Study: Jobs follow wireless Internet

Jan. 25, 2012, Marion Star

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

If businesses are going to come to Ohio, with jobs in tow, they’re going to want access to high speed Internet.

A report by the national think tank NDN looked specifically at wireless broadband, examining communities that recently saw increases in network speeds. The study notes that communities that saw this increase then saw an increase in employment the following quarter.

According to the study, the shift from 2G to 3G networks between 2007 and 2011 helped bring about 1.6 million jobs nationwide.

The study estimates that communities investing in 4G networks will see more than 231,000 jobs in one year.

Growth an opportunity for Ohio cattle industry

Dec. 23, 2011, Port Clinton News Herald

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

Ohio might gain jobs by giving its cattle a first-class ticket to Turkey.

Demand for livestock is growing in developing nations. A group of lawmakers recently visited Turkey to gauge interest in shipping cattle from the Wilmington Airpark.

The air facility is in a unique location. It once belonged to DHL, a shipping company that shuttered its Wilmington operations in 2008 and signed the airpark over to the Clinton County Port Authority.

Since then, the port authority has sought to make use of the facility, said director Kevin Carver.

It has enough space to land large jets — the kind that would likely be used for shipping cattle, Carver said. It is about 10 miles west of Sabina, which houses one of six agricultural export inspection facilities in the country.

They lost everything

Dec. 7, 2011, Newark Advocate

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

Ursula Harris was not the type of person you’d expect to meet at a homeless shelter.

At a first meeting, she sat in the corner of the Salvation Army shelter in Newark. She wore makeup, nice clothes and jewelry. She spoke confidently and was willing to be photographed.

Harris, her daughter and her grandkids found themselves at the shelter after they were evicted from their home in Pataskala. It was a nice home, and they lost everything.

This wasn’t the first time Harris fell on hard times — several years ago, she was foreclosed on after losing her job — but it was her first time homeless.

She had been in the shelter for less than a week, and she’ll be out soon, she said — and stronger for the experience.

Harris is a former financial broker. She worked for herself, and when the economy collapsed, so did her finances.

Tax breaks help, analysis shows

Oct. 15, 2011, Fremont News-Messenger

By Jessica Alaimo and Russ Zimmer

CentralOhio.com

When President Barack Obama or Ohio Gov. John Kasich speak, voters want to know: Where are the jobs?

When local candidates filled out CentralOhio.com’s voter guide, many echoed the same theme: “Residents consistently tell me that they want officials to focus efforts on creating jobs.”

The state allows local officials to offer businesses tax breaks for adding or keeping jobs. A CentralOhio.com analysis shows beneficiaries of the programs have mostly kept their promises.

Since enterprise zones were created in 1983, businesses in the zones created or kept 73 percent of the jobs they promised in exchange for breaks on real and personal property taxes.

Schools, others work to find ways to help poor overcome obstacles

Aug. 12, 2011, Newark Advocate

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

NEWARK — A large portion of residents in Licking County can’t even think about saving for a down payment on a house or college tuition for their 10-year-old.

This is because they might not know how they’re going to feed their family tomorrow.

Those in poverty don’t just have less money than those in other economic classes. They speak a different language and live in a different culture. All of their actions involve living for the here and now because they never can be completely sure if they will survive to see next week.

Bridges Out of Poverty consultant Chris Ramsey didn’t need to explain this concept to the 20 people sitting around a conference room table Thursday.

Some small businesses start push to repeal Senate Bill 5

May 10, 2011, Port Clinton News Herald

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

NEWARK — Rob Romine wants public employees who walk through his door to know he has their backs.

His downtown Newark business, Backstreet Haircutters, has displayed stickers on his doors that read: “This establishment proudly accepts business from hard working public and private employees.”

The stickers are part of the Proud Ohio Workers campaign, an effort to show Ohio’s small businesses support collective bargaining rights for public employees, said campaign spokeswoman Rebecca Scott. The stickers are placed on 600 business doors throughout the state.

Lawmakers look at comp time

Jan. 31, 2011, Fremont News-Messenger

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

Special to The News-Messenger

Some Ohio lawmakers want to change how hourly employees for small businesses get paid.

