Harrison County has been named as the fastest-growing local economy in Ohio, according to a recent analysis by financial news source Wall St. 24/7.
According to the report, the county recorded a 129.5% gross domestic product growth rate from 2012 to 2015, and a GDP amount of $732.2 million.
Manufacturing was found to be the fastest-growing industry.
Harrison County sits at the northeast hub of the U.S. petrochemical industry and has seen tremendous economic growth in the past several years.
The industry has provided new jobs, improved infrastructure and an increase in tax revenues to the county. Between 2010 and 2015, $11 million in taxes were generated in Harrison County, and $31.4 million was spent to build or improve 54.75 miles of roads.
The news came as no surprise to Nicholas A. Homrighausen, executive director of Community and Economic Development in Harrison County.
“This is further evidence that businesses should be investing to take full advantage of the new global economy in Harrison County and the eastern Ohio region. I’ve said it before – the growth in our area is laying the groundwork for an economic powerhouse of the future. Right here in eastern Ohio, we find ourselves at the forefront of the new age economy. It is up to us to take full advantage of it, and this study from Wall St. 24/7 shows we are on the right track,” Homrighausen said.
Harrison County was in the top four in growth percentage in the United States, trailing only Roberts County, Texas; Laurens County, South Carolina; and Doddridge County, West Virginia.
Of the fifty counties identified in the report, Harrison was one of only two regions to list manufacturing as the fastest-growing industry.
