In a booming economy with the large Baby-Boom generation retiring, employers everywhere are asking government and economic development leaders for help to address the lack of skilled workers jeopardizing economic success. In fact, a recent study found that 65% of Ohioans need a bachelors’ degree, associate degree or certificate for the state to serve just […]

Few topics garner debate more in a state operating budget than how Ohio funds its K-12 schools. Ohio House Bill 166, Governor Mike Dewine’s state operating budget, and the response of legislators on the K-12 education funding prove the current operating budget will battle will be no different than past efforts. Ohio funds its traditional

As a part of Governor DeWine’s Investing in Ohio’s Future budget, the Governor proposed the creation of the Ohio Opportunity Zone Investment Credit. The newly created Opportunity Zone Investment Credit and the Ohio Qualified Opportunity Fund are modeled after the Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The federal tax reform legislation established the

Ohio’s newest budget proposal brings with it the continued focus on one of the largest state expenditures, the Ohio Medicaid program. Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that provides health care insurance to the poor. Medicaid has become a hot political topic recently with the expansion of Medicaid services provided primarily through federal government funding

Local governments have felt the pinch in a steady decline of state government funding to their coffers. Governor DeWine and Lt. Governor Husted in their recent budget release are making a commitment to the state’s local government partners. Governor DeWine demonstrated that partnership in his first budget proposal with the transportation budget and the increase

Ohio is among the top five states with the highest rates of opioid-related overdose deaths. In 2016, there were 3,613 opioid-related overdose deaths in Ohio—a rate of 32.9 deaths per 100,000 persons and more than double the national rate of 13.3 deaths per 100,000 according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Since 2010, the

In September 2017 Amazon issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in North America to bid on a second Amazon headquarters.  The prize for winning HQ2, as it was called, was $5 billion in new capital investment and 50,000 new jobs. Amazon received 238 proposals for HQ2. In the end, Amazon

Economic development strategies work best when they are designed to capitalize on a demographic or economic trend.  The data is clear that the 77 M Millennial generation in America strives to live in an urban mixed use environment where they can walk or take a quick Uber or scooter ride to where they want to

Workforce and talent will continue to be driving forces in site location, retention, and expansion decisions.By Rebecca Kusner of R4Workforce We’ll see communities adapting and integrating new technology, businesses identifying and hiring for skills, and job-seekers/workers picking jobs based on the quality of the workplace in 2019. Role of technology. From Artificial Intelligence to block

State government leaders across the union are embracing the federal Opportunity Zone program in an effort to create a range of new state government incentives designed to jump start this new federal government program in the 8700 federal certified Opportunity Zone sites. Arkansas S.B. 196. Enacted February 26, 2019. Legislation was passed by both houses