Best States for Business: Low Taxes Help Entreprenuers Keep Their Profits…in Ohio

Ohio's Enterprise Appalachia offers entrepreneurs one of the lowest tax rates in the nation, according to a new analysis of state tax law.

Did you know that Ohio is one of only two states with no general tax on either corporate profits or personal property used in business?

And...Ohio's personal income tax rates are now 16.8 percent lower than they were just five years ago.

Small businesses pay no corporate income tax, a flat $150 fee on the first $1 million in gross receipts, no tax on out-of-state transactions and no personal property tax on business inventory, machinery or equipment.

Ohio's unique state tax structure encourages small business profitability and wealth creation. Consider these examples:

• Companies with sales between $150,000 and $1 million to Ohio customers pay only a $150 fee, while companies with the same income in surrounding states pay between $2,650 and $8,048 in taxes.
• A company that grows to achieve $5 million in sales, half to clients outside the state, would pay $4,050 in Ohio taxes. In other Midwest states, the same company would pay between $13,425 and $28,676.

With no tangible personal property tax, Ohio encourages entrepreneurs to invest in inventory, machinery, equipment, furniture, fixtures and other assets needed to spur business growth. And, because only business activity that takes place in Ohio is taxed by the state, entrepreneurs have an incentive to serve customers across the country and around the world.

So what are you waiting for? Find your Perfect Balance and keep your profits...in Ohio.

Ohio Ranks Number One For Fourth Consecutive Year

It's not surprising to executives who live and work in Ohio that Site Selection magazine has awarded Ohio with the annual Governor's Cup Award for the fourth year in a row.

The Governor's Cup Award is based on the number of private capital investments for new or expanded facilities that involved an investment of at least $1 million, created a minimum of 50 new jobs or added at least 20,000 square feet of new floor area. Ohio came in first place with 381 projects. Texas ranks second in the nation with 374 projects, followed by Michigan (371), Pennsylvania (333) and Tennessee (234).

There are many reasons why Ohio continues to be the ideal place to establish or grow a business but three key reasons include the purposeful redesign of Ohio's business climate, the state's world-class assets in advanced design, advanced materials and advanced manufacturing; and focused academic support that enables business success.

Read more about the award and why Ohio continues to beat out all the other states in the nation in the race for new business.

IndustryWeek Features Ohio’s Alternative Energy Supply Chain

The U.S. manufacturing industry is in the midst of a long and sometimes difficult transition from old-line manufacturing processes to emerging technologies. This process is rapidly accelerating in the advanced energy supply chain, lessening U.S. dependence on unstable foreign energy markets and creating a thriving domestic clean-energy industry.

Nowhere is this transition more apparent than in traditional manufacturing states like Ohio. Here, state leaders are leveraging key assets such as Ohio's manufacturing infrastructure, skilled workforce and advantageous location to support a growing advanced energy industry. Ohio-based companies are producing solar panels, wind turbines and component parts, biomass products, fuel cells, hydroelectric components, geothermal parts and storage facilities to promote better utilization of advanced energy resources.

The way Ohio-based manufacturers have successfully reinvented themselves as leading suppliers to the technologies of the future serves as a model for other struggling states and cities with economies reliant upon manufacturing. To find out how Ohio is leading America to energy independence, please check out my guest column in IndustryWeek.

State, Education and Industry Leaders Discuss Ohio’s Competitive Advantages in Advanced Energy

In the July issue of Leaders magazine, an international magazine sharing the thoughts of today’s leaders, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland; Dr. Xunming Deng, president and CEO of Xunlight; and Jerry Hutton, dean of Advanced Energy and Transportation at Hocking College, participated in a roundtable discussion about Ohio’s advanced energy industry.

The discussion looked at Ohio’s efforts to help advanced energy companies prosper through a) business incentives, b) workforce initiatives to compete for advanced energy capital investment, c) efforts to prepare students for renewable jobs and d) how Ohio advanced energy companies are reaching a global audience.

Governor Strickland shared Ohio’s vision and global leadership in the advanced energy industry, including two major initiatives to further solidify Ohio as the industries preferred global OEM and parts supplier. In 2007, the Governor signed into law a bipartisan energy bill that ensures stable energy prices, modernizes the state’s energy infrastructure and attracts energy jobs to Ohio. In addition, the bill included an advanced energy portfolio standard requiring 25 percent of Ohio’s energy come from advanced or renewable sources of energy by 2025. Passed in 2008, the Ohio Bipartisan Job Stimulus plan will fund $150 million in advanced energy projects and bring thousands of jobs in advanced energy production to the state.

