Attracting New Employers

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Attracting New Employers

Last month, my colleague Adrijana Kowatsch and I had lunch with Neil Hensley, the Senior Director of Economic Development for the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce. In cooperation with more than 30 local economic development partners, the Chamber leads the effort to retain and expand local business and to attract new employers to the Cincinnati Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Neil explained to us their strategy and their results. We were surprised to learn that many of the new jobs created in the local economy are due to the large influx of foreign companies that are locating in the MSA.

For instance, the India-based IT company, Tata Consultancy Services will locate in Clermont County, creating 1,000 new jobs averaging $65,000 in annual salary. Omya Industries, a Switzerland-based chemical company is creating 70 jobs by bringing its U.S. headquarters to our area. Toyota Boshoku, an affiliate of the well-known Japanese automotive company, has located its U.S. headquarters in Northern Kentucky, creating 300 jobs. In addition, the region has benefited from the expansion of several European companies.

There are logical steps to take when considering how to attract new businesses to our area. New employers are attracted to locations that have supportive clusters of businesses – businesses from which they would buy or to which they would sell, businesses which hire similar types of labor and use similar technologies. The Economics Center has identified business cluster in our area and with this information the Chamber assesses which types of employers would be a good fit given our supportive clusters of businesses.

The next step is to stand out from all of the other regions that compete for the same business. When an employer shows interest, our local economic development partners work vigorously to match the prospect’s business needs with what our area has to offer. Our strengths include a strong history of manufacturing industries and a complimentary workforce, the abundance of technical schools, four established universities, ten Fortune 500 headquarters, and the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport with its direct fight connections.

Of course, the network of economic development partners, including the Chamber , must remain sensitive to emerging industry and workforce needs, particularly in the areas of IT and alternative energy, which many feel are the new wave for economic development. These emergent industries may help Greater Cincinnati’s economic development experts surpass their present successes, which, during the current annual campaign have secured 78 new projects, both in major expansions and relocation of companies. All of this work amounts to an impressive 8,352 new jobs and a total investment of $943 million into our region.