Week in Review: Sept. 15, 2024

AGRICULTURE

The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODAg) recently announced that two more farm owners have joined the state's Farmland Preservation Program, adding 244 acres to the program. The Stingley family farm in Warren and Clinton counties, and Kaffenbarger Farms Inc. in Clark County became the 12th and 13th Ohio farm owners to join the program this year. An agricultural easement in Farmland Preservation is a voluntary agreement between the landowner and ODAg, where the landowner agrees to perpetually maintain the land predominately in agricultural use. In exchange, the landowner is either compensated or may be entitled to a tax deduction.

AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY

Gov. Mike DeWine and other Ohio leaders welcomed business leaders and government officials from France to a Columbus suburb on Thursday to mark a milestone for Ohio's role in a green energy future. The factory in Hilliard that formerly held production facilities for Highlights for Children magazine will now be the North American headquarters of France-based electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturer Forsee Power. The company has indicated that series production will begin at the plant in the third quarter of 2024. DeWine credited Ohio's success in the EV market as an attraction for Forsee, in addition to the Columbus region's academic partners, workforce, and workers with an engineering background. The company designs, assembles and supplies lithium-ion battery systems throughout Europe and Asia, primarily for buses, trucks, off-highway vehicles, light urban and utility vehicles and trains. Forsee also focuses on EV systems for construction and agriculture equipment. In addition to France and China, Forsee has factories in Poland and India.

FY24-25 BUDGET

Recently updated revenue forecasts for FY25 were pretty close to the mark in August, with tax collections netting about half a percent more than expected, according to preliminary data from the Office of Budget and Management (OBM). OBM recently decided to update revenue forecasts for the second half of the biennium, in part to account for a large variance in personal income tax collections tied to new federal guidance and state law on state and local tax (SALT) tax deductions for pass-through filers. August tax revenues reached $2.56 billion, up $16.5 million or 0.6% over estimates. Year-to-date tax revenues stand at $4.65 billion, 0.4% over estimates.

EMPLOYMENT/UNEMPLOYMENT

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday the nation added 142,000 jobs in August while the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.2%. The July unemployment rate was 4.3%. BLS said the number of unemployed people also changed little at 7.1 million in August. That measure and the unemployment rate are both higher than they were a year ago when the unemployment rate was 3.8 percent and there were 6.3 million unemployed people. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.0%), adult women (3.7%), teenagers (14.1%), Whites (3.8%), Blacks (6.1%), Asians (4.1%), and Hispanics (5.5%) showed little or no change in August.

MANUFACTURING

The Ohio Chamber of Commerce launched its first annual "Future of Manufacturing Summit" on Capitol Square Monday with panel discussions addressing energy, workforce, innovation, capitalization/commercialization and a final roundtable on the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership. The opening session, "Meeting the Energy Needs of Manufacturing in the 21st Century," featured Executive Director Chris Ventura of Consumer Energy Alliance-Midwest in Columbus, President and CEO Rick Stockburger of BRITE Energy Innovators in Warren, Director Doug Myers of Business Development for engineering/research firm EWI in Columbus, and chamber General Counsel and Energy Policy Director Tony Long as moderator. Ventura, Stockburger and Myers addressed manufacturing's growing energy demands from the perspective of consumption, technology incubation, and engineering research, respectively. "There's a huge opportunity right now to build a clean energy economy in Ohio. It's here and growing, but the technology needs to be better," Stockburger said.

The Ohio Chamber of Commerce's "Future of Manufacturing" Summit also included discussion on how to grow the next generation of workers as well as ways of upskilling and retraining people now. A panel on that topic included Jon Graft, superintendent and CEO of Butler Tech; Ande Durojaiye, vice president of regional campuses at Miami University; Teresa Simons, executive director of the Alliance for Working Together (AWT) Foundation; and Bill Swan, talent program specialist for community engagement at Swagelok. It was moderated by Justin Barnes, director of federal affairs, workforce, small business and technology policy at the Ohio Chamber. In opening comments, Swan and Simons discussed efforts to build youth engagement in manufacturing. Swan said K-12 students see information about other careers such as health care and culinary arts that represent competition for manufacturing. He also said he uses other terms such as "makers of things" or innovators since the word manufacturing doesn't always connect with young people.

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

During a special meeting on Thursday, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) Board of Directors voted to terminate its contract with Western Asset Management Company (WAMCO) as the business faces increased scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). WAMCO had served as a manager of BWC's long credit strategy in the State Insurance Fund, overseeing about $750 million in BWC assets, BWC Chief Investment Officer Rob Palmeri said during the special BWC Investment Committee meeting, which was held prior to the special BWC Board meeting. Investment consultants RVK and Meketa Investment Group both sent memos to BWC recommending the termination of the contract with WAMCO.

WORKFORCE

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted recently announced that nearly 1,000 Ohio high school students had taken part in the 2024 High School Tech Internship program, while also noting the application process for 2025 program intermediaries has opened. The tech internship program provides high school students with "real-world" experience, according to the DeWine administration. "This is how we keep our young talent in Ohio, by connecting them to employers and career paths before they leave high school," Husted said. "When we started, many employers were skeptical that high school students were up to the task but given the fact that this year we hit a record number of intern requests shows employers and students see the value of the program." Positions in the program include software development, data, cloud and IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and broadband/5G related roles. The number of students this year was almost twice that in 2023, and they attend over 250 schools.