Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Labor Day Celebrates the Values That Make Our Country Great

Guest Column from State Representative Jim Buchy

Labor Day to most people marks the unofficial end to summer. Kids are back to school, football season revs up and the days keep getting shorter and shorter. Particularly here in west central Ohio, where farming and other agricultural industries make up such a large part of our economy, the end of summer is a perfect time to celebrate Labor Day.

There is so much more value to working than simply earning an income. Work brings people together and instills important values like confidence, cooperation and self-worth. Working hard—both on the job and through volunteering our time to help others—is a tenet that has made our country so strong.

Just a few short years ago, too many Ohioans were stuck looking for work in order to provide for themselves and their families. Those were certainly difficult economic times by anyone’s calculations. While there are still people who are looking for a job, our state has seen considerable improvement over the past couple of years and people are returning to work.

Just since the beginning of 2011, Ohioans have created more than 160,000 new private sector jobs in the state. Additionally, compared to 2010, there have been 13,338 more new entities have filed to do business in Ohio this year. More than just statistics, these are new opportunities for people to make their own way that were not available just a few years ago.

Getting to where we want to be takes time; it never gets there as quickly as we would like. But these trends indicate that our state is still on the road to economic recovery and is becoming more attractive to job-creators.

Labor Day in the United States has a long history. Ever since President Grover Cleveland was in office near the end of the 19th Century, Labor Day has been celebrated on the first Monday of September. I hope you are able to carry on this tradition in some way by spending time with your families, friends, neighbors, or by just taking some time for yourself before the alarm clock rings Tuesday morning.

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