The Irish In America: Top 15 Jobs in Dublin OH - A Forbes.com Best Place to Move

Dublin, Ohio was awarded this title in the Fox Business News Power Rankings on April 10, 2009.

Additional Recognitions

• Best Small City in Ohio for Startups - Business Week Online, March 2009
• Ohio #1 in Business Growth - The Columbus Dispatch, March 10, 2009.
• Dublin wins again - A Smart21 Community- Intelligent Community Forum, 2008

Note: While Dublin was named for an Irish settler's hometown, only 14% of residents trace their roots to Ireland. 25% have German ancestry, and 10%, English.

In July 2009, Dublin, Ohio was named to the list of the Top 25 Best Places to Move in America at Number 18; and previously in 2009 by Fox Business News as the Number 1 place in America for new business startups. These are such an intriguing accomplisments, because Dublin was not incorporated as a city until 1987. How did it grow so fast and successfully to corner an economic market in just 22 years? What most of us have not known is that Dublin;s success story began during the Revolutionary War.

When my paternal relatives moved into Central Ohio in the 1920s, the settlement known today as Dublin OH was faraway farmland considered wilderness and very, very distant from Downrtown Columbus. Today it is only 15-20 minutes away by car around the scenically landscaped I-270 Outbelt with its green spaces and attactively built soundwalls that protect neighborhoods from traffic noises. The landscaping at entrances and exits are wide expanses of parkland. 

Background

The Adena, Delaware, Hopewell, Shawnee, and Wyandot nations had lived in the Dublin area for thousands of years previous to the settlement of whites.The Wyandot nation, particularly became friendly with the settlers, notably Chief Leatherlips.The chief was attacked by other indidivuals wanting his position, and settlers spoke up for him. The chief is said to have averted another native attack on the settlers and friendshhips between his band and the whites were long-lasting. Scioto Park along the Scioto River in Dublin commemorates Chief Leatherlips (see links below).

What became Dublin was included in a land parcel of 2,000 acres awarded to a Lieutenant James Holt by the New Nation’s federal government to pay his wages for fighting in the Revolutionary War. However, most people even in Central Ohio have been unaware of this story until the last quarter of the 20^th Century, when Dublin exploded with business.

The City of Dublin now contains approximately 24.5 square miles around the Scioto River in far northwest corner of Franklin County, overflowing into Union and Delaware Counties.

Dublin is now home to over 41,100 residents as of 2009 - up from only 681 people in 1970, according to city records. A full 43% of residents moved into Dublin from 1) out of state or 2)from another country, a testament that it is a good place to move. Thirty percent (30%) of workers living in Dublin are employed in Education and Healthcare Industries, with many prominent phsycians owning luxurious homes in the upscale area..

The Sells family bought 400 acres along the Scioto River west and north of Downtown Columbus in the early 1800s and a village was created a decade later in 1810. Thsi was the start of development in Northwest Franklin County, but it went awry.

By 1880 after the Civil War, the town had developed a Wild West Bar Room atmosphere, complete with 13 saloons full of steady of business, frequent brawls, and rival gang battles with clubs and rocks occurring 24 hours a day. It must have been as active as Las Vegas, from what I have heard local historians say. Interestingly, Dublin today hosts several successful 12-step recovery programs among its community service, health, and non-profit organizations. Today's activities run to sports and recreation, rather than to bar room brawls.

As more settlers arrived in the 1890s and a jail was built and kept filled, the chaos of the wild drinking town calmed so that other businesses began to develop.

The original 400 acres of Dublin are maintained as Historic Dublin and more popularly known to many Central Ohioans as Downtown Dublin must across the Scioto River from Upper Arlington and Columbus. It is a lovely historical area that brings to mind the 18th and 19th centuries in its traditional storefronts that house modern businesses. At the nearby river are parks, picnic, and boating areas, as well as a secluded waterfall. Dublin is exceptional in its historic preservation focus and Historic Dublin is a joy to visit, bring the weekday city population up to 60,000 Monday through Friday. Several original buildings are listed in the National Register of Historical Places. In juxtaposition to this, Dublin is home to the Giant Corn Field Sculpture (see links below).

The City of Dublin now owns 1,000 acres of greenspace and parkland alone and that's tremendous progress. Other progress is the fact that the city has its own city-wide Wi-Fi access for residents and businesses such as the annual internationally known Muirfield Memorial Golf Tournament.

In the 1970s, Dublin became known as a Columbus Suburb and its own city rather than a local farming wilderness. It also began to become a business center. The opening of the I-270 Outerbelt in the 1970s facilitated this progress. The original soundwalls along the highway were quickly filled with graffiti. In the 1990s, they were redesigned and rebuilt with more attractive textured blocks that do not hold spray paint markings and make the Outerbelt a tourist attraction in itself, especially around Dublin.

The famous Muirfield Village Golf Club and residential community developed into a premiere attraction beginning in 1974 with the help of famous local golfer Jack Nicklaus. Celebrities began to move into the village's luxurious homes, most of the 2,300+ village homes now valued in the $1,000,000s. Commerce followed, booming in the 1970s-80s with local business headquarters moving into the city. These included Wendy’s International (1969), MetroCenter (Ashland Chemical Company), Midwestern Volkswagen, Scott's Miracle-Gro and Lawn Service, upscale retail, luxury auto dealerships, large medical practices and clinics, and others.

Dublin is a progressive community, concentrating on innovation, alternative energy sources, green business and recycling, high quality sporting events, and superior school systems.

1. Cardinal Health
2. Ajilon Professional Staffing
3. Modis
4. AT&T
5. IBM
6. JP Morgan Chase/Chase Bank
7. OhioHealth
8. Robert Half Technology
9. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company
10. Verizon Wireless
11. Wendy's
12. OCLC 

1. Retail Sales Managers
2. Retail Sales Consultants
3. Financial Analysts
4. Administrative Coordinator for Verizon Wireless: This is a new technology job described as: "Under limited supervision, coordinates, assists with and ensures office efficiency for a department or region through high level administrative support that often requires exercise of discretion, judgment and negotiation."
5. Account Managers
6. Seasonal Customer Service Reps
7. Permanent Customer Service Reps
8. Sales Representatives
9. Software Engineers
10. Genesys Developers
11. Senior Accountants
12. SQL PRogrammers
13. HR Managers
14. Staffing Managers
15. Account Execs in Business Sales

These job titles were found to be most-often listed in mid-July 2009 among nearly 3,000 posted job openings among job search engines, online recutiers, and individual employer webpages, as gathered by Indeed.com. Industry sectors most represented are Sales, Personnel/Staffing, Finance, and IT.