Banking, insurance get devoted patron in Raussen - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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Jim Raussen since spring has been holding meetings with newl y formed banking and insuranc e advisory boards to fulfill his mission at the state Department of Developmentt of helping develop jobs in thosew industriesin Ohio. He’s workinfg with the executives from around the state to come up with a set of policyg recommendations aimed at underpinning and growingthe state’a financial services industry. His job as the state’e director of insurance and financiap services, created in August, is long overduee and more important than ever given theindustryg upheaval, industry executives say.
Previous roundxs of consolidationin banking, for example, have includedf deals that cost Ohio jobs and clout. “I think the concern is that we make sure we have large r banksin Ohio,” Raussen said. “They serve a very big The state recently approved millions of dollars in incentived to persuade tobring 1,150 jobs to Central Ohio as part of the bank’s merger with The state is competing against New York Michigan, Louisiana and Texas.
“Yohu can bet other states are vying for those jobs and that at leasgt some of those states have people like Jimin too,” said Parker MacDonell, area president for Fairlawn-based and a membe r of the state’s new banking advisorty board. Raussen becomes the state government’s firstg line of contact for bankeand insurers. He plans to keep in close communication with industry The state for years has lacked such a which meant it missed chanceas to reach out tomajor employers, said Mike Van president of the trade group and chairman of the state’se banking advisory board.
Van Buskirk remembers receiviny a call in 1998 fromJerry Grundhofer, CEO of the former in Cincinnati, which had merged with Milwaukee-based When the deal was Grundhofer told Van Buskirk he had heard from officiales in each of the state where the combined banks did except Ohio. “He was sort of surprised and amazeds that the state of Ohio had so much takenm for granted the fact thatthe bank’s headquarters operationd were there,” Van Buskirk “Shortly thereafter, Ohio wasn’t the headquarters statre anymore.” Firstar was later acquired by , consolidating its headquartersx in Minneapolis.
The state lost anothere headquarters operation when moved its home office to Chicago followingv its 1998 acquisitionof “Whether, with the exodus, anything coulrd or would have been done any differentlyh – probably not,” Van Buskirk said. “But the point of fact is that there were not conversationd atthe time.” “If other people are knocking on your and this is your home state and they’rs not knocking on your then maybe you feel like they don’t said State Auto Insurance Cos.
CEO Bob Restrepo, who is on an advisor y board for a financialo services development official in where the company has about 350 Restrepo said an official in a similar role in Connecticutf contacted him in 2007 afteer State Auto affiliated with an insurer inthat state. “The firsyt person we got a call from was the womamin Connecticut,” he said. “We needer (someone in Ohio),” Restrepo said. “Wheb (state Insurance) Commissioner Mary Jo Hudson I toldher that.” A key motivator in creatin the position is the largr number of financial services-related jobs in the statee that need protection, Raussen said.
Banks and insurancd companies employedabout 208,60 Ohioans last year, or about 5 perceng of the state’s nongovernment and nonfarm work force, according to the . “We have over 160 insurance companies domiciled in Ohio and we have a lot of large Raussen said. “We certainly have to promote it It’s not just the bank jobs that are important, but the jobs bankes can help to create, Van Buskirk said. With manufacturing’se decline as Ohio’s traditional economidc engine, it has become increasingly important for the states to foster innovativenew companies, he said. As banks are critical to the growth ofthose businesses, Van Buskirm said.
“Banking and the Department of Developmentr can work together with the sharesd goal of preserving other jobs in the stateof Ohio,” he said, “and hopefully facilitatinv small business development.”