It's one of corporate America's oldest principles. To be successful in business, you must sacrifice your personal life. No time for family. No time for hobbies or recreation. Relax for just a moment, and the competition will take your place. Unfortunately for executives chasing their dreams in the world's crowded, fast-paced mega-metropolises, it's truer today than ever.
But it's not true in Ohio -- a state where the opportunities for professional success and personal fulfillment are equally balanced. Here, you can think big, work big and play big without being swallowed up by bigness itself. Ohio's business climate provides the resources to encourage and assist you in making your business grow and prosper on a global basis. Yet, on the personal side, Ohio's micro-metropolitan structure and short commutes provide all the cultural, educational and recreational amenities of the city, along with the time - precious time - and the personal space to enjoy them with family and friends.
In Ohio, thousands of top executives have discovered professional success without personal sacrifice. Click here to read their stories and see how you can build you business and love your life in Ohio.
The fact that Ohio continues to be recognized by some of the nation’s leading business publications is evidence that our economic development strategies for creating a healthy business development climate in the state are working. This further proves that Ohio should be on every CEO’s list of location options.
When executives grow their business in Ohio they not only find a nurturing business environment, but are also able to profit from the bottom-line benefits of better work-life balance for their employees. Ohio’s low-cost, low-stress communities and combination of micropolitan and metropolitan cities and short commutes provides executives and employees the resources and time to make any ambition achievable. Ohio truly is the state of perfect balance.
Click here to find out more about Ohio’s business environment and benefits of work-life balance.
Cathy Falkenberg and her husband, Rob, who is CEO of UnitedHealthcare of Ohio, relocated to Ohio in 2005 from Dallas to pursue a promising career and life opportunity. While relocating her family across the country was challenging, life in Ohio quickly reassured Cathy they had found their "home." I asked her if she could describe in one word what it means to live in Ohio. Her answer? Access.
She shared with me, "Accessibility is what makes Ohio shine. Ohio is an accessible state, in every sense of the word. Commuting to work and school is easier here. It is a refreshing change from other areas of the country where we have lived. I don't have to plan more than an hour in just commute time. We spend less time in the car and more time doing the things we love to do. We also have easy access to family in other states."
"Ohio has a very strong work-life balance, and I would definitely say that having the right balance is more attainable here than any other place I have lived," Cathy continued. "Ohio's communities are very supportive. Its metropolitan areas are not pretentious but are still very cosmopolitan. I value the fact that there is cultural diversity here. The work:life balance here is very attractive, no matter what your age is."
As president and chief executive officer of Anderson-DuBose, a logistics company specializing in food service distribution, Warren Anderson has found that Ohio’s central location and world-class transportation infrastructure reduce operating expenses and provide greater opportunities to reach new milestones in growth and prosperity.
Lower transportation cost isn’t the only business advantage Warren has found in Ohio. Pro-commerce policies implemented by the Ohio Department of Development have paved the way to new expansion through low-interest loans and grants.
"The state has made it very attractive to retain the business here, to the point where this is where our home base is going to remain,” Warren shared in an interview with me.
Warren has also found a personal advantage to running a successful business in Ohio. The same interstate system that speeds his trucks to their destinations also speeds him home to family and the pastimes he enjoys most – boating – on nearby Lake Erie, attending his children’s sporting and ballet events and catching a Cleveland Cavaliers game.
Ohio’s location has been the key to business and personal success for Rick Griffith, president of McGinnis, Inc. McGinnis is one of the country’s leading providers of marine transportation, equipment and repair services to the river industry. Located in South Point, Ohio, McGinnis benefits from its direct access to the largest inland river port in the country along the Ohio River.
Griffith says Ohio’s short commutes allow him to spend more time with family, while its location on the Ohio River provides McGinnis with everything it needs to thrive. “If you’re not in the right location you won’t have a lot of business,” he shared with me. “That’s why Ohio works for us.”
On the personal side, Griffith says he sleeps well at night knowing his grandchildren are growing up in small communities, with small-town values. These same values provide Griffith with a work-life balance that allows him to spend quality time with them, too, growing his business and keeping his family grounded in Ohio.
Watch the video to find out more about the work-life balance Griffith finds in Ohio.
