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Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Strickland sees “embryonic” signs of recovery in Ohio
NCR has decided to pull out of Dayton and GM is closing three facilities in Ohio. But Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland said Tuesday, June 9, that he’s seeing some signs of recovery in Ohio.
Strickland said a foreign technology company recently selected Ohio as its North American headquarters, a decision which will bring “significant” jobs to the Buckeye State. But he wouldn’t spill the beans on who the company is, where it plans to locate or how many jobs are on the way. He said if all goes as planned, that company will bring jobs as soon as the first quarter of next year.
He said he’s also hopeful that plans for passenger rail between Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland spur economic development. Ohio Department of Transportation Director Jolene Molitoris said the state is in the running to manufacture rail cars.
Strickland, who spoke to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke Tuesday about NCR, also cites JPMorgan Chase’s decision to bring more than 1,000 new jobs to Ohio as evidence of recovery.
“Some things are beginning to happen that show signs that recovery may be on the way,” he said.
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TweetHigh-speed rail in Ohio? Strickland is optimistic.
If all goes well, Ohio passengers could be riding the rails between Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati as soon as the first quarter of 2011, Gov. Ted Strickland said Tuesday, June 9.
Ohio;s governor was in Washington to try to ensure that all goes well. He met with the Secretary of Transportation and the president of Amtrak as part of his bid to garner $400 million in economic stimulus dollars to redevelop passenger rail service between the four cities.
The last time the state had passenger rail service between those cities was in 1971, according to the state’s transportation director, Jolene Molitoris.
The “Three-C” corridor, which Strickland called the “Three C and D” corridor, has already been selected by the Federal Railroad Administration as one of the nation’s designated high-speed rail corridors. Strickland said current best estimates indicate it will cost $400 million or less to relaunch passenger rail between the four cities.
Amtrak is currently studying the cost and interest in such a corridor. The economic stimulus bill set aside about $8 billion nationally for passenger rail, and Strickland hopes that fund will foot the bill entirely for the development of the rail corridor. Currently, Amtrak operates passenger rail between Chicago, Toledo and Cleveland. Strickland said Tuesday he’s working to expand that service as well.
He’s also been working with Norfolk Southern and CSX about using their right of way.
On Tuesday, Strickland met with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Amtrak President Joseph Boardman. Strickland has already talked to LaHood about the proposal. He said he’s also talked to President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden about passenger rail service in Ohio.
Molitoris, who served as the head of the railroad administration during the Clinton administration, said operating costs are $11 million or less annually in 12 of the 14 states with passenger rail service.
As for the high-speed: Molitoris said passenger rail initially would top out at 79 miles per hour. Over time, the state hopes to be able to ramp up to speeds as high as 120 miles per hour, she said.
State officials are hopeful that development of passenger rail could spur additional economic investment in the state. Ohio is among the states in competition to have passenger rail cars manufactured in Ohio, Molitoris said.
Strickland said a handful of states are clamoring for stimulus dollars to develop passenger rail. Ohio, he said, can’t be left behind or it will be an “island.”
“The fact that Ohio is largely devoid of passenger service is intolerable,” he said.
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TweetU.S. Commerce Secretary gives Strickland hope
Gov. Ted Strickland spoke for half an hour on Tuesday, June 9, with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and was pleased with what Locke had to say about efforts to revive Ohio’s economy.
“He told me that he was personally impressed with some of the efforts that we’ve undertaken in Ohio. He would like to see Ohio used as a model in terms of how the state may try to mobilize following this kind of economic dislocation,” Strickland said.
He said he spoke to Locke specifically about Dayton, hit hard by NCR”s decision to move its headquarters to Georgia, and also about Moraine, Mansfield and Twinsburg, communities affected by auto industry cutbacks.
Strickland said he asked Locke, former governor of Washington, to make sure that applications for federal aid from these communities “were given an appropriate hearing and evaluation.”
“I felt like he was being sincere and and not just pandering to me,” said Strickland.
Strickland said he also told Locke of his opposition to the use of federal stimulus money to lure jobs from one state to another.
“He assured me that he felt very strongly the same as I did, that stimulus dollars should be used to create and retain jobs,” not to lure jobs from one state to another.
Columbus, Ga., has applied for $5 million in federal stimulus money to buy a building to house some NCR employees and to build a second building to accommodate 870 NCR manufacturing jobs.
Also Tuesday, Strickland said he spoke personally with Bruce Langos, chief operating officer of Teradata Corp., and Langos told him “they had no interest in thinking of any kind of relocation.”
“He expressed to me his great satisfaction with being in Dayton, his ability to attract the kind of talent that Teradata needs. Teradata split off from NCR in 2007. It specializes in data warehousing.
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TweetOhio AFL-CIO endorses four-casino ballot proposal
The Ohio AFL-CIO on Tuesday, June 9, announced that it has endorsed a ballot proposal for casinos in Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Toledo.
“When enacted, this casino proposal will bring a much-needed major private investment infusion into Ohio’s struggling economy,” Ohio AFL-CIO President Joe Rugola said in a press release.
The Ohio AFL-CIO represents about 700,000 workers in 40 national unions, the release said.
The four-casino plan is backed by Penn National Gaming of Wyomissing, Pa., and Dan Gilbert, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Supporters of the plan must turn in 402,275 signatures from registered voters by July 1 to get the issue on the November ballot.
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TweetDevelopment director heads to Dayton for post-NCR help
Lisa Patt-McDaniel, interim director of the Ohio Development Department, will meet with local officials and business leaders on Friday, June 12, in Dayton to discuss state help for the area in the wake of NCR’s decision to move its corporate headquarters to Georgia, Montgomery County Commissioner Dan Foley said on Tuesday, June 9.
The meeting is in addition to the proposal for state aid that state Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, has been developing, Foley, a Democrat said. It will be a public meeting, said Foley.
“We don’t want to wait on this,” said Foley. “We need some short-term assistance.”
Possible state help, said Foley, could include: tax breaks for businesses, job training money and help from the Ohio Department of Transportation.
State legislators, county and city of Dayton officials and representatives from U.S. Rep. Mike Turner’s office are among those being invited to the 9 a.m. meeting, said Foley. Representatives from the Dayton Development Coalition and the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce also are being invited, said Foley.
“What we’re trying to do is get all the stakeholders around one table,” said Foley.
An aide to Patt-McDaniel confirmed that she will be at the meeting.
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