Jackson County
leaders and business owners have come together on their own dollar to support
economic growth and to fight against the economic downturn and have called on the Voinovich School of
Leadership and Public Affairs for assistance.The leaders are setting sights high, looking past typical time and
geographical boundaries with a goal of creating 10,000 regional jobs over the
next 10 years.
“The private
sector leaders who initiated the 10 in 10 process know that growing,
sustaining, and recruiting businesses and good jobs will take a lot of hard
work at the local level, and that often you must overcome turf issues in order
to move forward,” said Voinovich staff member Marsha Lewis.
The push to
proactively fight against industry collapse began when Meridian Car Parts, one
of the area’s major companies, shutdown and 350 Jackson County jobs went with
it. It was then that residents of the
county began to realize the impact the economic downturn could have on their
town, said Lewis.At the same time,
private sector professionals who had been meeting on occasion as an informal
business roundtable decided they should contact the Voinovich School and begin
to formulate a business and economic growth plan for Jackson County.
The Voinovich
School, along with the Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission (OVRDC),
entered the project as resource, Lewis said, in an effort to help the groups
come together and think about where Jackson needed to go to avoid being
devastated by the economy.With the Voinovich
School’s facilitation, the team’s first public meeting brought together a
multitude of different groups from different areas of expertise, including the
Economic Development Board, The Port Authority, government officials, as well
as public and private business professionals.
At the group’s first meeting, they began to analyze
information collected by the VoinovichSchool and OVRDC about the county’s industry mix and economic
condition.The working groups used this
data to brainstorm where jobs could be created and where business growth could
be fostered. According to Lewis, “they
know that they must think more regionally” and leaders hope that by creating a
strong economic strategy, Jackson will be a model for the rest of
Appalachia.
The group has now formed two task forces to focus on
creating and implementing a strategy for the county.One group is focusing on targeting economic
development.They will determine which
industries are growing or have growth potential in Jackson County and formulate
a marketing strategy to sell the counties most valuable assets.
The second group is focusing on how to create a more
collaborative business environment.They
will be formulating a blueprint to meet Jackson County’s goals for economic
growth.
In addition to the Voinovich School’s help with
facilitation and data collection, it offered the group a variety of other
resources.During the initial meeting,
Bethany George, Voinovich School staff member and business consultant, spoke to
the group about resources offered to business by the state of Ohio and by the
Voinovich School, including business consulting by Ohio University’s integrated
MBA program.
“Jackson has started a community conversation about
economic development priorities,” said Lewis, “but there is much work to be
done.”