Auto industry vital to Ohio’s future.

State looks to lead as technologies, research advances.

The auto industry has made significant progress since the Great Recession in the state, but will face challenges that range from keeping up with the newest technology to competition from foreign manufacturers, officials from JobsOhio said Thursday.

Ohio will have to work with research institutions and automakers to keep ahead of competitors and ensure that the state is a leader in testing and developing lightweight materials, new engines and other technologies, said Kristi Tanner, managing director for automotive for JobsOhio.

The state’s private, nonprofit economic development entity hosted a quarterly meeting at the Transportation Research Center in East Liberty on Thursday. The 4,500-acre site is an independent research facility that conducts testing on safety, fuel economy, emissions and other issues for automakers.

The industry is key to the state’s economy, providing more than 106,000 jobs to Ohioans overall, Tanner said, including manufacturers, parts makers and other related fields.

The state needs to make sure it’s a leader in researching technologies like autonomous vehicles, which has made significant strides in recent years and could have a significant impact on the economy as early as 2020, she said.

“We are really excited about the transition to the future from where we are now and the possibilities of what can happen,” Tanner said.

She pointed to M City, a roughly 32-acre site in Ann Arbor, Mich., that will be used as a testing ground for driver-less vehicles, allowing researchers to test cars in situations like navigating intersections and crosswalks.

Assets like the East Liberty research center could easily develop similar facilities as the industry moves forward, Tanner said.

Although the industry is faring well, she said state business leaders need to work to ensure manufacturers like Honda, Chrysler and GM have the resources they need to compete here. She noted the U.S. auto industry is increasingly facing competition with foreign countries like Mexico, which can offer cheaper labor.

However, she said the U.S. will likely continue to be attractive to auto manufacturers because it can offer better quality, and has better access to engineering, research and development and other assets that provide a higher value.

The state has a long history in the auto industry but lost tens of thousands of those jobs in at the height of the Great Recession.

That figure has rebounded somewhat, but hasn’t come close to matching the figures from a decade ago.

Locally, Honda has a major footprint in the region’s economy, where it employs 13,000 Ohioans, including more than 1,400 residents from Clark and Champaign counties. Several of its local suppliers have made significant, multimillion-dollar expansions and hired new workers recently.

Several manufacturers in Clark and Champaign counties have benefited from the rebound.