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Promoting financial education |
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 As Ohio Treasurer, Kevin Boyce is committed to helping residents make smart financial choices for themselves and their families. Not only is this important for improving the quality of life for individual Ohioans, it’s critical for our state’s future.
We have to look no further than the foreclosure crisis to understand how all of us are connected in this economy. What happens to your neighbor’s home, or a house down the street, impacts your property values and your wealth – and, in the long run – Ohio’s, too.
That’s why Boyce is committed to making financial education a priority in this state. In fact, in early June, the Treasury launched an 11-city Smart Money Choices summer tour to provide Ohioans with the financial know-how to make sound decisions. The tour touches upon a variety of financial topics, including Women & Money, The Changing Middle Class, among others.
Beyond Smart Money Choices, Boyce launched SaveNOW to encourage Ohioans to build wealth. Eligible participants must complete a one-year financial education program in order to receive an enhanced 3.25 percent interest rate on savings accounts of up to $5,000.
Boyce believes the education mission of the Treasurer’s office – coupled with protecting the state’s money and making critical investments in people and communities – are all building blocks for stabilizing Ohio’s economic foundation – something we must do to emerge from this recession with a stronger footing than ever before.
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Creating jobs and building wealth |
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Job creation is one of Kevin Boyce’s top priorities as he helps to get Ohio’s economy moving again.
That’s why, as Ohio’s Treasurer, Boyce continues to invest in small business growth through GrowNOW – an innovative partnership with community banks that cuts down interest rates for businesses looking to expand or retain jobs. Since 2007, the Treasurer’s office has invested into the program about $365 million, helping create and retain more than 15,000 jobs.
Boyce also is trying to help Ohio’s economy by helping family farms through the Ag-Link program, which reduces interest rates on operating loans and lines of credit. Each year, the Treasurer’s office allocates $125 million to the program because of the importance of farming to the state’s financial well-being.
Building Ohio’s wealth, though, doesn’t stop there. In fact, it begins at home.
That’s the driving force behind why Boyce launched SaveNOW, which gives Ohioans – once they complete a one-year financial education program – an enhanced 3.25 percent interest rate on savings accounts of up to $5,000. Boyce believes this will empower individuals to build wealth, critical to the state’s financial health and vital for building a stronger economic foundation.
But those values of building wealth and saving didn’t just start when Boyce became Treasurer. He learned those lessons early in life. When Boyce was 12 years old, he walked the stands at Ohio Stadium selling refreshments at football games. Half the money he gave his mother to pay household bills. The other half, he saved. Boyce understood then what saving money could do for his family and his future. And now he wants help yours through programs like SaveNOW. |
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Protecting your tax dollars |
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As the state’s banker, Kevin Boyce’s first priority is to protect your tax dollars.
Boyce does this every day by making sure the state’s money is protected in Ohio depositories and invested wisely in safe financial instruments – not risky schemes that contributed to our country’s economic meltdown. And in this tough economy, and in hard-to-predict markets, Ohio has never lost money while Boyce has served as Treasurer.
In his public career, Boyce has made fiscal responsibility a guiding principle.
On Columbus City Council, he led efforts to save taxpayer dollars by pushing for performance measurements for every city department. During his tenure, Columbus – the 15th largest city in the nation – established a record of balanced budgets and is the biggest city in the country with an AAA Bond Rating from all three major bond rating agencies.
But Boyce learned firsthand about the importance of fiscal responsibility while growing up in poor neighborhoods in Columbus, where his grandmother taught him the value of a dollar. When he was a teenager, Boyce asked his grandmother to buy him a new pair of sneakers. She said, “yes,” and then promptly drove him to a neighborhood grocery store. “The message,” he said,” was that if you want a new pair of shoes, you’ve got to work for them yourself.”
And it’s with the values of hard work and fiscal responsibility that Boyce approaches his job as the state’s banker. |
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