Ohio House Passes Legislation to Designate "Reshoring Month" in Ohio

The Ohio House of Representatives today passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 2, which designates March 2013 as Reshoring Month in Ohio.

S.C.R. 2 states that reshoring in Ohio will not only create vital manufacturing jobs and efficiently strengthen the economy, but also improve the quality of goods, negate the possibility of trade secret thefts, reduce imports and increase exports, reduce delivery times, and strengthen the industrial base.

“The United States’ prolonged economic recession is almost certainly due in part to American jobs being sent overseas in an effort to cope with the rising cost of business and manufacturing,” said Speaker Batchelder. “While many states, including Ohio, have made significant strides to make it easier to do business here on our home soil, this resolution further asserts our commitment to restoring these jobs to the American people. By declaring March 2013 as Reshoring Month in Ohio, we are putting a stronger emphasis on shifting jobs and operations back to our citizens.”

“Reshoring” refers to the effort to bring back to the United States the production of goods and services, as well as associated jobs, that previously had been moved abroad to countries such as Asia, Latin America and Africa where labor and materials are cheaper. However, with more financial incentives, inconvenience associated with distance, and increased offshore production costs, many American companies are opting to “reshore” their operations.

According to the Reshoring Initiative, reshoring has the potential to add anywhere from tens of thousands to a hundred thousand Ohio manufacturing jobs. Ohio is second in the nation for reported reshoring cases, just behind California and ahead of North Carolina. Recent examples of reshoring include the Ford foundry in Cleveland and Whirlpool in Clyde.

S.C.R. 2 passed the House unanimously.