Commissioners Build Support for Central Ohio Manufacturing

The Franklin County Commissioners are helping to spread the word about local manufacturing today, and highlighting local opportunities in the manufacturing field. October is Ohio Manufacturing Month, and October 3rd is National Manufacturing Day. Throughout the month, the State of Ohio and a partnership including OH!Manufacturing, the Center for Innovative Food Technology, the University of Dayton, and the Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network are organizing events across the state to bring the career potential of manufacturing to middle and high school students. Today, there are more than 1,500 events nation-wide to promote manufacturers and their industry.

 “Even in the information age, manufacturing is incredibly important to the economy in Franklin County,” said Commission Board President Marilyn Brown, who also serves as a Columbus 2020 Board member. “There are almost 2,000 manufacturers in our region employing more than 80,000 of our local residents in good-paying jobs of which they can and are justifiably proud.”

The largest manufacturers in Central Ohio are Honda of America, Whirlpool Corporation, TS Tech, Abbott Nutrition, and Emerson Network Power, and the area boasts more than 255 million square feet of industrial space. Local manufacturers experienced a 31% increase in productivity between 2001 and 2012.

“As chair of the International Economic Development Task Force for all the nation’s counties, I recognize the integral role of manufacturing in a thriving, resilient economy,” Commissioner Paula Brooks said. “We must not forget how to make things here in Central Ohio, and around America. With technology advances, and untapped world markets comprising 95 percent of potential new customers, we have a great opportunity to continue our rapid rise as Ohio’s fastest growing county, by continuing to embrace especially advanced manufacturing.”

Some of the reasons that Central Ohio is a successful hub for manufacturing are that it is within about 10 hours drive of half of the U.S. population, so it’s easy to ship products and supplies to and from, and local institutional resources such as Battelle, Edison Welding Institute, the Ohio Manufacturing Institute, and The Ohio State University.

“There’s so much going on in Franklin County,” said Commissioner John O’Grady. “That it’s easy to overlook our manufacturing economy. That diversified economy is part of what has helped us to weather the recent economic downturn as well as we have, and manufacturing is a key part of that. Central Ohio is a great place to build things, and for young people to build a career.”

Visit OhioManufacturingMonth.com for more information and a complete listing of Manufacturing Month events around the state.