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Central Ohio Building Trades Council Backs Ohio Jobs & Growth Plan

Posted on: Wednesday, 13 May 2009, 09:34 CDT

-- 8,000-member organization cites job creation, economic development --

COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council - which represents some 8,000 union construction workers in nine Central Ohio counties - has voted to endorse the Ohio Jobs and Growth Plan, the proposed November ballot issue that would authorize four casinos in Ohio, create 20,000 new jobs and provide $651 million a year in tax revenue for Ohio's counties, major cities and school districts.

"Regardless of one's view of gambling, it is a fact that Ohio residents are currently exporting the jobs and tax revenue associated with it to neighboring states," the Council said in a letter signed by Executive Secretary-Treasurer Pasquale Manzi.

"We believe an investment of more than $1 billion of private capital into Ohio's economy will not only create jobs directly related to the gaming industry, but will also spur local economies throughout the state," the letter said.

The Council represents approximately 8,000 union construction workers from 20 local unions in Franklin, Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Licking, Madison, Marion, Pickaway and Union counties.

It is the latest in a series of labor organizations to endorse the Ohio Jobs and Growth Plan. It has also been endorsed by The Ohio State Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, the Ironworkers of Southern Ohio and Vicinity District Council and Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 189 of Columbus.

The Ohio Jobs and Growth Plan is a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution that authorizes first-class casinos in the state's four largest cities (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo). The plan calls for a minimum of $1 billion in new private investment. It would create 20,000 new jobs for Ohioans, and would provide an estimated $651 million in tax revenues each year for all of the state's counties, its major cities and every public school district in the state, with projected annual tax revenues rising to $772 million by 2017.

Primary backers of the proposal are:

• Penn National Gaming, Inc., a prominent operator of gaming facilities and horse racing tracks, including Raceway Park in Toledo; and
• Dan Gilbert, through his Rock Ventures partnership. Gilbert is majority owner of the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers and operator of Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland, as well as Chairman and Founder of Quicken Loans, which operates a 350-person Internet web center in downtown Cleveland. Gilbert, who began investing in Ohio in 2005, employs more than 2,000 people in five separate businesses throughout the state of Ohio.

Ohio voters will be asked to approve the amendment at the November, 2009 election.

Pd. for by Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee, Bill Curlis, treasurer, 865 Macon Alley, Columbus OH 43206

SOURCE Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee

Source: PR Newswire

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