Magazine ranks Dayton high for development

Site Selection magazine announced Monday the Dayton metro ranked first among cities of its size for economic development projects in its annual Governor’s Cup rankings.

The Dayton Development Coalition said this is the 14th consecutive year the Dayton region has ranked in the top 10 and its fourth win. Ohio ranked No. 1 in the Governor’s Cup 2019 and had the No. 2 spot for total projects overall.

The Atlanta-based magazine ranks cities and states and has awarded the Governor’s Cup annually since 1988, based on new and expanded corporate facilities as tracked by a proprietary database.

Projects factored into the rankings include those with any combination of state, regional and local incentives, as well as those that do not receive any assistance.

“It’s no surprise to me that Dayton continues to punch above its weight nationally in economic development,”Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley. said. “The Dayton Region works very collaboratively to execute a long-term vision to grow a more diverse base of high-quality jobs for our residents.”

The Dayton Development Coalition said tech jobs were 20% of the total committed jobs in 2019, compared with 4% in 2017.

The DDC said companies such as Booz Allen Hamilton, JJR Solutions, Tyler Technologies, Traction on Demand, Oculii, Wurth

Electronic, and Mile 2 committed to creating nearly 500 new jobs.

The DDC reported that in addition to spending more than $738 million in the region, companies committed to create around 2,700 new jobs and retain around 8,900 jobs. The numbers represent companies that worked with JobsOhio to expand or establish new operations in the region.