State Reps. Andy Thompson, R-Marietta, and Jarrod Martin, R-Beavercreek, want to allow small, private employers to give compensatory time to employees. That would mean employees who work more than 40 hours in a week could bank compensatory time instead of collecting overtime pay.

Thompson and Martin’s bill would apply only to businesses with gross sales of less than $500,000. Larger businesses are governed by federal law, which allows comp time for public-sector employees but not private-sector employees.

Fearing casinos, nonprofit groups seek video bingo games

Dec. 5, 2010, Newark Advocate

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

As gambling expands in Ohio, several nonprofits are asking the Legislature to allow electronic bingo machines in licensed halls.

This will allow them to stay competitive as skill games continue and casino construction begins in Ohio, say officials from the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

“Obviously, if there are casinos in every corner of the state, (people) are not going to come in and play tickets,” said Don Lanthorn, department service director for the Ohio American Legion.

Bingo down, but not out

Dec. 5, 2010, Newark Advocate

By JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

Bingo cards are placed neatly in front of them. Colorful daubers are lined up within grasp. They’ve gotten food from the concession stand, and paper bags are by their feet to dispose of used cards. It’s showtime.

Five minutes later, the games start. Shelby Wright, of Zanesville, and Tina Maxwell, of Dresden, are focused, scanning their cards for the numbers called out and displayed on the video monitors.

As more numbers are called in each play, the chatter picks up and excitement brews. When someone yells “bingo,” it is met with a collective groan and simultaneous crumpling of paper.

It’s Wednesday night at MASS Bingo in Zanesville, and the room is crowded. But it used to be full for every game, said Wright, whose bingo-playing days outdate the daubers and video monitors.

It’s a typical story across the state, with nonprofits hosting bingo games seeing a decline in revenues and profits. Many organizations have dropped traditional bingo altogether in favor of pull-tab games.

Thousands of area jobless face loss of benefits

Nov. 28, 2010, Newark Advocate

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

This holiday season brings uncertainty for the 3,795 people in Licking County who will lose their unemployment benefits between Tuesday and April if Congress does not approve another extension.

Statewide, 301,404 people will lose jobless benefits in the same window.

The U.S. House of Representatives denied an emergency extension Nov. 18, before its holiday recess. U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Genoa Township, voted against the extension, and U.S. Rep. Zack Space, D-Dover, was not present for the vote.

New era, new skill sets for a new work force

Jan. 28, 2010, Fremont News-Messenger

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

Special to the News-Messenger

Ohio needs to streamline its worker training to attract green energy jobs, according to a report issued Monday.

Policy Matters Ohio and the Apollo Alliance, a coalition of labor and environmental groups, looked at green energy training programs in the Buckeye State, and how they could be used and expanded to create a more skilled work force.

Instead of adding new programs, the report details ways to expand existing programs with unions and community colleges.

Numbers show depth of Ohio’s economic despair

Jan. 23, 2010, Newark Advocate

By JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

Barack Obama and state leaders could be forgiven if they thought a presidential visit to Ohio occurred on Friday the 13th, not the 22nd.

More bad news about the state’s economy preceded Obama’s visit to Lorain, where he promised, “I won’t stop fighting to bring back jobs here.”

Ohio’s unemployment rate rose to 10.9 percent in December, the latest figures from the Department of Job and Family Services.

The jobless rate was 10.6 percent in November, and the department blamed losses in service industries for the decline.

Gas prices down, families still struggle

Dec. 26, 2009, Port Clinton News Herald

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

Special to the News Herald

Natural gas prices are down, which means it will cost less for households to keep warm this winter.

With the bad economy and record-high unemployment rate, however, people are struggling to pay their utility bills. There are a number of options out there for aid.

Ken Stammen, spokesman for Columbia Gas of Ohio, said because of the price decrease, the company has had fewer requests for help this year.

This season, it’s OK to buy used

Dec. 10, 2009, Newark Advocate

BY JESSICA ALAIMO

CentralOhio.com

Tucked in between ads for scrap metal and old, bulky furniture on Craigslist’s free section are calls for help.

“We are trying to find a free or extremely CHEAP live tree for christmas. We had a bad rough year as many others have and we were really wanting to get a live tree for the first time for our little boy hes 13 months old,” one Newark woman wrote.

There are also answers.