The Cincinnati region is well positioned for economic growth. That's the consensus at an economic symposium in Northern Kentucky Thursday.
Karen Harrah is an economist at the Haile College of Business at NKU, where the annual mid-summer symposium was held.
The Cincinnati metropolitan area has five sectors that drive most of the local economy:
- manufacturing
- logistics
- aerospace and aviation
- wholesale trade
- life sciences
“We have some industry sectors that are doing really well, and a couple in particular that are really primed for growth,” she says. “If we can align our educational system and our talent pipeline system with those growth opportunities, I think the region has a good future ahead of itself.”
Harrah says the transportation/distribution sector has already doubled in size in the last 10 years. She also expects the local aviation/aeronautics scene to take off, as Boeing revamps its business model.
“That’s good news for GE and for all the supply base that is dependent on GE.”
Harrah says they all share two things in common. One is the need for skilled workers.
“The second one is they need a regulatory environment that allows them to thrive.”
Harrah says those regulations can be anything from environmental rules on the federal level, to local zoning ordinances.
Harrah says the fields of aviation and aeronautics, and transportation and distribution are both doing very well.
“We have doubled the number of jobs in the last 10 years. We had 100% increase in the number of jobs,” she says. “There’s not many industries that are growing at that pace. And that’s being fueled by the growth of DHL, Amazon Prime and all that complex out at CVG.”
She says another sector is also growing.
“Eleven of the 25 best-funded startups in Cincinnati last year were all life-science based.”
She says it's a widely varied field including manufacturing medical equipment and testing.
NKU's annual Mid-Summer Symposium attracts economists, business leaders, and elected officials.
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