JobsOhio defends role in TimberTech?s move of jobs from Columbus to Wilmington

Ohio House Minority Leader Tracy Heard is accusing JobsOhio of supporting job poaching from one Ohio community to another.

JobsOhio may be the state?s ?private? economic development arm, but it continues to be drawn into public political disputes at the Statehouse.

A prime example occurred Tuesday shortly after Scranton, Pa.-based CPG International Inc. disclosed plans to close its TimberTech manufacturing plant off Fairwood Avenue in Columbus and terminate upwards of 70 jobs. The company said it is consolidating its Columbus and Toronto, Ontario, facilities at TimberTech?s manufacturing operation in Wilmington in southwest Ohio.

In May, the state awarded TimberTech an eight-year, 50 percent job creation tax credit for the expansion in Wilmington in return for the company?s pledge to create 85 jobs there. JobsOhio negotiated that deal, and it?s now being accused by Ohio House Minority Leader Tracy Heard, D-Columbus, of supporting job poaching from one Ohio community to another.

?The hard-working men and women in my district who will lose their jobs because of this back-room deal deserve an explanation,? Heard said in a press release. ?I fear, however, that the dark cloud of secrecy surrounding JobsOhio will prevent the type of accountability that these hard-working Central Ohioans deserve.?

Created two years ago by Gov. Kasich and his fellow Republicans in the legislature, JobsOhio is often criticized by Democrats for its alleged lack of transparency and accountability in the deals it cuts with companies.

JobsOhio spokeswoman Laura Jones told me TimberTech officials had made it clear from the beginning they planned to close the Columbus facility and move its work to Wilmington or Scranton, Pa.

Jeff Bell covers public policy, utilities, energy and the business of sports for Business First.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_49/~3/TcO4OKsQH7M/jobsohio-defends-role-in-timbertechs.html

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