.
Getting
to where we want to be
takes time; it never gets there as quickly as we would like. But these
trends
indicate that our state is still on the road to economic recovery and
is
becoming more attractive to job-creators.
Labor
Day in the United States has
a long history. Ever since President Grover Cleveland was in office
near the
end of the 19th Century, Labor Day has been celebrated on the first
Monday of
September. I hope you are able to carry on this tradition in some way
by
spending time with your families, friends, neighbors, or by just taking
some
time for yourself before the alarm clock rings Tuesday morning.
|
