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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > February > 01 > Entry
Editorial: Ohio must market itself better
Gov. Ted Strickland’s State of the State speech offered an impressive litany of things that recommend Ohio. They don’t necessarily recommend the governor himself — any more than the better-known list of negative statistics about the state can necessarily be blamed on him.
But they are worth remembering. To name some:
*Ohio ranks first among the states for renewable and advanced energy manufacturing projects.
*The Council of State Governments said Ohio ranked first last year for the total number of new green jobs created.
*Ohio residents pay 10 percent less for electricity than the national average.
*The Small Business and Entrepreneurship council ranks Ohio’s business climate 11th in the nation.
*Ohio is the only state where exports have grown every year since 1998.
*Venture capital investments have been growing more than 20 percent per year, which is two times the rate of growth nationwide.
*Ohio’s colleges have had the lowest increase in tuition in the country during the last three years (though it must be said that the cost was high to begin with).
*The Pew Center on the States said, as state budgets go, Ohio is not in as much financial distress as many other.
*Ohio has the seventh-most aggressive energy standards, which is important in spurring utility companies to provide new types of power.
Ohio too often doesn’t get credit for these attributes (and others). The state has always, it seems, been notoriously bad at packaging its advantages and promoting them. We proceed as if we think people will just happen to notice or discover Ohio’s special qualities, and the facts will speak for themselves.
In an age when marketing has never been more sophisticated, relentless and omnipresent, Midwestern humility really can be a problem.
Maybe Ohio can work a trade with people who are better at this sort of thing. Gov. Strickland said in this remarks that Cincinnati’s Procter & Gamble is excited to have cut a deal with Ohio universities whereby it will start relying more on their research capacities. The company, he said, has come to the realization that, on its own, its can never have enough people working to foster new products and improvements in existing ones.
To ensure this sort of cooperation can happen easily, the governor said Ohio has created a model contract that will take the hassle out of negotiating research agreements (which can be complicated because of concerns about patents, licenses and whatnot).
Such collaborations and knowledge exchanges are the way of the world today.
But has anyone ever thought about getting P&G — and others like it — to share some marketing prowess with the state?
That company can sell shampoo to bald people and improved detergent to people who already have clean clothes. Surely, there’s something state government can learn from it.
If Ohio’s strengths have a low profile, blaming the public for not knowing them doesn’t make much sense.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment | Categories: Economy, Editorials, Ellen Belcher, Ohio government
Comments
By thomas
February 1, 2010 7:11 AM | Link to this
It seems if promoting these issues is important to the ed bd of the DDN, then the DDN is very capable of promoting these issues—I guess that is what this editorial is about. The problem with these stats (or the ones about the fact we have 4 of the top 10 fastest dying cities) is that people don’t really care about stats they measure success based on their experiences. Right now from the rich to the working class, people are leaving Ohio because they see brighter futures elsewhere. These people must all be wrong because we have been No. 1 or 2 in site selection magazine for new business starts for more than a decade. The fact the unemployment rate is 11 percent and wages have lagged the national average for 40 years can’t be true.
By Directionally Accurate
February 1, 2010 9:10 AM | Link to this
I agree that Ohio should be marketing to the world on the business channels and other media, much like MI does. Our highway system is great relative to some, just dated. We have a solid rail network,& water transportation at either end. But if the stae is a laggard at this, the local Dayton Development Coalition must be abysmal.
By Directionally Accurate
February 1, 2010 9:11 AM | Link to this
I agree that Ohio should be marketing to the world on the business channels and other media, much like MI does. Our highway system is great relative to some, just dated. We have a solid rail network,& water transportation at either end. But if the stae is a laggard at this, the local Dayton Development Coalition must be abysmal.
By Enon
February 1, 2010 11:54 AM | Link to this
Market all you want, but companies researching will find Ohio basically unfriendly to business. Short term tax abatement is just that, short term. Until Ohio become competitive with other states relative to the cost for a company to do business here, companies will choose more attractive places. Even Honda has considered bailing out of Ohio while Indiana, Kentucky, Alabama, etc. are attracting new car plants.
By fortressdayton
February 1, 2010 11:56 AM | Link to this
Marketing alone won’t correct the bad advertising the state itself through its poor governance. We are always a day late and a dollar short. Our laws are schizophrenic at best and while trying to make everyone happy -especially those with their hands outstretched- we make no one happy. Promoting ethanol that is more expensive than gasoline, high speed trains that travel 87 mph, blue laws as vestiges of religious power??? Just say NO-hio.
By irishguy
February 1, 2010 6:10 PM | Link to this
Right to work states and those with lower or no state income taxes will lure businesses over Ohio most every time.
