JobsOhio pokes fun in hopes of attracting business

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The call to action behind JobsOhio‘s aggressive nationwide billboard campaign is blunt: Move to Ohio — you’ll be happy you did.

“This campaign is really targeted at businesses,” Renae Scott said.

Scott is the director of Marketing and Communications for JobsOhio.

“We want to capture their attention and make sure they’ve got Ohio in their consideration set when they’re looking for new locations. The campaign started in 2020 when we saw what was happening with companies fleeing the coasts. They were looking for new opportunities, locations for their businesses. They were looking at places in Texas. We wanted to make sure that they knew Ohio was here and we had a great, great story to tell,” Scott said.

Scott said the campaign received around $50 million.

“As JobsOhio, we are a private nonprofit, so we’re not using any taxpayer dollars,” she said. “If we don’t see the return on investment, we will dial that [amount] back, but again, I just want to reiterate that as a nonprofit, we are not using taxpayer dollars. We use the funds, the profits from the spirits and liquor business here in Ohio to fund economic development activity in the state.”

The billboards are in Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, New York City and Washington, D.C.

One message reads, “Keep Austin weird. Like very high cost of living weird.”

Another sign is located outside Fenway Park. It reads “0% state corporate income tax? That’s the ticket.”

“We hear from businesses quite often that they are seeing them and that it is resonating. They’re getting a good chuckle at what the billboards say, and we know that that’s translating to conversations in the boardroom,” Scott said.

The campaign directs those interested to the website OhioIsForLeaders.com. There, you’ll find fast facts on possible business advantages, including a 0% state tax on corporate income and Ohio’s centralized location to the rest of the nation.