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MANSFIELD - Governor Ted Strickland visited businesses in Oberlin, Akron, and Mansfield Wednesday to contrast his work to create jobs in Ohio with Congressman John Kasich's plan to outsource Ohio's job creation activities to out-of-state corporate CEOs, who will be paid undisclosed bonuses with taxpayer resources.
Strickland visited Specialty Services in Oberlin, Akron Polymer Systems in Akron, and Sallie Wholesale Construction Company in Mansfield.
"Recently, Congressman Kasich announced his plan for economic development and it sounds a lot like Wall Street thinking to me," Strickland said. "He wants to privatize our Department of Development and hand over control of economic development to a handpicked group of 12 CEOs. That kind of behavior might make sense on Wall Street, but it has no place here in Ohio."
Kasich's JobsOhio plan will put 12 CEOs in charge of development and hire expensive staff who could receive performance bonuses. Congressman Kasich has said that these executives and employees could receive unlimited taxpayer-funded bonuses and that they wouldn't have to be made public.
"It would be reckless and irresponsible to give our state's economic development activities to out-of-state CEOs who are more interested in the profits of their companies than what is in the best interest of Ohio," Strickland said. "And we certainly can't afford to waste taxpayer dollars on multi-million dollar bonuses."
Congressman Kasich will also hand off control of the $700 million Ohio Third Frontier bond package to the CEO leadership of JobsOhio. The Ohio Third Frontier is a competitive program that has been highly successful in creating jobs and growing advanced companies in Ohio. [Dayton Daily News 8/18/2010]
"As governor, I've worked to make Ohio more business friendly by investing in our high-growth industries, reducing taxes for business and individuals, and cutting burdensome red tape so businesses can grow and create jobs," Strickland said. "Today, Ohio has the 6th fastest growing economy in the country, and we can't afford to go backward and hand the state over to Wall Street values."
Sallie Wholesale Construction Company CEO Sallie Sylvester joined Strickland at today's event in Mansfield and expressed his concerns over Kasich's proposal.
"With the help of Ted Strickland, Ohio is rebuilding and jobs are being created all over the state. There has been no better friend to the small business community," Sylvester said. "I find Congressman Kasich's plan to privatize the Department of Development and turn job creation over to a board of out-of-state CEOs extremely troubling. This is not the time to hand over job creation to his Wall Street friends who can be given undisclosed bonuses."
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