Columbus -- Reinforcing that their top priority is to revive Ohio’s economy and begin creating jobs, John Kasich and Mary Taylor today released a comprehensive plan to replace Ohio’s outdated, government-centered economic development efforts with a new private-sector strategy for job creation.

With almost 400,000 Ohioans having lost their jobs on Ted Strickland’s watch, and in the wake of a string of high-profile mistakes by Strickland’s Department of Development, the idea that government agencies know best how to help businesses succeed is clearly an outdated one.  A new approach is needed.

Kasich and Taylor propose moving Ohio’s economic development efforts out of state government and into a new, private sector corporation that can better help Ohio businesses grow and expand.  Unhindered by the bureaucratic mindset of state government, JobsOhio would draw upon the expertise of Ohio’s business leaders to meet the needs of businesses seeking to overcome regulatory and permitting snafus, fully utilize Ohio’s many assets, and quickly help create jobs.  

Said Kasich at the announcement, "We have many great assets in this state, that if we would use them effectively, we can be successful.  But we need to build a portfolio of companies and at the same time we need to reduce barriers and improve the atmosphere in our state for real business development.  Frankly, we’ve got a lot of things going for us, but we have got to create an entity filled with professional people that everyday will wake up and think about how we are going to create jobs in Ohio. The President of the United States' people will report to him on our national security.  Our national security here in Ohio is the state of our people and the ability to create jobs and bring economic prosperity."    

Said Taylor, “The Ohio Department of Development is supposed to be our state’s leading economic development agency, yet over the past four years, the Department has been in disarray, suffering from a lack of leadership and -- for seven long months as Ohio continued to shed jobs – had no director.  JobsOhio demonstrates the Kasich Administration’s singularity in focus on job creation and economic growth – there will be no higher priority in our Administration.”

For more information about JobsOhio, please visit: http://www.KasichForOhio/JobsOhio.