SiteOhio is marking 10 years of helping Ohio communities and companies find the right fit. JobsOhio’s best-in-class site readiness program evaluates a site’s potential, closes infrastructure gaps, and connects the right community partners so projects can move forward successfully.
Part 4 of 4: A Site Selector’s View
Taylor Stepp has sat on both sides of the economic development table. He started at JobsOhio 12 years ago — hired not long after the organization got off the ground — before moving to the Ohio Southeast Economic Development, then to Ernst & Young, and then finally launching his own firm, Strategic Development Partners, in 2025. Today, he advises companies searching for sites across the country (while also supporting Gallia County’s economic development efforts, including Dan Evans Industrial Park, a 77-acre SiteOhio Authenticated site that announced the development of a $6.1 million spec building in March 2026).
That dual vantage point — representing companies searching for the right location and local communities eager to be found — gives Stepp a clear-eyed view of what actually separates Ohio from its competition.
A Tale of Two Calls
Stepp recently worked on a mega-project for a client seeking a site that met a very specific set of requirements. On a call meant to answer the client’s questions, in front of the client’s C-suite, the local utility’s engineers ended up debating basic transmission-line specifications in real time.
That’s the kind of thing that gets you fired as a site selector,” Stepp said.
Compare that to how a call typically plays out in Ohio.
I pick up the phone, call one person, and JobsOhio pulls everyone together and gets all the information I need,” he said. That makes my job a lot easier, because I’ve got an answer ready before my client even has to ask.
The difference isn't the strength of any one utility or partner. It’s that Ohio does its homework and unites its team.
It’s very customer-focused, and that doesn’t happen elsewhere,” Stepp said. “Other states seem like they’re reaching, they’re trying to invent a process, or do something off script.
It’s just in the DNA of JobsOhio and the Ohio team to do things the right way.
Built, Not Bought
Stepp has watched that coordination get built. In his early years at JobsOhio, sites were often marketed on reputation alone (“we’ve heard this is a good site”) without anyone confirming basic facts like geotechnical conditions or utility capacity. The thoroughness of the SiteOhio process changed that by forcing communities to pressure-test their properties and gather real answers instead of assumptions. As a result, sites across the state that had been untouched for decades began attracting serious interest once the due diligence on them caught up with their potential.
The secret sauce is the regional network and programs like SiteOhio that position the state well,” Stepp said. “That coordination can’t be bought or copied. There has to be a culture-setting tone built into an organization over time, which JobsOhio has done a really good job of professionalizing.
Asked to make his pitch for Ohio in a single line, Stepp didn’t hesitate.
You’re going to get much fewer surprises. And a solutions-oriented team ready to help solve whatever issues come up.
Learn more at www.jobsohio.com/site-selection
