Ohio Risks Losing Major Manufacturers After Budget Changes

Economic development leaders are raising serious concerns about changes in the state budget that could significantly reduce Ohio’s chances of obtaining large manufacturing projects. State legislators cut $500 million from the All Ohio Future Fund, which helps communities prepare large areas of land, known as “mega sites,” for development by major manufacturers.

“These are hugely important, because it provides an opportunity for northeastern Ohio to bring a large manufacturer into the region,” said Matt Dolan, CEO of Team NEO, a Northeast Ohio economic development organization. When large corporations scope out areas for a new plant or industrial project, they are often looking for land that is entirely ready to go, with the necessary infrastructure and utility hookups already in place.

“Usually, infrastructure is the largest component that you don’t want the end-user, ultimately, to have to pay for – that drives up the cost, and we lose opportunities,” Dolan said. Using the All Ohio Future Fund “makes it marketable immediately, that we can tell the company that the hookups are there from the moment you guys are ready to turn a shovel.”

Dolan worked with Gov. Mike DeWine to create the All Ohio Future Fund two years ago when he was a state legislator. In the previous 2024-2025 state budget, legislators designated $750 million to the fund. Since the fund’s creation, 11 project sites have received nearly $350 million, according to the Ohio Department of Development. Projects are located in Defiance, Gallia, Guernsey, Muskingum, Pickaway and Trumbull counties.

Brian Stewart, chair of the Ohio House’s finance committee, told reporters in April that the brownfield program is more popular among communities statewide. “The brownfield program has been more effective at getting money back into the communities in a timely manner,” Stewart said. “Continuing a program that works and people like, by taking some funds from a program that I don’t know has been implemented quite the way the General Assembly intended, we think makes good sense.”

On Monday, the Ohio Department of Development announced four projects approved for a combined $225 million in mega site funding: three for future site development and one that includes upgrades to the Dayton International Airport. These projects were funded through the previous budget allocation. The sole project approved in Northeast Ohio is a large tract of land in Lorain County.

“There aren’t many sites like this in the United States, for that matter, so we are one of very few now that can market a 1,000-acre site,” Dolan said. “The sad irony is Pennsylvania, our neighbor, has now put money into a program very similar to All Ohio Future Fund. At the same time, we have severely reduced our funds for those uses.”