Jones said the county will have more needs for transportation improvements, affordable child care, affordable housing, improving the workforce and schools with the next wave of economic growth comes in the coming years.
Jones and fellow commissioners David Young and Tom Grossmann presented the annual ‘State of Warren County’ update to nearly 150 local government and business leaders at a meeting of the Area Progress Council at Shaker Run Golf Course.
“We need to step up the conversation on how we want the county to be in the next five, 10, 20 years,” she said. “We’ve attempted to be strong financially and have a strong foundation.”
Jones noted the county has completed a lot of water and sewer system upgrades and recently partnered with altafiber to make massive improvements in broadband by using $4.8 million in ARPA funds to leverage a $100 million project that will bring high-speed broadband fiber access throughout Warren County over the next three years to approximately 53,000 addresses.
She said the fiber project will first start on the eastern side of the county so that Warren County is competitive with other counties.
Jones said another county priority is to build up the county workforce and how to develop it. She said a study is underway and is in the discovery process with hopes to identify assets by the opportunities end of May.
Recent figures list Warren County with an unemployment rate of 3.2%, which is lower than 4.2% reported for Ohio or 3.9% for the U.S., Jones said. In addition, the county had 740 unemployment claims with 600 people on unemployment, and two adults on cash assistance, Jones said.
She also said there were 3,146 open postings for individual and/or multiple jobs on the Ohio Means Jobs website within a five mile radius of Lebanon’s 45036 ZIP code.
“We’re trying to ensure that families are working with agencies to help them,” she said.
Young praised the audience, saying their hard work is why Warren County is successful.
He said the county is making a concerted effort to prepare for the “Intel Impact.”
“The Interstate 71 corridor will be where ancillary suppliers and businesses will be located for Intel and Honda,” Young said.
As a board member of REDI Cincinnati, Young said one strategy is targeting businesses from the Chicago region to relocate to southwest Ohio touting its lower costs.
Young said the county did not shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic and that during 2008-2010, every jurisdiction had cuts except for fiscally conservative Warren County. He also noted the county was able to build a new jail that opened last year with a temporary sales tax increase that will sunset this year and the county’s general fund debt will be retired this year.
“As we sit at the table, Warren County is the shining city on the hill when government gets out of the way,” Young said.
Grossmann said the county is ranked second in the state for health outcomes and is the third-fastest growing county in Ohio. He also said the county is tops in the tourism industry.
“We’ve kept taxes low and services high,” Grossmann said.
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