Week in Review 7-1-2022

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Intel Corp. this week announced it was delaying a planned ceremonial groundbreaking for its $20 billion semiconductor manufacturing facility in Licking County scheduled for next month, but the company said it is still excited about the project and is not cancelling it. The event had been scheduled for Friday, July 22, but the company has decided to delay it while raising concerns about stalled federal legislation that would provide benefits to the semiconductor industry. Regarding Intel’s announcement, Gov. Mike DeWine commented later that he is not worried about the project’s not coming to Ohio, but said it is important for Congress to pass federal legislation to assist the semiconductor industry.

Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration announced Monday the approval of assistance for two projects expected to create 375 new jobs statewide. During its monthly meeting, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority (TCA) reviewed economic development proposals brought by JobsOhio and its regional partners. The projects are expected to collectively result in more than $22.9 million in new payroll and more than $213 million in investments across Ohio.

EDUCATION

Defunct online charter school Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) owes the Ohio Department of Education $106 million in state formula funding that it was overpaid across three fiscal years, the final audit of the school from Auditor Keith Faber’s office says. Collection costs of more than $10 million for the attorney general’s office and money owed to the College Credit Plus Program take ECOT’s liability past $117 million, according to the audit report. The audit also found money is owed back to the school itself by its management and technology vendors, Altair Learning Management and IQ Innovations, whose payments from the school were calculated as a percentage of state funding. A ruling by Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Kimberly Cocroft recently determined that ECOT founder William Lager had an improper interest in the contracts between ECOT and the two vendors, to whom he also had ties.