As president and CEO of Xunlight Corporation, a developer and manufacturer of photovoltaic modules, Dr. Deng shared his expertise in solar energy and experience leading a cutting-edge advanced energy company in Ohio. Ohio has provided Xunlight with major research and develop grants including $5 million from the Ohio Research Commercialization Grant Program.  These funds combined with Ohio’s world-class advanced manufacturing expertise helped Xunlight develop novel manufacturing processes to mass produce their flexible solar product for commercial application.

Hocking College was recently awarded a $1.6 million grant from the Economic Development Administration for the construction of an innovative learning facility near the Logan-Hocking Industrial Park in Hocking County. The Energy Institute will feature green building design aspects and hands-on learning labs. Mr. Hutton shared about Hocking College’s efforts to prepare students studying in energy programs such as alternative energy, fuel cells, and vehicular hybrids, thereby ensuring a sustainable green labor pool for the industry.

To learn more about Ohio’s leadership in the advanced energy industry, check out the complete article.

International Leader in the Cutting-edge Bioscience Industry

By: Kristi Tanner, Brand Manager, Ohio Business Development Coalition

With more than $2.5 billion in funding and over 1,100 bioscience entities in operation throughout the state, Ohio is establishing an international leadership role in the cutting-edge bioscience industry. Ohio’s strength in biotech is broad and deep, with an emphasis on research, development and marketing of pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, bioinformatics, medical devices, medical equipment and other health-related products. Bioscience companies represent not only the next wave for the global economy, but also opportunity for dramatic advances in the human experience.

Ohio welcomed 41 bioscience organizations in 2008 and 60 in 2007 by way of new company launches or companies establishing their first facility in the state. Many of these additions are companies that migrated to Ohio from other states or other countries—such as Israel, Japan and Australia. Further evidence of Ohio’s strength in the bioscience arena is their recent ranking of fourth among the states and best in the Midwest in overall biotech strength by Business Facilities Magazine’s recently released 2008 Biotechnology Strength Report.

Part of the explosion of growth in Ohio’s bioscience community can be attributed to the availability of capital in the industry. Ohio’s venture development community is increasing its support of technology company formations as a result of several key public and private initiatives launched over the last several years in angel, seed and early-stage venture funds. The result is more capital investment and increased business growth across the spectrum. According to the Midwest Health Care Venture Investment Report, Ohio healthcare-related companies attracted $296 million in 2007. And overall, venture capital investment was up 50% in Ohio in 2008, while it declined nationwide.

Ohio also provides critical support services and a collaborative environment between researchers, institutions and technology business throughout the entire spectrum of bioscience development. From early research to full commercialization, from diagnostic to therapeutic, from pharmaceutical to medical devices, and from agricultural biotech to advanced materials, Ohio’s bioscience entities build partnerships and clusters of innovation that lead to new products and technologies.

Based on the color model established by European bioscience leaders, Ohio’s strength in the Red (health), Green (agriculture) and White (industrial) bioscience industry sectors stimulates innovation, promotes cross-collaboration and provides cost-effective solutions to scientific challenges. The concentration of these three industries in Ohio allows companies and researchers to work side-by-side on solutions and explore product applications in multiple disciplines.

Ohio's superior medical system also helps explain the state's emerging dominance in the bioscience field. In U.S. News & World Report's 2008 "America's Best Hospitals" list, 14 Ohio hospitals were ranked among the nation's top 220 hospitals in a variety of specialties, ranking Ohio among the top 5 states. The 2008 U.S. News & World Report "America's Best Children's Hospitals" rankings show that 4 of the top 15 pediatric hospitals are in Ohio—Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (3rd), University Hospital's Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland (5th), Children's Hospital Cleveland Clinic (14th) and Nationwide Children's in Columbus (15th). Due in part to its strong clinical network and medical reputation, Ohio hosted 16 percent of all clinical trials conducted in the U.S.

If capital, collaboration, a superior medical community and critical support services are the ingredients for success, then the cooks in the kitchen are the Ohio Third Frontier, BioOhio and the many biotech researchers, businesses and entrepreneurial leaders in the state. Key investments growing over time have helped to build the industry to what it is today. For businesses, the benefit is a critical mass of like-minded bio-businesses and research universities, and a highly qualified workforce. For executives, the state’s vast educational and recreational opportunities make Ohio particularly attractive both professionally and personally. Their continued dedication will certainly improve the lives of all Ohioans for years to come.