Mar. 9--Ohio led the nation in the number of new and expanded corporate facilities in 2008, and Akron ranked second among mid-size cities with qualifying projects, according to a magazine's honor roll.

Site Selection, a publication aimed at corporate decision-makers, gave Ohio its annual Governor's Cup for the third year in a row.

The 503 projects logged in Ohio in 2008 by Conway Data Inc. is a 25 percent increase over the previous year's winning performance.

Northeast Ohio's business community is taking credit for a lion's share of the activity. In 2008, the region added more than 6,000 new jobs and more than $1.2 billion in capital investment.

"Despite challenging economic times, many corporations and industries are experiencing significant growth and expanding operations," said Tom Waltermire, chief executive officer of Team NEO, a regional business attraction agent for the 16-county Cleveland Plus region.

"Many corporations are expanding as they plan long-term in order to position themselves when the economy comes out of recession," he said, responding to the award announcement today.

Ohio edged out Texas' 497 projects for top honors. Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina complete the top five finishers, with 296, 290 and 245 projects, respectively.

Job retention was a central issue in Ohio in 2008, the magazine said, citing Akron's efforts to keep Bridgestone and Goodyear from relocating.

In addition to Akron's No. 2 finish, the Youngstown-Warren area tied for No. 7 among cities with a population of 200,000 to 1 million; Cleveland ranked No. 9 among cities with a population of more than 1 million; and Wooster and Ashtabula tied for No. 7 among what are called "micropolitans."

Last year, Team NEO helped attract 10 new companies to Northeast Ohio, accounting for 700 new jobs and $36 million in new annual payroll.

"Even in a slow economy, Northeast Ohio is still attracting new business investment. Team NEO's flow of new opportunities remains high with interest from bio-medical and international companies especially strong," Waltermire said.

He said his organization is currently working on 47 active projects for potential new expansion into the region.

"Leveraging our region's innovative spirit upon which our rich history was built, we are exercising our resilience and resurrecting our region's economic success one new corporate facility at a time," he said.

But this area's strong concentration of existing headquarters was also responsible for part of the growth.

Expansions by Shearer's Foods, InfoCision and J.M. Smucker Co. added to the total.

Part of the reason for Ohio's victory is the "everyday blocking and tackling of economic development, in which we have been very, very aggressive," Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher told the magazine.

He noted that there are currently 800 economic development projects in the pipeline, "so we're doing deals, if not every hour, at least every few hours."

Another driver is strategic investments, like a $1.57 billion stimulus last year aimed at infrastructure, higher education internships, and high-growth industries, including advanced energy and bioscience, Fisher said.

To read the stories and view the rankings, visit http://www.siteselection.com.

Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.

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