Columbus, OH – One Columbus, the economic development organization for the 11-county Columbus Region, has announced that the Columbus Region has crossed the significant 100,000 net new jobs milestone roughly halfway through the organization’s decade-long effort. If growth continues at this pace, the Region projects an addition of more than 200,000 jobs by the year 2020 – well ahead of its 150,000 net new jobs goal.
“When we launched the One Columbus Regional Growth Strategy five years ago, some very aggressive goals were identified related to job creation, capital investment and per capita income,” said Kenny McDonald, chief economic officer, One Columbus. “I’m proud to say that with the investment and hard work of more than 300 public and private partners, we are achieving great things. This milestone is a key indicator of that progress.”
In 2010, community and business leaders formed the One Columbus Regional Growth Strategy, meant to propel economic vitality in the Columbus Region. At that time, four primary goals were identified – creating 150,000 net new jobs, adding $8 billion in new capital investment, increasing per capita income by 30 percent, and earning recognition as a leader in economic development – all with a 10-year deadline, wrapping up in 2020. The Region is ahead of pace in all of those goals.
Net new jobs. Due to collaboration between One Columbus, JobsOhio and local economic development organizations, more than 106,000 net new jobs have been added in Central Ohio as of March 2015. The Region crossed the 50,000 jobs milestone in 2013, roughly one-third of the way through its decade-long effort. This latest milestone comes halfway through the initiative.
New capital investment. Working with its community partners, the One Columbus team has helped more than 400 companies to expand within or to the Columbus Region. These projects have accounted for an estimated $5 billion in new capital investment since 2010, which is more than half of its 10-year goal of $8 billion. If this pace continues, new capital investment will be at more than $9 billion in 2020.
Per capita income. The increased activity has been good for workers as well, as Central Ohio has seen an overall increase of 14 percent in per capita income since One Columbus’s efforts kicked off five years ago. With a goal of increasing income by 30 percent, the Region is on pace to be at 59 percent in another five years.
Recognition as a national leader. There has been no shortage of recognition for the Columbus Region, having earned three consecutive (and climbing) spots on Site Selection magazine’s Top 10 metro area list and numerous accolades of late, ranging from a top large metro area for job creation (Gallup) to a best U.S. city for Millennial college students (USA Today).
For more information about the Columbus Region’s 10-year goals and progress, including key projects that have helped the area achieve the above milestones, visit ColumbusRegion.com.