Data Driven Economic Development
Montrose Group, LLC.
We live in the age of Big Data. The access to massive amounts of data points matched with unprecedented computer power and broadband speeds are transforming the global economy. Who would have imagined that Amazon would have over 300,000 employees at the end of 2018 compared to just 100,000 at General Motors? Automation has been reducing the manufacturing workforce since the Kennedy Administration, and it hit agriculture well before that. Artificial Intelligence is invading the high-wage White Collar workforce in insurance, banking and professional services. E-Commerce is driving rapid expansion of job rich fulfillment centers but, in part, closed a record number of retail stores in 2017. Finally, Autonomous Vehicles is changing the transportation, auto industry and planning and development of cities.
Automation is the technique of making an apparatus, a process, or a system operate automatically and it takes the form of robots and machine learning through machines and computers doing human work. Automation is good for global economies as it increases productivity which has tended to produce higher wages jobs. The economic impact of automation does not provide economic benefit evenly throughout society as lower skilled, less educated and poorer workers tend to take the brunt of job losses. By 2035, 47% of U.S. jobs might be at risk due to advances in machine learning, automation, and artificial intelligence according to a recent White House report. Automation will impact substantially the operation of the insurance, banking and professional services, and retail industries. The reality is all industries will be impacted by Automation and its oldest son Big Data.
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Interns Help Expand Sales to International Markets
The Ohio Export Internship Program matches businesses interested in growing exports with highly motivated college students who have taken export-focused coursework. The Ohio Department of Development offers participating small to medium-sized businesses a 50 percent reimbursement for the wages of the intern.
read moreLouis Dreyfus Company Announces Record Breaking Project in Wyandot County
Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), a leading merchant and processor of agricultural goods, announced plans for its state-of-the-art soybean processing facility to be located in Wyandot County, Ohio. The project will bolster the region’s economic growth in the critical food and agriculture sector. LDC’s facility will be located just outside of the City of Upper Sandusky; it’s first location in the State of Ohio.
read moreMapping a Pathway to Successfully Access New All Ohio Future Fund Opportunities
The Ohio General Assembly, in its budget bill (HB33) approved July 3, 2023, authorized up to $750 million in state budget resources to the All Ohio Future Fund (R.C. 126.62). The fund is to be used for infrastructure to compete for — and win – more sizeable economic development projects such as the Amazon, Honda-LG, and Intel megaprojects that Ohio landed in recent years.
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