By Beverly Shillito
February 1, 2010 8:51 PM | Link to this
Online Comment By Beverly Shillito Founding Partner, Sebaly Shillito + Dyer Board Member, Ohio Business Development Coalition Dear Editor, Today’s editorial on Ohio’s marketing efforts makes a good point: We do need to proactively tell the world the Ohio Story. I am writing to thank you for your ongoing recognition of this important initiative and to provide you some specific information on Ohio’s efforts and successes to date. As background, in 2005, Gov. Bob Taft formed a unique public-private marketing enterprise for Ohio, the Ohio Business Development Coalition (OBDC). Its Executive Director Ed Burghard is a Retired Harley Procter Marketer from Procter & Gamble. He brings 33 years of world-class P&G brand-building experience in comprehensive marketing and communications for Ohio’s benefit. Remarkably, even in the midst of a difficult national and state economy, the Ohio branding effort has achieved numerous results during the past year for both Dayton and our state, such as: • National trade publication coverage by IndustryWeek and a Wall Street Journal advertisement for the H2Open for Business water campaign launched by the Dayton Development Coalition • Associated Press coverage of Dayton-area company Renegade and employee Shannon Swift • Associated Press coverage of the Ohio Aviation Hall of Fame’s recognition of astronauts and Jimmy Stewart • Two segments spanning 7 minutes and 30 seconds on CNN: Lou Dobbs Tonight broadcast, featuring an Ohio manufacturer launching a wind turbine division and Ohio’s economic development efforts I would also like to acknowledge and thank you for your support in helping to tell the Ohio story. I noticed the bullet points itemized in your editorial included several news items covered online by the Dayton Daily News as a result of the OBDC’s 30 electronic news releases in 2009. Last year alone, your paper printed six of the stories pitched by the Ohio Business Development Coalition, including: • The H2Open for Business water campaign launched by the Dayton Development Coalition • Several Ohio Third Frontier success stories, including grants to benefit the University of Dayton Research Institute and Ultracell • Ohio’s #4 national ranking for its business climate It is important to note that the majority of the OBDC’s outreach efforts are targeted to C-level investors through both national and trade media. By strategic design, the bulk of our communications reach those executives making capital investment decisions. But it’s safe to say that our coverage of Ohio executives is noteworthy, in Dayton and beyond. For example, the public relations component of the program alone has delivered 4,166 media clips and more than 3.4 billion impressions in 2009. Through the program’s Wall Street Journal advertising campaign, there have been more than 50 original ads published since the program’s inception; and, the OhioMeansBusiness.com Web site draws more than 11,000 visits per week from people around the globe interested in learning more about the benefits of living and working in Ohio. Ohio has a great story to tell, and the world is waiting to hear it. It is a story of transforming a state that led the 20th century manufacturing revolution to one that is leading the nation in advanced manufacturing. It is the story of a state where people can be successful professionally and personally without having to sacrifice one for the other. The OBDC is proud to be playing a role in telling that story. Once again, thank you for caring about Ohio’s economic development mission and for your role in informing Ohioans about the progress being made in the journey to economic prosperity. Thank you, Beverly Shillito
By Beverly Shillito
February 1, 2010 8:53 PM | Link to this
Online Comment By Beverly Shillito Founding Partner, Sebaly Shillito + Dyer Board Member, Ohio Business Development Coalition Dear Editor, Today’s editorial on Ohio’s marketing efforts makes a good point: We do need to proactively tell the world the Ohio Story. I am writing to thank you for your ongoing recognition of this important initiative and to provide you some specific information on Ohio’s efforts and successes to date. As background, in 2005, Gov. Bob Taft formed a unique public-private marketing enterprise for Ohio, the Ohio Business Development Coalition (OBDC). Its Executive Director Ed Burghard is a Retired Harley Procter Marketer from Procter & Gamble. He brings 33 years of world-class P&G brand-building experience in comprehensive marketing and communications for Ohio’s benefit. Remarkably, even in the midst of a difficult national and state economy, the Ohio branding effort has achieved numerous results during the past year for both Dayton and our state, such as: • National trade publication coverage by IndustryWeek and a Wall Street Journal advertisement for the H2Open for Business water campaign launched by the Dayton Development Coalition • Associated Press coverage of Dayton-area company Renegade and employee Shannon Swift • Associated Press coverage of the Ohio Aviation Hall of Fame’s recognition of astronauts and Jimmy Stewart • Two segments spanning 7 minutes and 30 seconds on CNN: Lou Dobbs Tonight broadcast, featuring an Ohio manufacturer launching a wind turbine division and Ohio’s economic development efforts I would also like to acknowledge and thank you for your support in helping to tell the Ohio story. I noticed the bullet points itemized in your editorial included several news items covered online by the Dayton Daily News as a result of the OBDC’s 30 electronic news releases in 2009. Last year alone, your paper printed six of the stories pitched by the Ohio Business Development Coalition, including: • The H2Open for Business water campaign launched by the Dayton Development Coalition • Several Ohio Third Frontier success stories, including grants to benefit the University of Dayton Research Institute and Ultracell • Ohio’s #4 national ranking for its business climate It is important to note that the majority of the OBDC’s outreach efforts are targeted to C-level investors through both national and trade media. By strategic design, the bulk of our communications reach those executives making capital investment decisions. But it’s safe to say that our coverage of Ohio executives is noteworthy, in Dayton and beyond. For example, the public relations component of the program alone has delivered 4,166 media clips and more than 3.4 billion impressions in 2009. Through the program’s Wall Street Journal advertising campaign, there have been more than 50 original ads published since the program’s inception; and, the OhioMeansBusiness.com Web site draws more than 11,000 visits per week from people around the globe interested in learning more about the benefits of living and working in Ohio. Ohio has a great story to tell, and the world is waiting to hear it. It is a story of transforming a state that led the 20th century manufacturing revolution to one that is leading the nation in advanced manufacturing. It is the story of a state where people can be successful professionally and personally without having to sacrifice one for the other. The OBDC is proud to be playing a role in telling that story. Once again, thank you for caring about Ohio’s economic development mission and for your role in informing Ohioans about the progress being made in the journey to economic prosperity. Thank you, Beverly Shillito
By Rob
February 2, 2010 11:34 AM | Link to this
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”…Dick, the butcher, Henry The Sixth, Part 2 Act 4, scene 2, 71–78