Category Archives: Columbus Business

Columbus as a Tech City

Posted on by
Reply




Columbus has been mentioned a few times over the years as a growing tech job market. Forbes named it the #1 Up and Coming Tech City in 2008, for example, although Forbes seems to randomly choose cities for its exhausting number of rankings each year, so that can be taken with a grain of salt. So is Columbus as a tech city really a thing? The latest ranking suggests it might be.

The actual tech growth numbers aren’t subjective. Out of the 51 largest metros, here is how Columbus ranked the last decade or so in STEM jobs (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

2001-2012 % Growth in Total STEM Jobs: +10.4% Rank of 51: 13th
2005-2012 % Growth in Total STEM Jobs: +12.8% Rank of 51: 9th
2010-2012 % Growth in Total STEM Jobs: +4.7% Rank of 51: 16th
2012 Location Quotient*: 1.27 LQ Rank of 51: 14th
2001-2012 Location Quotient Change: +7.6% Change Rank of 51: 5th

*Location Quotient is the local share of STEM jobs divided by the national share of STEM jobs. Anything above 1.0 indicates that the local share is higher than the national average.

So Columbus is clearly doing well and is handily beating out many much larger cities. It is one of only two Midwestern cities in the top 15 (Indianapolis is #15), and its rate of growth in concentration of STEM jobs is in the top 5 nationally. As the article discusses, traditional tech centers are actually losing STEM jobs while other areas, like Columbus, are gradually becoming bigger players. A well-educated workforce is paramount, and one of Columbus’ greatest strengths is its abundance of colleges and universities and young population. There are over 100,000 students in the area, and this ensures a strong workforce available for tech jobs. An example of how this attracts new STEM jobs was the recently announced plan by IBM to open its worldwide HQ for Advanced Analytics in Dublin along with 500 new jobs. The article with more details on this project can be found here.



Some Great Economic News

Posted on by
Reply



First, http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/morning_call/2013/01/columbus-hangs-on-to-no-4-spot-in.html
In this ranking, Columbus was 4th behind OKC, Austin and Houston on the overal “Economic Vitality Index”, a measure that uses 18 catergories to determine the strength of an economy.

Second is this: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2013/01/15/columbus-only-midwest-city-to-regain.html
This link shows that the Columbus metro is one of only 14 major metros nationally (out of 102) that had gained more jobs through November 2012 than it lost during the Great Recession, meaning it has exceeded a 100% recovery from the downturn. It was also the only Midwestern metro to have achieved this feat.

Stories and rankings like this prove that Columbus has little or nothing in common with its nearby Rust Belt neighbors. It has long had a steady, growing economy that has been able to recover quickly from economic downturns. Say what you will about weather or other factors, but the #1 reason for people to move somewhere has to do with economics. So long as there are jobs available and a decent cost of living, people should continue to flock to that place. In that regard, Columbus definitely seems to have a bright future.