Numbers show Clark County has seen job growth in 2016, but it's unclear whether this positive economic outlook may be impacted by the city of Springfield’s ongoing budget troubles.
Recent Clark County investments include development at the Prime Ohio Industrial Park and Wall Street brokerage firm EF Hutton’s decision to relocate its global headquarters to downtown Springfield.
Horton Hobbs is Vice President of Economic Development at the Springfield Chamber of Commerce. He says Clark County added about 700 new jobs in 2016, and he expects the trend to continue over at least the next five years.
“We’ve had very strong and positive growth. In the next few weeks we will announce one new company to the community and perhaps even two," he says. "We’ve seen a lot of our employers who held off leading up to the election continue with their hiring and continue with their investments.”
Springfield city officials last week announced they’re considering more than $1 million in cuts to public safety, parks and tourism services after voters narrowly defeated an income tax hike. The five-year, nearly half-a-percent tax increase would have generated an additional $6.7 million a year for the city of Springfield.