Ohio is Best in the Midwest for Best Places to Live in America

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today's executives are challenged to find a perfect balance between growing a successful business and finding access to the time required to also enjoy an enriching personal life. Living a more balanced life is becoming the new definition of the "American Dream." According to a 2009 study commissioned by Northwestern Mutual, balance rated as more important than career, money and material possession. Participants said spending quality time with family, being a good parent and living a healthy life were among the top attributes for their definition of success.

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One key element to achieve a balanced life is access to time; time to devote to family, to personal passions, to building a personal legacy.

Due to its low cost of living and low-cost, low-stress commutes, Ohio offers a work-life balance for executives, their employees and their families available nowhere else. Money magazine recently recognized five Ohio small towns on their list of "Best Places to Live," making Ohio the best among Midwest states. Ohio cities ranked in the Top 50 are; Solon (3), Mason (24), Highland Heights (30), Twinsburg (32) and Springboro (42).

Money magazine based the rankings on statistics from data services company Onboard Informatics for U.S. towns with populations between 8,500 and 50,000. Other Midwest states with small towns ranked in the top 50 are Minnesota (three cities), Indiana (two cities), Wisconsin (1 city) and Illinois (1 city).

These Ohio small towns offer executives, their families and the employees they lead many unique qualities that contribute to access to more time and personal balance, ultimately, optimal business performance. Company executives invest in the state because Ohio offers a perfect balance between work and life unlike anywhere else.

"Ohio's friendly business climate, combined with low cost of living, short commutes and abundant recreational resources, creates a unique opportunity to achieve work-life balance," said Ed Burghard, executive director of the Ohio Business Development Coalition, the nonprofit organization that markets the state for capital investment. "That's why Ohio has become known as the State of Perfect Balance, where you can achieve both professional and personal success without sacrificing one for the other."

Yet, many believe you can't have a successful career without sacrificing your personal life. Leading Ohio executives have proved this wrong and have found their perfect balance in Ohio.

Employees and their families can achieve both their professional and personal aspirations without having to sacrifice one for the other. Ohio's low cost of living, median home prices and short commute time provides the flexibility to afford and enjoy life.

Ohio is home to more of the nation's easiest, most affordable commutes, according to a recent study by Kiplinger, an internationally recognized publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice. Because the population is distributed throughout the state, commutes to work are shorter and less intense than in most major U.S. cities, leaving ample time for achieving personal aspirations. Ohio is within 600 miles of 60 percent of the U.S. population and 50 percent of the Canadian population, making it easy to see why companies are turning to the State of Perfect Balance to grow their business.

Warren Anderson, owner of Anderson-DuBose, a logistics company in Solon, ranked number three by Money magazine, credits Ohio's transportation infrastructure and easy commutes for both his business and personal success. The company specializes in food service distribution and delivers practically everything needed by McDonald's restaurants in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia – from fries and napkins to straws and cups.

Anderson was able to grow his business due to the low cost of transportation in Ohio. However, he also found a personal advantage to running a successful business in Ohio. The same interstate system that speeds his trucks to their destinations also speeds him home to family where he can attend his children's sporting events and ballet classes or see a Cleveland Cavaliers game. Cleveland ranked sixth on Kiplinger's list of best commutes. According to Kiplinger, Cleveland has an average commute of less than 24 minutes.

"In Ohio, everything is easy to get to, and to me that's an important draw for anyone choosing a place to live and work," Anderson said. "Like most people, I don't want to spend my time tied up in traffic. Running a successful business is incredibly rewarding, but having time to enjoy that success with my family is the most rewarding of all."

Ohio offers a work-life balance for executives, their employees and their families available nowhere else.

"As children, we all have dreams of what we'll become, the families we'll raise and the successes we'll find along the way. Many times, executives are forced to choose between business and personal success and cannot achieve both without having to compromise," Burghard said. "In Ohio, you'll find a perfect balance of opportunity and access to follow your dreams without having to sacrifice professional or personal satisfaction in pursuit of your ambitions."

About the Ohio Business Development Coalition

The Ohio Business Development Coalition is a nonprofit organization that provides marketing strategy and implementation to support Ohio's economic development efforts. For more information, visit www.ohiomeansbusiness.com.

SOURCE Ohio Business Development Coalition

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