| The CEO's Corner - Tax Reform a Plus for Business Attraction |
 Have you heard: once again, the Tax Foundation ranked Ohio as one of the worst states for business tax burdens? If this is the case, then why is Team NEO hearing exactly the opposite from potential business investors?
In short, the study is flawed. I know what you may be thinking – as CEO of Team NEO, it is my job to find the silver lining and focus on the positives. Fortunately, in this case, we just need to listen to the experts...
The Education Tax Policy Institute said the report is not a true representation of Ohio’s business-friendly tax climate.
The Washington D.C. based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says: “any given state’s ranking has much more to do with the Tax Foundation’s methodological adjustments and with fluctuations in the data than it has to do with the actual level of taxes paid by people who live in the state.”
One would think that actual taxes paid might enter into any credible ranking. Evidently not for the Tax Foundation.
Hopefully, most of you are aware that in 2005, Ohio’s business and elected leaders collaborated to produce one of the most sweeping statewide tax reforms in history. The new Commercial Activity Tax replaces a number of business taxes and gives Ohio the lowest business taxes in the Midwest. The tax reform eliminates taxes on inventory and corporate income, as well as on investments on machinery and equipment, making Ohio much more attractive. Once fully implemented, Ohio based exporters can be more globally competitive because products sold outside of Ohio are not taxed, and all Ohio businesses will be taxed at the same low rate. Finally, the reform delivers a 21% income tax cut for all Ohio families, resulting in advanced economic opportunity for all Ohio residents and businesses.
To get the real world story, we turned to site selection consultants, an important group that helps companies decide where to invest. They told us first-hand that the 2005 tax reform makes Ohio attractive for business investment. “The State of Ohio has significantly changed the structure of its business taxes…some widely publicized rankings do not seem to recognize that fact, “ said Steve Weitzner of Silverlode Consulting Corp. “Qualified site selectors do not use third party rankings when assessing potential locations for their projects. We calculate the actual tax burden that will likely be incurred based on the parameters of each project. In our experience, Ohio's business tax burden has become significantly more competitive compared to many of the other states…and it would be a mistake to dismiss Ohio as a location for a business based solely on any published rankings.”
The newly lowered taxes are already having a positive impact for Ohio and the Cleveland Plus region. Margaret P. Grissom of Peake Consulting LLC notes, “Once fully phased in, the Ohio Tax Reform makes the state very competitive from a business climate standpoint. In fact, in two recent projects, the tax reform was instrumental in Ohio winning those projects.”
I encourage you to learn more about how and why this sweeping tax reform competitively positions the State of Ohio and the Cleveland Plus region. Be sure to pass this on to friends and colleagues so that we can spread the word on the importance and effectiveness that Ohio’s Tax Reform has on our state’s ability to compete.
Tom Waltermire
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| Cleveland Plus Partners Connect with Rouen, France Companies |
A team representing Cleveland Plus – Cleveland Port Authority, French-American Chamber of Commerce-Northern Ohio Chapter, Greater Cleveland Partnership, State of Ohio and Team NEO – explored new investment opportunities from French companies. The partners met with more than 35 companies interested in creating a partnership in the United States while also participating in the SEINO Show, a business-to-business industrial show in Rouen, France, October 20-25, 2008, as part of the City of Cleveland sister city relationship with Rouen. “The mission was successful in promoting business opportunities in Northeast Ohio,” said Jay Foran, Sr. Vice President for Team NEO. “We are encouraged by our discussions and will follow-up on some solid leads to bring new investment to the Cleveland Plus region.”
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| Cleveland Plus Business meets with Site Consultants at Roundtable |
Earlier this month, Steve Fritsch, Director of Marketing and Business Attraction for Team NEO, met with 10 site selection consultants at the Expansion Management’s Roundtable in the Desert event. In addition to conversations about the competitiveness of the Cleveland Plus region for business investment, the consultants participated in a number of discussions on talent attraction, foreign investment, and advanced energy attraction; all of which the region is well positioned.
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| Team NEO & Cleveland Plus featured at IEDC Annual Conference |
Carin Rockind, Team NEO’s Vice President for Marketing and Communications, participated on a panel of experts for regional branding that included Ed Burghard from the Ohio Business Development Coalition. More than 250 International Economic Development Council (IEDC) conference attendees followed Carin’s engaging discussion as she presented the development and successes of the Cleveland Plus business attraction campaign.
