Corporate site location is the process by which companies decide how to expand, consolidate or close locations.  Understanding corporate site location trends are an important tool for companies, communities and policymakers to recognize in the hopes of encouraging the creation of high-wage jobs and capital investment.  Unfortunately, 2023 starts with an economic slowdown driven by […]

Montrose clients had a strong year in 2022 as industrial development continued to grow, state and federal funding flowed, and lobbying clients blossomed. Montrose highlights for 2022 include: Corporate Site Location and Project Financing. Economic Development Advisors. Economic Development Planning. Federal Budget Earmarks. Government Procurement.  Land Use and Local Economic Development Incentives. Ohio General Assembly. 

Conservative Ohio House of Representative member Derek Merrin was elected by the Ohio House Republican Caucus. Merrin is a Toledo area veteran legislator who surprised many Statehouse pundits with his victory of State Representatives Jason Stephens and Phil Plummer.  Representative Merrin was re-elected to his last term in the Ohio House of Representatives; thus, his

Spending money was not the only focus of the Ohio General Assembly Lame duck legislative session. Several policy changes were enacted that impact the operation of state authorized economic development programs.  Low Income Housing and State Historic Preservation Tax Credits. Ohio House Bill 45 was amended to not permit the state of Ohio Historic Preservation

In recognition of the critical role the arts play in Ohio’s economic development, the Ohio General Assembly in House Bill 45 created the ARPA Arts Grant Program and provided $50 M for the program which will be operated by the Ohio Department of Development.  Funding for the grant program will be centered on performing arts,

Early in the morning of December 15, 2022, the Ohio General Assembly as a last gasp for the Lame Duck Session passed a billion dollar plus COVID Relief Spending bill. This measure was required to allocate funding from the federal government given to the state of Ohio from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). ARPA

State community colleges are at the center of solving regional workforce development challenges across the United States.  Community colleges are affordable public colleges, funded by tax dollars. The highest degree available at a community college is usually an associate degree, which takes full-time students about two years to complete.  Most importantly, community colleges are successful

Chasing megaprojects is the headline of 2022.  EV and computer chip factories offer billion-dollar investments and Governors across the nation are spending billions of dollars to lure these companies to their states.  Movie junkies who will remember a young Robert Redford in the 1972 movie “The Candidate” starring as an unlikely and then successful candidate

Housing is joining workforce development to become a major corporate site location issue.  Growing regions like Central Ohio are developing 2.5 jobs for every 1 residential permit creating a housing shortage.  Regions not growing are failing to develop substantial residential growth.  Finally, rural regions are losing population at an alarming rate and desperately need new

Five million Americans have simply left the workforce since COVID-19.  That is the size of the state of Alabama and a bigger group of people than the population of every American city except for New York City. In fact, In 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), over 47 million Americans voluntarily quit their