As published in the June 1, 2005 Toledo Business Journal
Dennis Johnson
Brooks Insurance, president,
and
Regional Growth Partnership,
member, board of directors
TBJ: What do you see as the most important need in the business community?
DJ: There are several, but probably the most important need would be bringing all of the community resources to bear that are available to make our local businesses and the global businesses that are here more competitive. I don’t know that it’s any one entity’s role or responsibility; I think it’s a collective role of multiple entities, between the private sector and government, because multiple resources exist.
One example is the State of Ohio’s currently tax position. Ranked country wide, it is not favorable to business attraction, retention, and growth. It’s something that needs to be fixed. That’s just an example; there are many others, but taxation in our state continues to be a major issue.
TBJ: What advice would you provide for advancing the economy in our region?
DJ: We have to retain what we have, assist what we have in being more competitive, and we have to create an environment that attracts new and diverse businesses to our area.
TBJ: Can you share your thoughts on the Regional Growth Partnership's (RGP) plans for selecting a new president?
DJ: I’m chairing the search initiative. The committee is currently actively working on identifying potential candidates, and we’re working through a pool of about 300 individuals. We hope to have the new president of the Regional Growth Partnership selected and in place by the end of the quarter.
TBJ: Can you comment on the quality of the candidates?
DJ: Based on what the search consultant has shared with the committee, it is truly a national search and the pool of candidates is strong. There are non-traditional candidates in the pool, but the predominance is traditional economic development candidates that are currently working either in private sector economic development, chamber, or governmental agencies. It’s a full cross-section of the development community.
TBJ: What is the number one thing that you personally would like to accomplish?
DJ: I have a strong interest in education. The goal I’m working hardest on is improving the quality of our education system at all levels, public or private. It’s so critical for our future workers and citizens to be educated so they can be productive members of our community.
A subset of that is, once we get them educated, keeping them here. How do we retain young people in our community? I don’t have an answer for that, but it’s broader than just creating jobs.
TBJ: Please identify an important community organization that needs more support.
DJ: I don’t know that there’s any one particular organization. I think we’re very fortunate to have the cultural and social service support system that the community has. The most important issue is we, as a community, need to adequately fund those cultural and societal needs to improve our overall community. I would look at it more in a global sense than just one specific entity. All of them have needs that aren’t being met and they all provide significant quality of life enhancements to our community. The community as a whole has to find ways to provide support both financially and from a volunteer perspective, and through community-based initiatives that enhance cooperation – sharing resources versus duplicating resources.
TBJ: Can you share a favorite hobby or pastime?
DJ: I like to be physically active – I enjoy golf, tennis, fishing, and I do some swimming.
TBJ: Is there any other issue that you would like to address?
DJ: The most significant issue from my perspective is how we address support and fund education at all levels in our community and throughout the State of Ohio. Ohio seems to be falling behind the rest of the country in our educational outputs where we had excelled in the past. An educated workforce is going to be an important part of any economic development growth strategy that the community might come forward with. There’s significant confusion out in the public relative to educational funding and delivery systems, and I think as a result of that confusion, people are not as supportive of the educational process as they have been in the past.
The State of Ohio has to address philosophically how it’s going to fund and deliver educational services, as does our community. When we find the solution that addresses this issue, the state and our community will be stronger in the future.