Manufacturing
Ohio's economy is built upon a historic legacy of manufacturing. From the processing of raw materials to the creation of finely tuned products, Ohioans have served as the world's experts in the manufacturing sector. While the global marketplace has changed the playing field, distributing manufacturing into second- and third-world economies, Ohio remains at the top of the nation in manufacturing competitiveness, ranked by an independent industry research group
- Ohio is home to 21,250 manufacturing companies
- Cincinnati ranks sixth in the United States for manufacturing jobs, Cleveland is 10th and Columbus is 19th.
- Ohio leads the nation in production of general-purpose machinery and is second in metalworking machinery production.
Iron, rubber, cars and consumer electronics are giving way to advanced machinery manufacturing, so that Ohio's machinery workers are now literally making the machines that make everything else as product manufacture goes overseas. Legacy industries within Ohio's manufacturing sector are adjusting so that, for example, the state's historic rubber companies are engaging in advanced plastics applications, and chemicals firms are on the cutting edge of fuel cell and other alternative energy creation solutions.
As manufacturing evolves to meet the new economic realities, Ohio's legacy as a strong manufacturing state will drive growth in the redefined global marketplace.
