For the first time ever, JobsOhio executed an activation at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026, the world’s largest, most influential technology conference. And Ohio’s message to the global technology community gathered in Las Vegas was clear: Technology, innovation, and scaled manufacturing move faster in Ohio.
Whether you're launching electric aircraft, deploying advanced nuclear reactors, or revolutionizing manufacturing with AI, Ohio offers the unique combination of talent, speed, supply chain support, and a culture of empowerment that turns breakthrough ideas into market reality.
JobsOhio's presence at CES reinforced this message to the forward-thinking companies building the next generation of tech across the globe, from groundbreaking panel discussions featuring industry leaders to a comprehensive marketing campaign that became the talk of the show.
The result? Thousands of meaningful connections and hundreds of new business leads, widespread media exposure, and a dramatic shift in how the global tech industry perceives Ohio's competitive advantages.
Offering Ohio’s Competitive Advantage at CES
JobsOhio’s integrated marketing campaign ensured Ohio's message cut through the noise of the world's most crowded tech event. Attendees from Ohio expressed gratitude, while those not from Ohio showed curiosity about our comprehensive approach, which included strategic event signage throughout the Las Vegas Convention Center and The Venetian resort, a robust digital presence, and social media messaging and amplification that generated millions of impressions and thousands of connections on site. JobsOhio was also prominently featured at events like the Leaders in Technology dinner and the conference’s AI Foundry. The campaign created a cohesive narrative: Ohio isn't just participating in the future of technology – we're building it. In doing so, it earned 4.7 million impressions in digital alone.
Global Media Takes Notice
The earned media results exceeded expectations. Our CES 2026 presence, coupled with Ohio-specific announcements from Joby and Oklo during the conference, garnered more than 300 favorable media mentions, delivering over 245 million impressions worldwide. There were substantive stories about Ohio's transformation into a technology powerhouse. And many media continue to follow up by requesting interviews and visits to Ohio to see what all the buzz is about.
JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef connected with international business audiences through high-profile interviews with publications including Germany's Handelsblatt, the largest daily business media outlet in the EU, and Nikkei Asia, the world’s largest financial newspaper. These conversations help to position Ohio as the natural landing spot for European and Asian companies seeking to establish or expand their North American operations.
Manufacturing the Future: The Panel That Captured CES
The highlight of JobsOhio's CES presence was the panel discussion, 'Manufacturing the Future: Energy. Mobility. AI.' Moderated by J.P. Nauseef, the inaugural manufacturing track panel brought together visionaries who are actively reshaping their industries in Ohio: JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby Aviation; Jacob DeWitte, Co-founder and CEO of Oklo; Aaron Slodov, Founder and CEO of Atomic Industries; and Ted Carter, President of The Ohio State University.
The reindustrialization of America and the advanced manufacturing renaissance are happening in Ohio across all sectors of our diverse economy – from aerospace to energy to technology to biotech and so much more.
The panel conversation revealed why Ohio has become the preferred location for companies that need to move fast. Bevirt didn't mince words about Joby’s experience expanding in Dayton: "The workforce in Ohio has been absolutely spectacular."
This wasn't empty praise: Joby has announced an additional 730,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Ohio, a testament to the speed at which they can recruit skilled talent and scale operations.
The manufacturing transformation happening in Ohio goes beyond traditional metrics. As Bevirt observed, we're witnessing something unprecedented: "I think that we are living through the singularity at the moment and it can be hard to see the reality distortion as we're living through it, but this is what I believe is going to be the greatest disruption and the most rapid disruption in human history." He added, "You can take a 10X engineer and turn them into a 100X engineer and that is really, really profound. It's exciting, and it's very daunting."
Ohio State President Carter reinforced Ohio's forward-looking approach to workforce development with a bold declaration: "We have made a declarative statement that every single student starting with the freshmen classes going into their second semester right now will be AI fluent when they graduate. Every single student, every academic discipline." This commitment to preparing the workforce of tomorrow positions Ohio's talent pipeline as unmatched nationally.
Carter, a retired Navy admiral, also spoke to what sets Ohio apart culturally: "I have never moved to a place in my professional career where I felt more welcome and that I didn't have to be from there to be part of it than Ohio." This welcoming, collaborative spirit is what transforms Ohio from a place to do business into a place to build the future.
Jacob DeWitte of Oklo highlighted the energy infrastructure that will power this manufacturing renaissance, explaining how nuclear energy's material efficiency makes it ideal for meeting surging AI and industrial demands: "One of the great things about nuclear is it's very materially efficient. It uses the fewest materials per megawatt hour of any energy source that we have today."
Oklo is building two power plants in Southern Ohio and investing in a new nuclear engineering department at Ohio State University.
Leading AI at Scale
Our second panel, "Leading AI at Scale," further demonstrated Ohio's leadership in emerging technologies. The discussion explored how artificial intelligence is transforming industries and how Ohio's ecosystem – combining world-class research institutions, manufacturing expertise, and a business-friendly environment – creates the ideal conditions for AI-driven innovation to flourish at commercial scale.
Converting Conversations to Commitments
Beyond the stage, JobsOhio's team conducted hundreds of meetings with technology executives, investors, and entrepreneurs. These weren't casual conversations. There were substantive discussions about expansion plans, site selection criteria, and workforce needs. Our team built relationships with companies, creating a robust pipeline of potential investments across aerospace, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and AI sectors.
The Path Forward
CES 2026 crystallized a fundamental truth: the global technology industry is discovering what Ohio companies have known for years. When you need to move from concept to commercial production quickly, when you need skilled workers who can adapt to emerging technologies, when you need infrastructure that supports rapid scaling, Ohio delivers. And JobsOhio helps you make it happen.
The companies building the future aren't just visiting Ohio anymore. They're choosing to build here, expand here, and grow here. At CES, we showed the world why. In the months ahead, we'll continue showing them how – with rapid growth, steadfast support, and the ability to move ideas to reality faster than anywhere else.
