DevelopOhio

While unemployment in Ashtabula County has declined, the Growth Partnership for Ashtabula County says there is still work to be done to lower it further and address other economic development issues, Crain’s Cleveland reports.  The group, made up of “60 business, public, educational and philanthropic partners,” is charting a “new, more focused effort to boost the county’s economy and labor force,” according to the article. At a December meeting attended by “more than 100 civic leaders,” the partnership’s executive director, Don Iannone, and economist James Trutko explained the key issues: “the need to offset a loss of employment in key sectors, the decline in the number of businesses in the county and the slow pace of new business formation.” The county’s economic base is led by manufacturing, anchored by the plastics and chemical industries; Trutko said the county can build on this base, “but it also needs to bolster its underdeveloped service sector.” Because existing businesses “account for nearly 60% of new jobs,” the strategic plan emphasizes helping those businesses grow.