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Regional Growth Partnership’s Gary Thompson, who is a recent recipient of the Mary Jo Hanover Award from the Industrial Asset Management Council for his work in economic development, in the Regional Growth Partnership office in Toledo.
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Vice president of Regional Growth Partnership honored for work in region

THE BLADE/ISAAC RITCHEY

Vice president of Regional Growth Partnership honored for work in region

Gary Thompson knows a thing or two about economic development.

The vice president of the Regional Growth Partnership, a private organization focused on business investment, Mr. Thompson has managed the JobsOhio program where his efforts have led a business development team to procure the completion of 969 projects totaling $23 billion in the northwest Ohio region including First Solar, Cleveland-Cliffs, Oregon Clean Energy and Marathon Petroleum.

Earlier this month Mr. Thompson received the Mary Jo Hanover Award from the Industrial Asset Management Council, a national industrial and manufacturing real estate trade association. The annual award is presented to an economic developer who shows high standards of ethics and integrity in the profession.

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“I was quite shocked and humbled when I learned that they were giving it to me,” Mr. Thompson said.

Even in these most challenging times of inflation-driven cost hikes and worker shortages coming off of pandemic shutdowns, Mr. Thompson is confident that the northwest Ohio region has the ability to compete with other cities also vying for new business and growth opportunities.

“The workforce that we have here and the size of northwest Ohio makes it easy to get things done,” he said last week after returning from Florida where he received the award at a spring forum event. “At the RGP we like to say that no matter who you need to talk to, it’s only a phone call away, whether it’s mayors of cities, including Toledo, to CEOs to suppliers, we help arrange all of that.”

In addition to easily connecting with the right people, Ohio has ample land that is ripe for development, an interstate system that supports connectivity, affordable housing and close proximity to natural water sources, which lends to better business opportunities and quality of life.

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While building a business case however, for how northwest Ohio is the right place for logistics, operations and the availability of workers for companies looking to settle here, getting that message out is often the biggest challenge.

“When people visit Toledo — company consultants and business leaders themselves who are thinking about making investments here — the phrase we hear most often is, ‘I never knew you had water-front property available in Ohio.’ So it’s just difficult getting the marketing message out to a lot of people without spending a lot of money,” he said. “We just don’t have the budget.”

Moving forward, Mr. Thompson intends to lean into this region’s industry strengths including automotive, advanced manufacturing, food, energy, and logistics.

“We can compete against any location on the globe for investments in those industries, but those industries are becoming more high-tech and more complicated, so we are looking in the future to try to win those investments,” he said.

The many advancements that can grow out of existing auto supply companies today for example would support those types of investments in areas such as electric vehicles, smart electric grids, and traffic lights, which he sees coming down the pike for northwest Ohio.

Jim Hoffman, the district president of KeyBank and chairman of RGB’s Board of Directors attributes Mr. Thompson’s success to his ability to lead a talented team while developing the needed and all-important relationships with regional partners from the surrounding counties.

“He does that really well,” Mr. Hoffman said. “He’s a nice person, he is interested in their success and people trust him.”

Mr. Thompson also serves as the conduit between a company looking to invest in northwest Ohio and the resources needed to make the investment.

“His job is to advocate for these companies so they choose northwest Ohio over anywhere else they will go and he just does that exceedingly well,” Mr. Hoffman said.

Prior to going to work for RGP in 2011, Mr. Thompson spent five years with the Oregon Economic Development Foundation, and prior to that work, he worked in sales for architectural and engineering firms in Toledo at SSOE, then later at a firm in Farmington Hills, Mich.

He is also a certified public accountant who worked in both the private and public sectors.

“All of those experiences have really helped me do the work that I do in economic development,” Mr. Thompson said.

First Published May 18, 2022, 2:00 p.m.

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Regional Growth Partnership’s Gary Thompson, who is a recent recipient of the Mary Jo Hanover Award from the Industrial Asset Management Council for his work in economic development, in the Regional Growth Partnership office in Toledo.  (THE BLADE/ISAAC RITCHEY)  Buy Image
Regional Growth Partnership’s Gary Thompson, who is a recent recipient of the Mary Jo Hanover Award from the Industrial Asset Management Council for his work in economic development, in the Regional Growth Partnership office in Toledo.  (THE BLADE/ISAAC RITCHEY)  Buy Image
Regional Growth Partnership’s Gary Thompson, who is a recent recipient of the Mary Jo Hanover Award from the Industrial Asset Management Council for his work in economic development, in the Regional Growth Partnership office in Toledo.  (THE BLADE/ISAAC RITCHEY)  Buy Image
THE BLADE/ISAAC RITCHEY
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