JobsOhio Marks Unprecedented Year in 2021, Breaking Records Throughout Its Metrics

In the year before the Intel megaproject, JobsOhio attracts 29,104 new jobs and $6.9 billion in capital investment 

COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, JobsOhio, the state's private nonprofit economic development corporation, released its 2021 Annual Report and 2022 Strategic Plan, which showed 2021 to be a landmark year with more than 29,104 new jobs created and over $6.9 billion in capital investment in Ohio. While the Intel megaproject is not included as part of last year's record performance, JobsOhio was able to break records for commitments of new jobs, new jobs payroll, retained jobs, and new projects.

In 2021, JobsOhio and its partners achieved:

• 414 total projects
• 29,104 new jobs
• $1.6 billion new jobs payroll
• 75,416 jobs retained
• $4.5 billion retained jobs payroll
• $6.9 billion in capital investment

JobsOhio is seeking to capitalize on the ongoing trend of attracting successful businesses from coasts in 2022 after nearly 40 new companies relocated from the East and West Coasts to Ohio last year.

"We remained steadfast in our commitment to move at the speed of business to attract new jobs for Ohioans, marking a banner year for JobsOhio and tracking strong momentum going forward," said JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef. "Intel has caught the attention of business leaders who didn't consider choosing Ohio before this year, and we're proving is a major competitor for attracting new business tech, advanced manufacturing, and other rapidly growing sectors that are looking to tap into our growing talent pool and strong business climate."

In 2021, JobsOhio continued to focus on ten target industries with high productivity, wages, and economic impact. These industries are tracked because they are "traded sectors," which means the jobs could be located anywhere and are not tied to providing local services. After the challenges presented by COVID-19, JobsOhio's targeted sectors remained resilient, with aggregate employment fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels. The ten sectors comprised 36% of Ohio's gross state product, 28% of its payroll, and 21% of its jobs. Aggregate employment in JobsOhio's ten sectors was fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

Founded 11 years ago, JobsOhio is a first-of-its-kind private economic development corporation that invests in Ohio's future. In 2021, JobsOhio took a strategic approach to focus on how the state can best capitalize on its proximity, workforce, infrastructure, and growth opportunities. These strategic initiatives included:

• Talent: Home to a labor force of almost 5.7 million people and hundreds of higher education institutions, Ohio continues to fuel one of its greatest assets for business: a robust, skilled, and hardworking workforce.
• Sites: SiteOhio gives companies access to an inventory of shovel-ready sites, while the Revitalization Program provides financial assistance to companies that want to redevelop abandoned, neglected, or contaminated properties
• Innovation: Together with the state of Ohio and our healthcare and university partners, JobsOhio has launched one of the nation's most ambitious and comprehensive economic development initiatives. The Innovation Strategy creates Innovation Districts, funds grants for new R&D centers, and provides businesses with essential growth capital
• Inclusion: As part of the JobsOhio 5-Year Strategic Plan, our inclusion work encompasses intersecting dimensions of underrepresented populations and geographies. As a result, JobsOhio is investing $14.4 million annually across three inclusion-focused programs. By the end of 2021, we awarded grants to 200 companies that, in turn, have stimulated over $100 million in total investments.

About JobsOhio:

JobsOhio is a private nonprofit economic development corporation designed to drive job creation and new capital investment in Ohio through business attraction, retention, and expansion. The organization also works to seed talent production in its targeted industries and to attract talent to Ohio through Find Your Ohio. JobsOhio works with six regional partners across Ohio: Dayton Development Coalition, Ohio Southeast Economic Development, One Columbus, REDI Cincinnati, Regional Growth Partnership, and Team NEO. Learn more at www.jobsohio.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

SOURCE JobsOhio