Gov. Ted Strickland, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Ohio Department of Transportation Director Jim Beasley announced Friday program details for a $100 million investment in Ohio's logistics and distribution infrastructure as part of the Ohio Bipartisan Jobs Stimulus Plan.
The Ohio Department of Development, headed by Fisher as director, describes the Ohio Bipartisan Jobs Stimulus Plan as a $1.57 billion package designed to create new jobs while laying the foundation for future economic prosperity in the state. The group said that the Logistics and Distribution Program will help create a seamless multimodal transportation infrastructure across the state, linking rails, roads, waterways and airports. Strickland and Fisher say that this infrastructure investment, combined with what they call Ohio's strategic location, will spur economic development and is expected to create thousands of jobs in Ohio.
"Making Ohio a hub through which goods and products are shipped is crucial to attracting and creating jobs in our state," Strickland said. "We are blessed by our proximity to a large percentage of the nation's consumers and we are moving quickly to make sure we have the modern infrastructure needed to truly grow our logistics industry."
Beasley called Ohio's multimodal transportation system a conduit for commerce that connects "businesses with markets, crops to grocery stores, manufactured goods from factory to factory, and the nation's 7th largest state economy with the rest of the world."
"It is at the intersections - where our modes meet - that we have an incredible opportunity to identify and address the impediments that prevent the greater flow of goods into and out of Ohio," Beasley said. "It is also at these intersections where this investment in Logistics and Distribution can stimulate the kinds of jobs so many Ohioans want and need."
The announcement was made Friday in the Rickenbacker Global Logistics Park in Columbus, home of Hyperlogistics, a firm that specializes in warehousing, distribution, and shipment management. Fisher said that the investment in transportation infrastructure would open up products to new markets.
"Enhancing the movement of freight allows our companies to introduce Ohio products to new markets and better support our existing manufacturing and retail sectors," said Fisher. "This component of the Bipartisan Jobs Stimulus Plan will assist in keeping Ohio ahead of the logistics and distribution curve and strengthen our foundation in this globally vital industry."
Ohio's Department of Development said that the stimulus plan is designed to create 57,000 new jobs while laying the foundation for future economic prosperity. In an announcement, they said the package was developed to create rapid and long-lasting stimulus for Ohio's economy.
The ODOD claims that positive benefits from the Logistics and Distribution Stimulus Program will take effect as early as January of 2009. The ODOD said that the stimulus plan also makes major investments in workforce, infrastructure and new and emerging industries that they say will spur job creation in Ohio.
The plan seeks to invest $50 million in bio-based products, which the ODOD says is intended to help "support and grow an industry that aims to produce polymers, plastics and other crucial modern materials out of Ohio-grown crops. The plan also seeks to invest $100 million in Biomedical products, which they say will help create jobs through spurring a part of Ohio's economy that saves lives and leads to medical advances.
One-hundred and fifty million is slated to go toward advanced and renewable energy, which the ODOD says will create new jobs by making Ohio a powerhouse of renewable and advanced energy production such as wind, solar and clean coal.
The plan will also invest $400 million in local infrastructure, which the ODOD said will be used to help build projects such as roads, bridges, sewers and water systems. Other infrastructure investments include $200 million for clean Ohio conservation, which the department says will fund the preservation of farmland and greenspace; another $200 million for clean Ohio revitalization, which the department says will help revitalize Ohio cities and industrial areas by brownfield clean up and transformation into new residential and business development.
The Department also plans what they're calling the "Historic Preservation Tax Credit," which will invest $120 million to "revitalize historically significant buildings that expand the tax base of the local community."
The ODOD also plans to invest $250 million into a higher education workforce initiative. The goal of this is to keep more college-educated Ohioans in the state by linking them with good internships, cooperative education programs and jobs while they earn their degrees. The department says that matched with private sector investments, this will make Ohio a leader in higher education and job creation efforts.
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