Three Thoughts: Watching Foreign Investment, Energy, and Reindustrialization

It’s my job to keep my ear to the ground in industrial development.  Columbus and Central Ohio are at the heart of one of the best places to be listening with that ear to the ground.

ONE THOUGHT: OHIO POISED FOR FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

The national panelists at the recent NAIOP Midwest Industrial Conference predicted investment from overseas to be an increased trend in 2026. Foreign direct investment is by no means a scary thing.  In fact, just the opposite is true. 

If you want to sell to the U.S., you’ve got to come to the U.S. is the message.  Gaining foreign-headquartered investment is what the aim is if we are going to see manufacturing pick up its pace in Ohio and the country.

Central Ohio’s best economic years have been when manufacturing came to our shores. In fact, it’s hard to imagine our economy thriving without it.

There are 1,800+ people working to make solar panels on one side of our region and thousands of people working to make automobiles on the other side.  The supply chains for a wide variety of household products and business-to-business sales have, for decades, been based on foreign investment. 

SECOND THOUGHT: ELECTRIC WILL BE A TOP ISSUE OF 2026

While mom and pop are seeing their electric bills skyrocket, so are the biggest users of electricity--manufacturers. And that hurts in more ways than one.

Threats of rolling blackouts. Political backlash in other states over the proliferation of data centers. The lack of transparency about electric supply and demand. For these reasons and more, energy is an issue to watch and will remain so in 2026.

This isn’t just an Ohio issue, but since the country is economically dependent on Ohio’s manufacturing prowess, negative impacts in Ohio ripple across the globe.  We all have a reason to watch this issue, not just those of us in industrial development.

There’s hope that moderation is coming.  The headlines earned from predictions of “Manhattan” size usage by 2030 are already being back pedaled.  One expert who tracks data centers told me that the real number may be as low as 1/10^th of that scary usage prediction. 

Sadly, though, those predictions likely have found their way into demand prediction models and unfairly could impact pricing for a while.

THIRD THOUGHT: REINDUSTRIALIZATION IS THE NEW BUZZWORD

Now, more and more, the buzzword is "reindustrialization." I'm not totally on board with this word as the "re" part implies industrialization wasn't already happening and it was, in Ohio.

Ohio’s GDP for manufacturing grew more than 20% in the last three years in years which, frankly, were not the nation’s strongest economically.  Ohio has preserved its position as the third largest state in generating manufacturing jobs.

Whatever the word, reindustrialization or reshoring, it’s been happening and the potential exists to keep it going in 2026.  Uncertainty about interest rates and tariffs, for example, have left some in a wait and see approach, but I sense the activity is coming.

These are my three issues to watch in 2026 while I keep my ear to the ground.

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This column is a regular column in The Dispatch.