The Ohio Distribution and Logistics Industry is defined by the action of transporting commodities and finished goods. Distribution includes all freight carriers (air, water, trucking, and inter-modal) and warehousing. Wholesalers are included as goods movement is their major function.
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.
Access to commercial networks and markets in Ohio's Enterprise Appalachian Region supports best practices in supply chain management, giving companies a significant edge in profitability, quality and service, according to a recent Inc. magazine white paper.
"Real Best Practices for Supply Chain Optimization," is the third in a series of Inc.white papers discussing ideal selection criteria for business startup – access to supply chain and markets, access to business capital and support services, access to knowledge and labor and access to a balanced life. It offers a prescription for efficiently managing the supply chain – the continuum of materials, information, and finances needed to convert raw materials or resources into a product or service delivered to the final customer.
"Savvy entrepreneurs know that choosing the ideal location to start a business can mean the difference between success and failure," said Ed Burghard, executive director of the Ohio Business Development Coalition. "The Appalachian Ohio Region has become a hub for entrepreneurial enterprise, in part because its location in Ohio's manufacturing heartland provides access both to a strong supply chain and a ready market for products and services."
One company that has thrived as a result of its location in Appalachian is Rocky Brands. CEO Mike Brooks cites the area's hardworking 21st century workforce and location within 600 miles of 60 percent of the U.S. population as factors that created an ideal location for this world leader in rugged outdoor and occupational footwear headquartered in Nelsonville, Ohio.
He says excellent schools and low cost of living make it easy to attract and retain talent, while his employees stay sharp through study in Ohio's first-class higher education system at Hocking College and Ohio University. A strategic location in Enterprise Appalachia supports efficient product distribution through more than 3,000 outlets nationwide.
In addition to business success, Enterprise Appalachia offers the avid outdoorsman a work-life balance he has found nowhere else. Through the airport in nearby Columbus, he takes easy day-trips to meet with customers, often returning home in time for dinner and a walk in the area's pristine woodlands with his wife. He can have it all – professional success and a rewarding personal life – without sacrificing one for the other.
Visit here to learn how Ohio's Enterprise Appalachia delivers the ideal location criteria for business start-ups: access to supply chain and markets, access to capital, access to knowledge and labor and access to a balanced life.
Today Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland recognized the contributions of 27 Ohio export leaders at the Ohio Global Summit, an event sharing successful strategies for global trade by Ohio-based international business experts, for their contributions to the state’s performance as a leading U.S. export economy.
Ohio's export industry grew by nearly 7 percent in 2008, to $45.5 billion. Global trade supports nearly 300,000 jobs in the state – and more than 11,000 Ohio companies distribute goods to well over 200 countries around the world. Ohio is the seventh-largest exporting state in the country, and the only state in the nation to see export growth for 10 years in a row.
Ohio’s global export prominence speaks to the state’s manufacturing strengths, logistics capabilities, skilled workforce, and competitive business environment. The state has redesigned business climate and world-class transportation infrastructure allows businesses in any industry – including international trade - to be globally successful.
I recently spoke with John R. Nottingham, the co-founder and co-president of Nottingham-Spirk Design Associates, Inc., one of the leading new product and package innovation groups in the US with over 500 commercialized patents to date. Nottingham-Spirk product innovations have helped to create jobs and growth for Ohio companies and throughout the US for over 35 years. Notable design support projects include Crest SpinBrush®, Swiffer SweeperVac®, and Sherwin-Williams Twist & Pour® paint container.
John shared with me how his company benefits from the state's talented labor pool in the fields of product design, engineering and marketing. In addition, Nottingham-Spirk Design Associates offers an internship program for college students and new graduates.
The state of Ohio is committed to building, maintaining and retaining a talented labor pool that meets demands for Ohio businesses. From K-12 schools that challenge and inspire students to be both imaginative and analytical in their thinking, to postsecondary institutions that promote the development of moral character and produce highly skilled graduates, every level of Ohio's education and workforce development system is designed to create an educated, innovative and reliable workforce.
Click here to read more about my interview with John.
uct innovations have helped to create jobs and growth for Ohio companies and throughout the US for over 35 years. Notable design support projects include Crest SpinBrush®, Swiffer SweeperVac®, and Sherwin-Williams Twist & Pour® paint container.
