CSI initiative cutting red tape for job creators
As the only CPA to hold statewide office in Ohio’s history, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor knows when things just don’t add up.
“As a CPA I have been trained to look at the bottom line, end results. It’s the way I work in government today,” Taylor told the members of the Wooster Rotary Club at their Dec. 12 meeting.
“I am a CPA who understands business and I understand government and I also understand that what government does impacts business here in Ohio,” said Taylor of the excessive and duplicative government rules that stand in the way of job creation.
“It impacts our business owners, it impacts our entrepreneurs and it impacts a small businesses’ ability to hire another Ohioan,” said Taylor.
Shortly after taking office Taylor was tapped by Gov. John Kasich to lead a new initiative designed to reform business regulations in Ohio, known as the Common Sense Initiative or CSI.
“What our goal is is to eliminate the red tape and the bureaucracy that kills jobs and hurts Ohio’s entrepreneurs,” said Taylor. “We are serious about investigating real live job killers…and getting rid of them so they no longer stand in the way of your company being successful.”
Taylor cited the experience of an Ohio food processing company as one example of the type of concrete action the state is taking to make Ohio a jobs-friendly state.
The company, which produces soups and sauces for national restaurant chains, uses beer and wine as ingredients in their products.
Rather than purchasing wine at much lower wholesale prices, Ohio’s liquor laws forced the company to purchase the wine at full retail price, which, according to Taylor, placed the company at “a massive competitive disadvantage” versus their out of state competitors.
To make the problem worse, the company was forced to purchase the wine in consumer packaging.
“They are literally opening one bottle at a time and pouring it into this soup or sauce,” said Taylor. “They poured 140,000 pounds of wine one bottle at a time.”
CSI worked with the Ohio General Assembly to pass legislation allowing food production facilities like the one in Avon to purchase alcohol at wholesale prices and in wholesale containers.
According to Taylor, the company is expected to make an announcement shortly that they will be expanding their Ohio operations “and that’s partly because we heard them, we listened and we took steps for them to be able to be successful right here in Ohio.
“That’s what we want to do for every job creator across the state of Ohio,” said Taylor.
“At the end of the day we want people to say Ohio is a great place to do business because we know Ohio is a great place to raise a family,” said Taylor, noting that over the next three years the administration is “going to continue to focus on the things that impact jobs in Ohio.
“We want to do what we can to make Ohio a state where businesses come, where businesses stay, where businesses start up and ultimately employ more Ohioans,” said Taylor.
“We can lead the economic recovery because that innovative spirit lives within every single Ohioan. We just have to unleash it and make them believe that they can achieve the American Dream if they are willing to work hard,” Taylor added.
“We do sense that the tide is turning. We do sense that people across the country are looking at Ohio in a different way than they have in the past. We sense that they recognize that we are serious about making this a state that is a great state to do business and employ people,” said Taylor, adding, “it’s going to take time but we are making progress.”
For more information on the Common Sense Initiative, log on to http://www.governor.ohio.gov/CSI.
“As a CPA I have been trained to look at the bottom line, end results. It’s the way I work in government today,” Taylor told the members of the Wooster Rotary Club at their Dec. 12 meeting.
“I am a CPA who understands business and I understand government and I also understand that what government does impacts business here in Ohio,” said Taylor of the excessive and duplicative government rules that stand in the way of job creation.
“It impacts our business owners, it impacts our entrepreneurs and it impacts a small businesses’ ability to hire another Ohioan,” said Taylor.
Shortly after taking office Taylor was tapped by Gov. John Kasich to lead a new initiative designed to reform business regulations in Ohio, known as the Common Sense Initiative or CSI.
“What our goal is is to eliminate the red tape and the bureaucracy that kills jobs and hurts Ohio’s entrepreneurs,” said Taylor. “We are serious about investigating real live job killers…and getting rid of them so they no longer stand in the way of your company being successful.”
Taylor cited the experience of an Ohio food processing company as one example of the type of concrete action the state is taking to make Ohio a jobs-friendly state.
The company, which produces soups and sauces for national restaurant chains, uses beer and wine as ingredients in their products.
Rather than purchasing wine at much lower wholesale prices, Ohio’s liquor laws forced the company to purchase the wine at full retail price, which, according to Taylor, placed the company at “a massive competitive disadvantage” versus their out of state competitors.
To make the problem worse, the company was forced to purchase the wine in consumer packaging.
“They are literally opening one bottle at a time and pouring it into this soup or sauce,” said Taylor. “They poured 140,000 pounds of wine one bottle at a time.”
CSI worked with the Ohio General Assembly to pass legislation allowing food production facilities like the one in Avon to purchase alcohol at wholesale prices and in wholesale containers.
According to Taylor, the company is expected to make an announcement shortly that they will be expanding their Ohio operations “and that’s partly because we heard them, we listened and we took steps for them to be able to be successful right here in Ohio.
“That’s what we want to do for every job creator across the state of Ohio,” said Taylor.
“At the end of the day we want people to say Ohio is a great place to do business because we know Ohio is a great place to raise a family,” said Taylor, noting that over the next three years the administration is “going to continue to focus on the things that impact jobs in Ohio.
“We want to do what we can to make Ohio a state where businesses come, where businesses stay, where businesses start up and ultimately employ more Ohioans,” said Taylor.
“We can lead the economic recovery because that innovative spirit lives within every single Ohioan. We just have to unleash it and make them believe that they can achieve the American Dream if they are willing to work hard,” Taylor added.
“We do sense that the tide is turning. We do sense that people across the country are looking at Ohio in a different way than they have in the past. We sense that they recognize that we are serious about making this a state that is a great state to do business and employ people,” said Taylor, adding, “it’s going to take time but we are making progress.”
For more information on the Common Sense Initiative, log on to http://www.governor.ohio.gov/CSI.
Published: December 18, 2011
