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Columbus, OH – More than 500 attendees from the Columbus Region’s 11 counties gathered today at the sixth annual Economic Development 411 (ED411), co-hosted by Columbus 2020 and the Mid-Ohio Development Exchange (MODE).
Columbus 2020 provided an update on the Columbus Region’s progress toward its goals to add 150,000 net new jobs, generate $8 billion of capital investment and raise per capita income 30 percent by the year 2020. The goals were set in 2010 as part of the Columbus 2020 Regional Growth Strategy.
Kenny McDonald, president and CEO of Columbus 2020, reported that all goals are pacing ahead of schedule, with 147,595 net new jobs added as of October 2017, $8.7 billion of capital investment generated as of November 2017 and a per capita income increase of 24.4 percent as of 2016.
Mark Kvamme, co-founder of Drive Capital, delivered the event’s morning address and John Ellis, former Ford Motor Company executive and author of “The Zero Dollar Car: How the Revolution in Big Data Will Change Your Life,” concluded the conference with the afternoon keynote. Participants also attended breakout sessions focused on strategic planning, infrastructure, collaboration, and taxes and incentives.
“We had an outstanding day with economic development and corporate leaders, studying the current business landscape, reflecting on unprecedented regional progress and most importantly, preparing for the future,” said Kenny McDonald, president and CEO, Columbus 2020.
ED411 is an annual summit hosted by Columbus 2020 and MODE to bring together thought-provoking speakers, elected and appointed officials, civic leaders and business leaders. Attendees spend the summit exploring the challenges and opportunities that affect economic development.
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About the Mid-Ohio Development Exchange
The Mid-Ohio Development Exchange (MODE) is a membership organization of local economic development organizations from throughout the 11-county Columbus Region. MODE provides networking partnership opportunities and programming that increases awareness of economic development issues and best practices to continue to strengthen and grow local economies throughout Central Ohio. Learn more at mid-ohio.org.
About Columbus 2020
As the economic development organization for the Columbus Region, Columbus 2020’s mission is to generate opportunity and build capacity for economic growth across 11 Central Ohio counties. In 2010, hundreds of business and community leaders developed the Columbus 2020 Regional Growth Strategy, and the Columbus Region is now experiencing the strongest decade of growth in its history. The Columbus 2020 team conducts business outreach, promotes the Columbus Region to market-leading companies around the world, conducts customized research to better understand the Columbus Region’s competitiveness, and works to leverage public, private and institutional partnerships. Funding is received from more than 300 private organizations, local governments, academic institutions and JobsOhio. Learn more at ColumbusRegion.com.
Columbus 2020 Media Contact
Irene Alvarez
614-225-6941
ia@columbusregion.com