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Ohio Could See More Federal Support For Manufacturing

President Obama is taking his message on how to boost manufacturing in the the US on the road Wednesday. As Emily McCord reports for WYSO, the President’s plans to invest in the manufacturing sector could help Ohio’s economy.

During his state of the Union address, President Obama asked Congress to approve $1 billion to create more of what he calls Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, or partnerships between the public and private sector and colleges to help build manufacturing technologies. There are a few already underway. Youngstown is home to one pilot hub and is a model for the Obama’s plan.  Richard Stock is an economics professor at the University of Dayton and says Ohio has a good shot at getting more of these hubs if cities in the state can follow Youngstown’s example.

"The lesson from Youngstown is you can’t think just in terms of one metropolitan area. You would really have to think about bringing the capabilities of Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati together because they want to see a collaboration," says Stock.

Ohio is heavily reliant on manufacturing. During the recession, a third of job losses were in that sector. The White House says there are more initiatives are underway to build up it up again, including ending tax breaks to ship jobs overseas and enforcing trade laws.