Front Page NYT Story Places Ohio at the Forefront of Auto Industry Transformation

Business Leaders and Community Stakeholders:

It's a rare day that I see coverage of Ohio's leadership in a critical industry above the fold on the front page of The New York Times. When that story also includes photos of Ohio's advanced manufacturing in action, I feel compelled to share. 

"Ohio Races to Retool for Electric Car Revolution" by Jack Ewing is just such a story. Mr. Ewing is a veteran business reporter focusing on the automotive industry and the transition to electric cars.

The Automotive Sector is one of our ten target sectors for economic development at JobsOhio. Working with the state and our regional economic development partners, we have been deeply involved with recent EV and battery megaproject announcements by Honda, Ford, GM, LG Chem, LG Energy Solution, and Semcorp.  JobsOhio also is actively engaged with enumerable other companies operating up and down the supply chain and all across the state.

Ohio is ranked #2 in the country for auto manufacturing and #1 for internal combustion engine production. The state's continued leadership in the industry requires a delicate balance of support for traditional motors and systems while aggressively securing the capital infrastructure and investing in workforce development needed to sustain next-generation auto technologies and manufacturing. 

It's a big story, and we wanted to do all we could to help Mr. Ewing get it right. So, we met with him directly, shared our thoughts on statewide sector momentum, and introduced him to industry leaders and participants. We wanted to be sure that the NYT could access the great things happening in Ohio – special thank you to automotive sector managing director Jonathan Bridges for making the connections. And for his part, Mr. Ewing put in the time and the work. In addition to reporting from New York, he spent nearly two weeks in Ohio interviewing a variety of sources with a variety of roles and perspectives.

The resulting story accurately reflects both the challenges and opportunities for Ohio and the auto industry. I invite you to read it here.  I would add that OEMs and suppliers are investing in Ohio because they succeed in Ohio thanks to our world-class workforce and business cost advantages.

At JobsOhio, we see a Generational Opportunity with growth spanning well beyond automotive to include nine other diverse and deep-rooted sectors. That is a story we are writing together with the DeWine/Husted Administration and our JobsOhio Network Partners. We invite you to participate and more media to cover it.

Very respectfully,

J.P. Nauseef

President and CEO

JobsOhio