Taft Promotes Pro-Jobs Agenda in Southeast Ohio
COLUMBUS, OHIO (February 18, 2004) - Governor Bob Taft today promoted his pro-jobs agenda during visits to three successful, growing companies in Southeast Ohio. His first stop was Joules Angstrom in Licking County, a manufacturing company that produces specialty inks that can be dried using ultraviolet light. He then toured Detroit Diesel, a company that remanufactures diesel engines and is Guernsey County's largest industrial employer. Taft finished his day at Sunpower Inc. in Athens, an engineering research and development company that uses free-piston engines to produce the world's most efficient refrigeration technology, which has been used on NASA Deep Space Missions.
"Joules Angstrom, Detroit Diesel and Sunpower are all businesses prospering in a difficult economy and great examples of the kind of companies we want to grow more of in Ohio," Taft said. "Ohio is competing in a brutally competitive world economy and that's why I am focused on spending every day doing all I can to help create jobs for Ohioans."
Taft's 2004 State of the State address, delivered last month, outlines his pro-jobs agenda, which he reiterated during today's visits. Major points of this agenda include:
? Creating a new Jobs Cabinet, chaired by Development Director Bruce Johnson, which will work 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.
? 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 redirect additional dollars to protect investments already made.
? Investing in training Ohio's workforce by redirecting funding to double our commitment to job-training programs that match company training initiatives, and create the Worker Guarantee Program to recruit, train and screen workers for companies that create at least 100 new jobs.
? Extending the Ohio Enterprise Zone Program and expanding the Job Creation Tax Credit to provide new economic development tools to keep Ohio competitive with other states.
? Protecting Ohio's defense jobs by providing an additional $1 million to fully fund local community efforts to fight the federal base closure process.
Joules Angstrom recently moved to a new 30,000 square feet facility in Etna, Licking County and has plans to triple its workforce in the next five years. Detroit Diesel, which is owned by DaimlerChrysler, has more than tripled its workforce in the last 10 years and employs more than 500 people at its Byesville, Guernsey County location. Sunpower Inc. is the pre-eminent developer of free-piston engines which have uses ranging from household refrigerators to low temperature coolers on space missions. Sunpower was a 2002 State of Ohio Emerging Technology winner for its successful efforts to commercialize new technologies.
