15-05-2025
Ohio lawmakers pitch new manufacturing improvement grants
Crew members perform an inspection at one of First Solar's Ohio manufacturing plants. (Photo courtesy of First Solar.)
Two Ohio state lawmakers want to earmark $24 million over the next two years to help manufacturers make upgrades. State Reps. Nick Santucci, R-Niles, and Steve Demetriou, R-Bainbridge Twp., argue manufacturing is a leading industry in the state but small and midsize companies have trouble securing funding for improvements.
'It's essential that we protect our legacy manufacturing companies to support the continued success of manufacturing here in Ohio,' Santucci said when they introduced the bill earlier this month.
Grants themselves are capped at $150,000 and the pool of available funding would be split evenly between companies with 50 employees or fewer and those with 51-500.
'These grants,' Santucci added, 'will provide essential support to manufacturers by enabling them to automate repetitive tasks and upskill employees so they can adapt to evolving demands and circumstances including workforce shortages.'
He and Demetriou point to similar programs in Iowa and Indiana that have been running for years. But they're walking a fine line convincing their fellow lawmakers.
Despite longstanding economic development efforts like JobsOhio and the state Department of Development, there's an air of 'picking winners and losers' to the proposal. That runs counter to many Republicans' free-market inclinations, and some members worried about blowback if grant recipients crash and burn.
At the same time, Democrats' ears prick up at that 'automate repetitive tasks' argument. They don't want to pay for business improvements that push existing staffers out of the job.
In a lot of ways, what Santucci and Demetriou are suggesting fits neatly with existing state programs. Handing the Ohio Department of Development an extra $12 million a year with specific requirements for how to target and administer that funding isn't exactly reinventing the wheel. Demetriou cast the program as a supplement to economic development programs aimed at attracting businesses to the state.
'We have a great opportunity to create an environment to organically grow businesses that have already called Ohio home,' he argued.
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Even if the funding is a grant, he added, recipient companies have to match the state's investment dollar-for-dollar.
'In addition to that, the bill stipulates that the business would have to return any unmatched dollars that they received from the state,' Demetriou said. 'So, they get $150 grand, and they only invest $75 grand of their money, then they're returning $75 grand back to the state.'
Still, lawmakers have a lot of questions about the idea. And to be fair, not all of them are skeptical. State Rep. Heidi Workman, R-Rootstown, suggested the grants might not be big enough. In some industries, she said, that $150,000 grant might only cover a single piece of equipment.
State Rep. Ismail Mohamed, D-Columbus, praised the sponsors intent, but said he's looking for 'a balance' between supporting new technology and protecting employees.
The sponsors' answers were likely unsatisfying. Santucci chalked up potential job losses to 'creative destruction.'
'There's a creation of new technology,' he said. 'Those (old) jobs go away, there's new jobs that get created because of that technology advancement, and so this is something that Ohio has to embrace. We have to move forward.'
That's obviously cold comfort for the workers whose jobs disappear, but Demetriou was quick to note Indiana's program has seen a modest net increase in employment per grant.
Eric Jenkusky, the CEO of T.J. Clark International, testified alongside Jeff Spain who works with a workforce training program at Columbus State. Both are big supporters of the bill.
Jenkusky explained his company has just 16 employees but it has contracts with the U.S. Defense Department for fuel and water pump systems.
'For our company in particular,' he explained, '(the Manufacturing Technologies Assistance Program) would allow us to enhance our manufacturing with modern CNC plasma metal cutting and rapid metallic 3D printing prototyping capabilities.'
Committee chairman, Rep. Thad Claggett, R-Licking County, pressed them about how lawmakers can protect taxpayer dollars.
'How do we how do we have winners — far more winners — than technology grants that did not work?' he asked.
Spain argued the program would be in good hands with the Department of Development. Claggett pressed further on whether he'd support a claw back feature. Spain said he would.
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State Rep. Ron Ferguson, R-Wintersville, argued a dollar spent on grants is a dollar that can't go to tax cuts. 'What do you think the value is, of say, cutting your tax liability versus giving a grant?' he asked. State Rep. Riordan McClain, R-Upper Sandusky, asked what about regulatory changes?
'Rather than a grant program that spends money, just kind of picks companies to invest in,' he said, 'I want to know if we can do it from a from a regulatory perspective.'
Jenkusky brushed off both suggestions. He wouldn't turn down a tax cut, but reducing overhead 'would take much longer for us to be able to realize any benefits.' And he said for companies his size, the biggest challenge is access to capital — not navigating regulations.
'I'm probably going to get myself in trouble for saying this,' he said, 'but even with JobsOhio, if you look, it's not guys like me that's in that program. It's always the Andurils and the Intels. It's never the TJ Clarks.'
In a statement, JobsOhio spokesman Matt Englehart said the organization doesn't comment on pending legislation, but argued it's got a strong track record of supporting small and medium sized businesses. As a handful of examples, he pointed to funding for Mansfield's Ohio Valley Stamping, Milo's Whole World Gourmet in Athens County, and Warren machining company Buckeye Precision Threads.
'More than 80 percent of all JobsOhio projects are with small and medium-sized enterprises,' Englehart said. But importantly, JobsOhio defines that as any business with $1 billion or less in revenue.
Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Nick Evans on X or on Bluesky.
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