Initiative to move local residents into middle class begins at OSU

“We want to do better to provide more opportunities to households.”

In Ohio, the middle-class income range is a large one, anywhere from $36,025 to $108,074 annually.

The question for years in a changing economy and job market is how to keep people in that range while moving people up from poverty.

In April, Ohio State University announced that Schmidt Futures had awarded it a $1.5 million grant to come up with ideas to move people out of poverty while strengthening the middle class. Ohio State was chosen as one of four universities to participate in the Alliance for the American Dream.

“We have a track record of making a difference, but we can do more,” said Ohio State Provost Bruce McPheron, who led off a gathering of civic, university and business leaders at Ohio State’s Fawcett Center on Wednesday to start generating ideas toward the goal of raising the net income of 10,000 local, middle-class households by 10 percent by 2020.

The question is how to do that. It could include direct payments that reduce expenses and help with income growth, such as housing or child Elena Irwin, an Ohio State professor and environmental and urban economist

care subsidies. It could mean strategies to reduce household debt by helping with mortgages or student loans.

Or it could be communitywide efforts, such as investing in transportation, or investing in communitybased organizations that connect residents to education or job training.

Another possibility: Employers could boost household incomes that grow local businesses or boost entrepreneurship and job skills while investing public money into education or technology that will attract private dollars.

The goal is for the community to choose three ideas by mid-December.

“It truly is a remarkable opportunity,” McPheron said.

Bill LaFayette, an economist and owner of Columbus economicconsulting firm Regionomics LLC, told the group that eight years of economic expansion have not translated into income growth.

Much of today’s incivility in politics has to do with the public’s feeling that institutions are not working for the middle class, said Shannon Hardin, Columbus City Council president.

Elena Irwin, an Ohio State professor and environmental and urban economist, said, “We want to do better to provide more opportunities to households.” That means not only addressing longterm structural issues in the economy, but also taking steps that have an immediate impact.

Amy Klaben, a local affordable-housing consultant, said she hopes the new effort addresses the underlying causes, which include neighborhoods segregated by income.

“People can’t move up,” said Klaben, who also is the project facilitator for Move to PROSPER, a new initiative that will move 10 low-income, single-mom families into stable housing and neighborhoods. She also said housing must be built close to jobs.

Schmidt Futures was founded by Eric Schmidt, a former CEO and chairman of Google and a current board member and technical adviser to Google parent company, Alphabet.