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Economic Engines
moving forward with optimism
The Right Stuff Why site selectors and economic development experts are bullish on the Columbus Region.
By Laura Newpoff
The Columbus Region is poised to emerge from the recession in a position of strength. Available land, low cost of living, a deep talent pool and a central location are all boxes site selectors check when they help companies make location decisions— and Ohio’s capital city has them all.
Columbus CEO magazine recently talked with some of the country’s most prominent site selectors and economic development strategists to gauge their feelings about the region’s future. They’re unanimous the Columbus Region will be able to aggressively compete for expansion and relocation projects as the country works to recover “Columbus has all the elements to attract bigger projects. The next step is to get bold and loud.” RobeRt Hess, vice chairman of Newmark’s Global Corporate Services practice in Chicago from the economic turmoil related to Covid-19.
Robert Hess
Hess is a longtime site selector, having conducted more than 275 assignments on a global basis. While Columbus is considered a “tier three” metropolitan area, its prospects for the future are promising, he says. He cited the Site Selectors Guild, which this fall ranked Columbus No. 1 in a tie with Phoenix as the “biggest winners as candidates for new or expansion projects in the next year,” he says.
In addition to the talent pipeline coming out of the region’s colleges and universities, the area is wellpositioned to lure future projects because of the sites it has available, whether at the New Albany International Business Park, near Rickenbacker International Airport or in the northwest corridor that leads to the Honda manufacturing base in Marysville and the Transportation Research Center, a one-of-a-kind facility where the smart mobility technology of the future is being built.
That the region demonstrates the confidence to continue developing new sites in the urban core, like the Scioto Peninsula project in the heart of Downtown Columbus that will add 2 million square feet of office space to the market over the next decade, will be attractive to site
scioto Peninsula looking east
selectors.
“Columbus has all the elements to attract bigger projects,” Hess says. “The next step is to get bold and loud” about everything the region has to offer.”
The Columbus Region is well positioned in today’s most active sectors such as life sciences, industrial, e-commerce and food processing, and could be an attractive landing spot for businesses looking to move away from high-cost centers, such as single-occupancy tech, Hess says. It’s also an attractive spot for companies nearshoring and reshoring amid the fallout of Covid-19. A savvy digital strategy will be key to attracting those businesses.
“Digital and the skills to support workplace innovation is going to be a big part of every community’s future,” he says.
Darin Buelow
In more than 20 years, Buelow has guided hundreds of major corporations in the deployment of talent, facilities and equipment around the world. Columbus, he says, is perceived favorably by site selectors. He considers One Columbus among the top 5 percent of economic development groups in the country,
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well-stocked with “sophisticated, thoughtful industry leaders.”
The Columbus Region’s diverse set of employers and large base of talent coming out of area universities have it poised to emerge from the recession in a strong position
DArin Buelow, principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Chicago office for corporate growth.
“Columbus is a contender,” Buelow says. “The region is still an unknown quantity to some, but it’s an up-and-coming talent market.”
Buelow likens the region to a “giant vacuum cleaner that’s sucking up talent,” a reference to Columbus being one of the fastest-growing big cities in the country. Other positives include its central location, lower-cost resources compared to larger cities, its diverse employer base and its strength in manufacturing, transportation and logistics. Being home to Ohio State University is a plus, too.
“Being a big college town helps the economy enormously,” Buelow says. “When you talk about the flow of talent, Columbus enjoys a big advantage. Capital cities with big colleges are vibrant, youthful locations that are constantly importing talent, and that’s what big companies are looking for.”
Covid-19 has several implications for economic development groups going forward. Many companies may reconsider their physical footprint, and some will shift the assets they maintain from high-cost centers to lower-cost ones. Jobsbased tax credits could also impact how corporate site selectors pick locations in the future. Criteria for counting at-home workers given the likelihood that many of them will continue to operate remotely could be the difference between winning and losing a project.
Economic development groups will need to understand the specific language contained in their incentive programs around qualified jobs, and perhaps modify it to attract more projects, he says.
Amy Holloway
Ernst & Young’s U.S. economic development advisory services national director, Austin
Holloway is a national economic development strategist who has served more than 200 communities since 1995, including benchmarking that allows them to see how they stack up against other regions.
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