02/25/2019

Dear Elected Officials: Make Actions Match Words

State and local policymakers should help businesses thrive

Ohio is home to nearly 10,000 jobs for my members in the non-alcoholic beverage industry. Their collective power infuses Ohio with $6.4 billion in direct economic benefits. And in a state with leaders at all levels of government asking employers what they need to thrive in Ohio, the answer for our industry is surprisingly simple: state and local policymakers should make their actions match their words.

And when they don’t, we need them to work with agencies, boards and commissions under their purview to explore the reasons for the disconnect and ultimately fix that disconnect.

Our state leaders tout study committees looking at workforce development and retention issues. This is great, but why not also examine any state agency for impediments to these goals? For example, is it a hassle to get a CDL license in Ohio? Yep; in some areas of the state our members have six- to eight-week wait times to get drivers scheduled for their required CDL skill tests. This is a broken connection between wanting more CDL drivers in Ohio and making that happen.

Please select this link to read the complete article from LinkedIn.