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Columbus, Ohio — One Columbus, the economic development arm of the Columbus Partnership, has received the 2026 Mac Conway Award for Economic Development Excellence, placing the organization among the nation’s top 20 regional economic development groups.
This marks One Columbus’ eighth Mac Conway Award in nine years and continues its record as one of the country’s most consistently recognized economic development organizations.
Site Selection magazine determined this year’s recipients through an index incorporating corporate facility projects, capital investment and job creation, along with national measures of metropolitan economic performance, talent attraction and economic dynamism.
In recognizing One Columbus, Site Selection cited the Region’s momentum across advanced manufacturing and technology infrastructure, along with its nation-leading alignment of business growth and public infrastructure investment. That momentum is reinforced by a diverse economy in which no single industry represents more than 16% of total employment. The Region’s strengths span defense technology, semiconductors, life sciences, automotive, financial services, health care, food and beverage, and logistics.
“This award recognizes a team that knows how to convert the Columbus Region’s strengths into results,” said Mark Berven, One Columbus Executive Committee chair and president and chief operating officer of Nationwide Property & Casualty. “We are creating jobs, securing investment and building the foundation for broader prosperity across the Region. None of this happens without the commitment companies have made to grow here and the support of One Columbus investors. We thank them for their confidence in the Columbus Region and their partnership in driving this progress forward.”
In 2025, One Columbus announced 39 projects representing 7,000 jobs and $5 billion in capital investment. Forty-two percent of those projects involved foreign-owned companies, demonstrating the Columbus Region’s growing reach in the global economy.
That project activity is translating into broader job growth. Recently released data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show the Columbus metro added 20,607 jobs from December 2024 to December 2025. Employment grew by 1.9%, nearly 10 times the national rate and the fourth-fastest rate among the country’s 55 largest metropolitan areas. Columbus ranked No. 1 in the Midwest, with a job growth rate more than double that of the next-fastest major Midwest metro.
The Mac Conway Award also follows Columbus’ No. 1 national ranking in Site Selection’s 2025 Global Groundwork Index. The ranking evaluates where private-sector growth and public infrastructure investment are advancing together, reflecting the Region’s ability to pair business investment with the sites, utilities, transportation assets and regional coordination needed to support sustained growth.
“Across sectors and jurisdictions, our partners are building an economy that expands what is possible for people, families and communities,” said Jonas Peterson, chief economic development officer and president of One Columbus. “This recognition affirms the power of that alignment and our responsibility to turn growth into greater opportunity and a better quality of life for every resident.”
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About the Columbus Partnership
The Columbus Partnership is a nonprofit organization of CEOs from Columbus’ leading businesses and institutions. Through our membership and other ally organizations across Central Ohio, the Partnership upholds a shared vision to make Columbus the most prosperous region in the country. The Columbus Partnership team also includes One Columbus, one of the nation’s top economic development teams that serves the 11-county Columbus Region; and Smart Columbus, an innovation lab that applies technology to advance community good. The Columbus Partnership team works to help create jobs and attract capital investment, expand access to opportunity, and improve the economic competitiveness of the Columbus Region. Learn more at columbusregion.com.