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| Site Selection Consultants feature Team NEO's Cleveland Plus Quarterly Economic Reports |
The IEDC Conference closes with a panel discussion with about 15 consultants. Each year, someone asks What sort of things can we be telling or providing you that will keep us top of mind and separate us from the many other messages you get? In front of all attendees and consultants, Tracey Bosman from Grubb & Ellis’ Strategic Consulting Group in Chicago (a top consulting group the Cleveland Plus Business team has visited during several market visits and past conferences) called out the high quality of information contained within Team NEO’s quarterly economic reviews, our team’s research capabilities in general, and our annual Cleveland Plus visits to their office to update them on the latest happenings of Cleveland Plus. “It was invaluable to hear someone we strive to communicate with validate our marketing activities in such a positive way in front of our peers,” said Steve Fritsch, Director of Marketing and Business Attraction for Team NEO.
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| Cleveland Plus "Twitter" |
Get the latest tweets of news and information by following the Team NEO & Cleveland Plus Twitter at www.twitter.com/clevelandplus. Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. The Wall Street Journal recently wrote how businesses are finding new ways to connect interested people via Twitter. Get started today!
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| Upcoming Business Attraction Activities |
During November, Team NEO and its partners from across the region will be busy marketing the Cleveland Plus region. We will have our Cleveland Plus booth set up at the CoreNet Corporate Real Estate Summit in early November. Following the summit, two teams will conduct market visits with key companies and consultants in New York, New Jersey and the Toronto markets.
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| Be Part of the Team |
Click here to find out how you can lend a hand to bring business investment to the Cleveland Plus region.
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| SP Data LLC Selects Northeast Ohio for US Headquarters |
SP Data LLC, a global provider of strategic response management services, will make Northeast Ohio its home. The firm will bring 400 jobs to the region, and $2.5 million of capital investment. More
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| Snap On company Announces New Headquarters in Richfield |
"Northeast Ohio is a rich area for highly educated technical labor," Snap On company spokesman David Foutz said during the announcement of their new headquarters in Richfield. ''And our business grew here and started here in the mid '80s. This is home for us and we always preferred to stay here.'' Cleveland Plus is a talent-rich environment! More
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| Welcome Home Agilysys! |
Agilysys, Inc., a leading provider of innovative IT solutions, moved its headquarters from Mayfield Heights to Boca Raton, Fla., two years ago, is coming back to suburban Cleveland. More
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| DFAS is adding 800 jobs by 2011! |
Earlier this month, DFAS, Cleveland’s federal payroll center, announced it will expand its Cleveland workforce to more than 2,000 employees by the year 2011. More
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| BioInnovation Center of Excellence Launches in Akron |
A partnership of five local institutions unveiled the BioInnovation Institute that will concentrate on orthopedics, wound care and related specialties. More
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| InfoCision Brings 300 New Jobs to Youngstown-Warren |
The leading provider of call center solutions recently announced that they will expand their facility with a 25,000-square-foot addition that will bring 300 new jobs to the Youngstown-Warren area. More
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| Republic Special Metals to Build $64 Million Plant in Youngstown-Warren |
The Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber announced that Republic Special Metals is slated to break ground this fall for a new state-of-the art specialty steel manufacturing plant. The project will invest $64 million and create 60 new jobs for the Youngstown-Warren area. More
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| Greater Akron Chamber Hosts "Economic Outlook 2009" |
Join the Greater Akron Chamber at 7:30 am on November 13 to hear perspectives from two highly regarded economists who will help make sense of the economic puzzle. The guests speakers are Dr. Mayland, President of ClearView Economics, LLC, a firm specializing in economic research and forecasting and Jack Kleinhenz, Ph.D, CEO of Kleinhenz & Associates, a business and consulting firm in Cleveland, that specializes in industry studies, forecasts, regional economics and labor market issues, strategic planning and business plan development. Click here to register and for more details.
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| JumpStart Hosts "Founder Frustrations, CEO Mistakes" |
This November 13 seminar will take an in-depth look into the intricacies of founder mistakes and how to steer away from them. Dr. Noam Wasserman, professor of Entrepreneurial Management at Harvard Business School, expert researcher of the trade-offs and blunders of founders and businesses, and creator of the nationally recognized blog, "Founder Frustrations," will deliver this case study-oriented seminar. Click here to register and for more details.
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| MAGNET Second Annual Competitiveness Challenge Awards Event |
Join MAGNET for a festive evening, November 13, to celebrate the strengths of manufacturing in Northeast Ohio as they honor the participants and winners of the Second Annual Competitiveness Challenge. Click here to register and for more details.
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| Team NEO is supported by Fund for Our Economic Future, FirstEnergy, Timken Foundation, Charter One Foundation, the Cleveland Plus Marketing Alliance, Greater Cleveland Partnership, Greater Akron Chamber, Stark Development Board, Team Lorain County, Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber, and Medina Economic Development Corporation.
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