Ohio Beacon Journal, Wednesday, Nov 14, 2007

In Wall Street Journal ad, OSU president plays up superior ranking awarded by magazine

In a survey of how the world perceives individual states, Ohio had the best image in the Midwest. Michigan was fifth.

Score: Ohio 6, Michigan 0.

And in a new report by Site Selection magazine analyzing business climates, Ohio ranked seventh in the country. Michigan was 12th.

Surely that's a two-point conversion if ever there was one.

Oh yes, there's a lot of excitement building among football fans for this Saturday's legendary Ohio State-Michigan game, too.

But the Buckeye state's business leaders are using the attention to challenge the Wolverines on the economic-development field.

Both states, facing similar challenges as their industrial economies evolve, have been aggressively marketing their locations to decision makers.

For its part, the Ohio Business Development Coalition this week brought OSU President E. Gordon Gee into the game.

A full-page ad running today and Thursday in the Wall Street Journal features a smiling Gee standing in Ohio Stadium, touting the benefits of living and working in Ohio, the ''State of Perfect Balance.''

Ed Burghard, executive director of the Ohio Business Development Coalition, said he borrowed the idea of using the OSU-Michigan game to illuminate the economic competition between the two states from the media.

''As the game came up last year, a lot of reporters contacted us, wanting to play on what other ways we rival each other,'' Burghard said.

So this year, the OBDC decided to launch the discussion.

''There are a lot of eyes focused on Ohio and Michigan this week and we wanted to capitalize on that,'' he said.

Beyond the ad, the Ohio Business Development Coalition has sent out news releases highlighting ways in which Ohio is beating Michigan on a variety of business fronts.

The score:

Ohio ranked No. 1 in the Midwest in a ranking of state brands — or how the world perceives individual states — by the Anholt State Brands Index 2006. Michigan ranked No. 5 in the Midwest.

Ohio's 2005 tax reform made the state's effective rate on new capital improvements the lowest in the Midwest (including Michigan.)

Ohio ranked No. 4 in the nation for best tort climate, according to a 2006 report by the Pacific Research Institute. Michigan ranked No. 5.

In a shameless and completely biased effort to inflate the score, the Beacon Journal dug up a few more talking points:

U.S. News & World Report named the Cleveland Clinic the fourth-best overall medical facility in the country. Michigan came in at 14th with the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers.

Site Selection magazine this year gave Ohio its Governor's Cup, citing it as the state with the most new and expanded business facilities in 2006.

In Inc. magazine's ranking of the best cities in America, Ohio was represented in the midsize category, where Akron placed 25th. There was no Michigan city on the list.

Through the first three quarters of this year, Ohio ranks first in the Midwest in the amount of investment money attracted by medical company startups. Michigan is sixth.

To throw Michigan a bone, the state is still No. 1 in the country in the auto industry. Ohio is No. 2.

And that's perfectly okay. Hype aside, Burghard said that the economies of both states are closely connected, and that good news for one usually benefits the other.

''The more attention that gets brought to this area, the more advantageous it is for both Michigan and Ohio,'' he said.

And the auto industry is a great example of that, with suppliers and vendors crossing state lines in both directions.

''At the end of the day, our goal is get executives to look this way and to see Ohio as a viable option,'' he said.