Ohio Senator John Carey wrote an article in January's newspaper to first, to express hope with the new dynamics in the Ohio General Assembly and the election of Armond Budish as the Speaker, second, to give thanks to the Administration for their efforts to ease the burden for rural Ohioans with the closing of the DHL Plant in Wilmington, Ohio and third to outline his some of his concerns with the Administration's redevelopment efforts.

Senator Carey recognizes that Ohio's big cities are the key to the economic vitality of the state however he also believes that focus on these cities should not come at the expense of the rural areas. Two activities that lead him to believe that this may be the case were the absence of representation from Appalachia Ohio on the 21st Century Transportation Priorities Task Force created by ODOT (Ohio Department of Transportation) as well as the recent Job Ready Sites program grants which left out funding for project located south of I-70 and east of I-71.

Senator Carey's concerns are valid and felt by numerous Ohioans. As the Restoring Prosperity to Ohio Initiative progresses, we have become aware of similar sentiments in multiple sectors of Ohio; townships, the agricultural community, Appalachia Ohio and even more urban areas, such as Piqua. Restoring Prosperity is a place-based, however, we believe that the state policy recommendations put forward will help Ohioans at every level and we have made strong efforts to increase our outreach to different sectors in Ohio to make sure they too, can contribute their input and become part of the effort to Restore Ohio.