Our Democratic Candidate

Meet Chuck Keiper

A Leader We Count On | Fighting Our Fights | Our County Commissioner | Protecting Our Tax Dollars

Protecting Our Tax Dollars

Chuck believes good paying jobs are the key to a strong community. He worked hard to create more than 1,200 new jobs and secure almost $45 million in state and federal grants for us.

Chuck's vision is also helping to create jobs. Nearly 10 years ago now, Chuck Keiper was one of a small number of visionaries who helped create a first-of-its-kind Joint Office of Economic Development (JOED). This JOED office formed the Northeast Ohio Trade and Economic Consortium (NEOTEC).

It was with much skill that Chuck helped to form NEOTEC. There were no existing models. This endeavor is the very first of its kind in the entire nation and is being looked at as a model of good regional government. What does this mean exactly to the good folks of Portage County? Well NEOTEC began operating a Federal Foreign Trade Zone (Foreign Trade Zone #181). These zones allow businesses to import duty free goods into our country and then ship them out for sale after local workers have added to their value. That zone is now among the largest foreign trade zones in the country both in terms of size and volume of goods processed. Here in Portage County, in Streetsboro to be exact, the L'Oreal Corporation took advantage of that trade status when it built its remarkable new central warehousing facility. Without the tax savings generated by the foreign trade zone Loreal would have moved to another place out of state. Instead they chose Streetsboro. If you don't think that's good government maybe you should talk to any one of the several hundred people who got a family-supporting job with good benefits when the company opened.

But finding new opportunities isn't always enough. Chuck believes we need to be good stewards of our resources. So, as a commissioner, Chuck Keiper fights hard to protect our tax dollars. He created the Financial Management and Internal Auditing Departments, generating big savings for taxpayers by producing clean audits and upgrades in the county's bond rating.

The third largest business in Portage County is the government of Portage County (only Kent State University and Robinson Memorial Hospital are bigger). Chuck was shocked to find that no business support infrastructure was in place in Portage County government when he arrived. The county had 1300 employees and no personnel office and a personnel manual so old (his was a 1972 photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy - you get the picture) that the county literally did not and could not meet most of the requirements of the law like the American with Disabilities Act and many others. As a result the County was spending lots of money settling a great many avoidable law suits.

"Run it like a business" they all say. Well that's just what Chuck Keiper has been doing and all of us have been getting the benefit. The County had no risk management program in place when Chuck arrived in 1993. As a result, Portage County was paying among the highest Workers Compensation rates in the whole state (when compared to other counties). Chuck fought to create a centralized personnel function that included a central wage and benefits management system, as well as a risk management component. The number of law suits filed against the county by employees fell sharply, employees were paid more fairly, and the county's Worker's Comp rates fell to among the lowest in the state. Our taxpayers saved money and got better service to boot.

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