Last week, 11 Ohio companies were named to the Inc. 500 list and more than 50 Central Ohio companies were named to the Inc. 5000. This is great news for the Columbus Region and for those entrepreneurs toiling away to start companies in the incubators, laboratories, garages, and basements across the Region. This is an excellent message for our business community because it shows what is possible, even in today’s shaky economy, for talented people with a plan and a dream.
Placing that many companies on the list is yet one more feather in our cap as a Region, but more importantly, it is a validation of the talent that resides within Ohio and the Columbus Region to innovate and build high-growth companies. The challenge this poses for our community is to help these high-growth companies become profitable, sustainable enterprises, and to help connect them with customers and markets worldwide. It is also important to let the world know where they came from and that our Region welcomes smart ideas and the people that have them!
We look forward to seeing many of you on September 7th for our Regional Economic Development Dialogue where we will discuss these ideas and more.
Columbus2020! Update
September arrives this week, the start of a very busy schedule that includes marketing the Columbus Region, ramping up our schedule of meetings with regional companies, building an agenda to accelerate entrepreneurial growth, integrating our strategy with the JobsOhio Network, and completing the staffing of the 2020! team.
As the Columbus Region grows in population and economic stature, it must move in an effort to increase awareness of our Region’s assets. To that end, Columbus2020! hosted five journalists this past week who write for publications including IndustryWeek, BNET, The Daily Green, The New York Times, E/The Environmental Magazine, American Manufacturing, Aerospace Manufacturing & Design, Today’s Medical Developments, Jiji Press (Japanese Wire Service), fDi Magazine and Journal of Commerce.
These journalists were interested in the manufacturing assets of our Region and visited with organizations including Honda, Scott’s Miracle-Gro, Worthington Industries and Battelle, as well as The Ohio State’s Center for Automotive Research, Edison Welding Institute, Accel Inc. and start-up companies at TechColumbus. One of the visiting journalists already posted an article as a result from his visit with Honda.
Kenny McDonald
Chief Economic Officer
Columbus2020!
614.225.6060
km@columbusregion.com
onecstaging.wpengine.com
@kennymcdon