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Logistics Advantages
Bolster Ohio Industry

The Buckeye State is often referred to as a Central Hub. Throughout its history it has been a hub for commerce via canals, railroads, interstate highways, international airports and today's information superhighway.

While Ohio is mainly noted for its air courier hubs, such as Emery Worldwide in Dayton, railroads are still key to economic growth. CSX Transportation, one of America's leading railroads, worked with Ohio economic development officials last year to bring more than $50 million in new plant and equipment investment and 158 new jobs to the state.

"Customers are increasingly using rail to forward-position their products closer to the markets that they want to reach," says Randy Evans, CSXT vice president for real estate and industrial development. "Receivers and shippers are not only using rail because it is economical and efficient, but also because it is an important part of their logistics chain."

Rickenbacker International, an air cargo-dedicated facility outside of Columbus, has recorded $100 million in activity during the past five years.

Ohio has been a core player in the automobile industry ever since Dayton's Edward Deeds and Charles Kettering invented the electric self-starter.

Motor vehicle firms dominate the list of top private-sector employees. General Motors employs more Ohio workers than any other private-sector company in the state (27,700 employees). Delphi Automotive follows with 27,000 employees, the Kroger Company with 25,000 employees, Cleveland Clinic Health Systems (20,000 employees) and the Ford Motor Company (19,800 employees).

Cleveland and Columbus have been making headlines lately. Last year, the widely publicized Human Genome Project spent approximately $1 billion to identify 50,000 unique human genes. At that same time, Athersys, a Cleveland-based biotech company, identified over 20,000 unique human genes while spending less than $1 million.

Inc. magazine recently ranked eight Cleveland companies among the 100 fastest growing companies in the U.S. on its second annual Inner City 100 list. As on the first list, Cleveland had more companies honored than any other city in the survey. The firms listed for Cleveland were: Thermagon, Warren Associates, Cleveland Medical Devices, Seibert Powder Coatings, Rysar Properties, Complete Payroll Management, ColorMatrix and Stripmatic Products.

Columbus has been experiencing steady growth over the past 10 years thanks largely to huge distribution/ logistics operations opened by companies such as Eddie Bauer and Banana Republic.

"Westerville, outside of Columbus, is now poised to become the dominant player in office development," reports Shanon David Hammons, economic development coordinator for Westerville. The reason is 1,000 acres (405 ha.) off of Route 3 and Interstate 71 that encompass the Westar Center of Business. "Westar has the potential to be developed into 4 million to 5 million sq. ft. (371,600 sq. m. to 464,500 sq. m.) of space," says Hammons.

Columbus developer The Daimler Group is building a 95,000-sq.-ft. (8,800-sq.-m.) office development in Westar.