Taft Promotes Job Creation Agenda in the Miami Valley
COLUMBUS, OHIO (April 6, 2004) - Governor Bob Taft today promoted his job creation agenda during visits to two successful, growing companies in the Miami Valley. His first stop was TimberTech in Wilmington, Clinton County, where he participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for the company's warehouse expansion. Taft then visited Faurecia Exhaust Systems in Troy, Miami County, for the company's grand opening of its new Troy West Facility.
"TimberTech and Faurecia's decisions to expand in Ohio demonstrate our state's continued strength in the manufacturing industry and are a credit to the skilled workforce in the Miami Valley," Taft said. "Ohio is a great place to locate and expand a business, and TimberTech and Faurecia are the type of companies we are working to grow more of through our job creation agenda."
Taft's 2004 State of the State address, delivered in January, outlined his job creation agenda, which he reiterated during today's visits. Major points of this agenda include:
? The creation of a new Jobs Cabinet, chaired by Development Director Bruce Johnson, which is working to help those who have lost jobs, enable companies to find the skilled workers they need to succeed, and cut red tape through regulatory reform.
? Working with the Legislature to pass the Jobs Bill, introduced March 9, which would:
o Increase funding for the Ohio Investment in Training Program and the Wright Centers of Innovation;
o Create the new Worker Guarantee Program to ensure the presence of a highly-skilled workforce for companies committed to bringing at least 100 new jobs to the state over a three-year period; and
o Expand time restraints on enterprise zones, ensuring additional investments in new businesses, while maintaining current laws of how businesses interact with local schools.
? Asking the legislature to pass comprehensive tort reform legislation and workers' compensation reform.
? Enacting tax reform to lower rates, broaden the tax base and ensure taxpayers are treated fairly.
? Sustaining the Third Frontier Project through the tobacco budget and capital bill, and redirecting additional dollars to protect investments already made.
? Protecting Ohio's defense jobs by providing an additional $1 million to fully fund local community efforts to fight the federal base closure process.
TimberTech manufactures composite wood decking materials and has increased its Wilmington workforce by more than 100 employees in the last year alone. The warehouse expansion that the Governor helped break ground on today is expected to create an additional 200 jobs. With today's grand opening of the Troy West facility, Faurecia Exhaust Systems now has two facilities in Troy. The Troy locations manufacture exhaust components for the automotive industry and the expansion of the original Troy facility, and addition of the new Troy West location, is expected to retain 190 jobs in Ohio and create an additional 190 jobs.
