Thursday, February 26, 2009

Road Trip to Licking County

On the heels of the ArvinMeritor success story, I hosted a team of nine people from the Ohio Department of Development today. We met with three large manufacturers to discuss what assistance the State of Ohio can be to them regarding reducing energy costs, becoming more energy efficient and any funding that they may qualify for under the Federal Stimulus and the State Stimulus Packages.

I would like to thank the Ohio Department of Development for spending their day in Licking County. The meetings were very productive and the companies were pleased with the site visits. We even went on a tour of each plant.

For the most part, my day was a positive one, except for the Longaberger layoffs. I actually found out about it while in a meeting with one of our manufacturers this morning. That news made it even more clear to me the importance of doing everything we (federal, state and local) can to take care of our own.

I hope that the Arvin story is an example of how things can get accomplished when we work together. Please use the Chamber as a resource - we are here to help - but you need to let us know when help is needed.

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