Ohio’s Entrepreneurial Spirit, Business Climate to be Featured by Forbes

Key Economic Insights

• U.S.: The unemployment rate declined to 3.5% in September and the labor force participation rate posted a slight decline to 62.3%. Job openings totaled 10.05M, a 10% drop from July.
• Ohio: September featured the largest number of new jobs and capital investment in a single month since JobsOhio's inception in 2011; New projects are set to spur more than $21.5B in investment across the state. Ohio recorded 15,815 new business filings in August.

U.S. Insights

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 263,000 in September and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5%. The labor force participation rate declined slightly to 62.3% during the month, down from 62.4% in August.  Job openings totaled 10.05M in August, a 10% drop from the 11.17M reported in July and the largest monthly decline since April 2020. Hires posted a slight monthly gain, while total separations rose by 182,000. Quits rose by 100,000 during the month to 4.16M. Weekly jobless claims totaled 219,000 during the week ended October 1, an increase of 29,000 from the previous week. Continuing claims rose by 15,000 to a total of 1.361M. Overall, the U.S. labor market remains resilient despite recent economic headwinds.

Real GDP decreased at an annual rate of 0.6% in the second quarter of 2022, according to the third estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This figure was unchanged from prior estimates and marks the second consecutive month of decline in real GDP.  ISM Manufacturing PMI registered 50.9 in September, down from 52.8 in August. Durable goods orders declined 0.2% in August, marking the second consecutive month of decline. Core capital goods orders, a closely watched proxy for business spending, advanced 1.3% during the month, the largest monthly gain since January.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index increased 0.3% in August after declining 0.1% in July. Core PCE, the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge on inflation, rose 0.6% during the month after remaining flat in July. On an annualized basis, Core PCE increased 4.9%, up from 4.7% in July. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index increased to 108 in September, up from 103.6 in August and marking the second consecutive month of improvement.

Ohio Employment & Economic Insights

Forbes selected Ohio to host its flagship Under 30 Summit through 2025, starting in Cleveland in 2023, followed by Cincinnati, and Columbus. Randall Lane, Chief Content Officer of Forbes and Creator of the Under 30 Franchise added, “Our goal with the next Under 30 Summit is to help spotlight Ohio’s talented workforce and ample opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors. We’re confident that Ohio’s entrepreneurial spirit will be felt on the world’s main stage.”

September featured the largest number of new jobs and capital investments announced by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority in one month since JobsOhio’s inception in 2011. Collectively, six projects are set to create 5,247 new jobs and retain 2,153 jobs statewide, resulting in more than $530M in new payroll and spurring more than $21.5B in investments across the state.  

JobsOhio, along with the Regional Growth Partnership and the Ohio Manufacturer’s Association, announced a $2.9M Northwest Ohio pilot project positioned to meet a critical demand of more than 14,000 manufacturing jobs.  Ohio recorded 15,815 new business filings in August 2022, a 2.7% increase from August 2021 and a slight uptick from the 6-month low level recorded in July. A total of 123,674 new businesses have been created in 2022 so far.

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Aer Lingus announced plans to launch transatlantic air service from Cleveland to Europe, starting with a nonstop flight to Dublin, Ireland. The nonstop flights mark the first European service from Cleveland since 2018.  The Ohio State University has named the growing Columbus Innovation District on west campus Carmenton, after the university’s alma mater song. When complete, Carmenton will encompass more than 270 acres of collaborative programs merging entrepreneurial, corporate, academic, and healthcare communities that aspires to result in 22,000 STEM graduates, 20,000 new jobs, and $3B in economic impact over the next 10 years.

The U.S. EDA will award $5M to Belmont College in St. Clairsville and $4.2M to the Lake County Community College District for a new construction trades program building and renovation of the Industrial Skills Training Center for Advanced Manufacturing, respectively. The EDA will also award $1.3M to Morgan County and $1.2M to Monroe Water Systems for water infrastructure improvements as part of EDA’s $300M Coal Communities Commitment funded by the American Rescue Plan. The EDA has issued two Build to Scale Grants to Ohio organizations; Shawnee State University in Portsmouth was awarded a $749,356 Venture Challenge Grant and the Cleveland Water Alliance was the recipient of a $299,302 Capital Challenge Grant.  Lt. Governor Jon Husted announced the third round of Ohio’s Industry Sector Partnership Grant, providing over $2.45M for new and existing ISPs to support workforce development.

Ohio Company News

• Ford has committed to add an additional 200 new jobs at its Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake, adding to its original commitment of 1,800 as part of a $1.5B investment to bring a new commercial EV to market.
• EASE Logistics will invest $25M to restore a building in Dublin for its new HQ, creating 140 full-time jobs generating $7M in new annual payroll.
• Lincoln Electric plans to hire more than 75 engineers in Cleveland, Columbus, and Detroit, in part to support the company’s entry into EV charging.
• Pixelle Specialty Solutions will add 52 new jobs with $11.8M in upgrades to its facility in Chillicothe.
• BJSS, a UK-based software company, will add its first Midwest location in Columbus, bringing 50 jobs.
• ORBIS will add 46 jobs as part of an expansion at its package manufacturing facility in Urbana.
• C.M. Paula will add 36,500 SF to its global HQ in Mason, adding 22 full-time jobs and payroll of $1.6M.
• Quest Diagnostics officially opened its Cardiovascular Metabolic Center of Excellence at Cleveland HeartLab. Quest has also agreed to purchase part of Summa Health’s outreach lab services.
• Cleveland Clinic received a $7.9M grant from the National Cancer Institute to form one of three national centers; part of the newly established Radiation Oncology-Biology Integration Network (ROBIN).
• The Ohio State University and Battelle have partnered to launch the NeuroTech Institute.
• Standard Bariatrics, a Cincinnati healthcare startup, has been acquired by Teleflex for $170M.
• Lordstown Motors has produced its first two Endurance electric pickup trucks for commercial sale, meeting the company's revised goal of a production start by the end of September.
• Foxconn has signed a MOU to build INDIEV’s INDI One prototype EV in Lordstown.
• Worthington Industries is splitting its operations into a pair of publicly traded businesses. Both companies will remain headquartered in Columbus. The split is expected to be complete by early 2024.
• Clean Energy Fuels has opened its first of 20 fuel stations planned for Ohio in Groveport, providing renewable natural gas produced from organic waste for Amazon as well as public access for local fleets.
• Cionic raised $12.5M in Series A funding; led by BlueRun Ventures and featuring Caffeinated Capital, EPIC Ventures, JobsOhio Growth Capital Fund and LDV Capital, bringing its total raise to $23M.