Successful businessman Craig Newbold’s story is one that inspires everyone who hears it.  Craig’s roots run deep in Columbiana County.  His father ran the local Sohio gas station in East Liverpool for 40 years and was known and loved by just about everyone in town.  To this day people in the southern part of the county still ask “aren’t you Rusty’s boy”?  To which Craig answers with pride “I certainly am”!  Craig fondly describes his childhood as “growing up in Mayberry, even if we didn’t realize how lucky we were at the time”.

After graduating from Beaver Local High School, Mr. Newbold entered the computer industry back in 1968 when they used equipment that current programmers have probably never seen.  Through hard work and an eagerness for new challenges, his efforts were blessed with great success.  In 1990 he entered the challenging world of business ownership founding an IT company called BEST Consulting.  Located in Seattle, Washington, the company quickly grew to 1100 employees and became the 7^th largest software development company in the State of Washington, (Microsoft was ranked 1^st) and was ranked in the Inc 100 in it’s first year of eligibility.

After several years of continued success, Craig decided to sell the company and retire in 2000. With the profits made from the sale, he was literally “set for life”. He and Rose, his wife of 30 years, were ready to relax and enjoy the fruit of their hard work.

But there was something that kept nagging at his mind, and tugging at his heart. Over the years, during his frequent trips back to his hometown to visit his parents, Craig had sadly watched the deterioration of the Ohio Valley’s economy after the collapse of local manufacturing.  Factories and businesses were closing at an alarming rate.  The loss of literally thousands of jobs had taken a heavy toll both financially and emotionally on the residents of the region. It seemed that hope was as rare as a good paying job.

He just couldn’t shake it. These were not just statistics, these were people…people he knew and loved. That’s when he got an idea, and the idea turned into a call… a call to return home and give something back to the community that gave him his start.

Rather than trying to revive the faltered industries of the past, Newbold looked to the IT service industry he was so familiar with, recognizing that it could fuel the economic revitalization the area needed so badly. Inspired by this vision and mission, he founded Newlife Academy (now NewLife Technical Institute), a non-profit IT training school that offers a custom curriculum. This curriculum developed by Newbold and other business people in the industry has received positive reviews from professors at Carnegie Mellon University and Kent State University.  In one year or less the curriculum prepares students to work at an apprentice level in the field of software development.

Thinking ahead, he recognized that being trained in IT is one thing and landing a job in the industry is another, especially given these students came out of Appalachia and the majority had not attended college.  Newbold proceeded to provide a “proof of concept” by starting an IT company that initially hired the graduates upon their successful completion of the training at Newlife.  This approach successfully combines job training with job creation, much as the apprenticeship programs of years gone by.  Both NewLife and the IT company also place a strong emphasis on character development through formal instruction as well as on the job experience.  His plan was beginning to make a difference.

Up until this point in his life, Craig jokes, “I mostly just paid my taxes and tried to avoid the government”.  Now, he found himself attempting to partner with local, state and federal government agencies in his quest to expand his vision of revitalizing the local workforce, economy and community.  Even though many politicians applauded his efforts, very few were able to offer much real assistance. More often what he encountered instead was an enormous bureaucracy and mountains of red tape that actually serve as a barrier to job creation and economic development.  Few elected officials he approached were willing to risk their own job security for the sake of change, and even fewer were able to think outside of their own little agency “box” to try something new. 

Though the thousands of miles driving back and forth to Columbus, countless hours in fruitless meetings, and hundreds of emails and phone calls, what Craig ultimately learned is that government itself needs to change, if true economic development is ever to occur.  He discovered that Ohio’s governmental policies and procedures themselves are both antiquated and unfriendly to the businesses and workers they are supposed to benefit.  That’s when it occurred to him that what Ohio needs is some fresh leadership that actually understand what it takes to create jobs.  In short we need a few less career politicians and a few more entrepreneurs in Columbus!  Men and women who actually understand what it takes to attract and keep businesses in Ohio.

And that’s why he decided to run for State representative.  Because as he puts it, “I believe that Ohio business owners and workers can get the job done and compete with anyone , anywhere in the world… if we will just give them conditions that encourage and empower them… rather than policies that fight against them.”  Our children shouldn’t have to move away from home to find a decent job.  If you agree that we need a new perspective in Columbus to help get our communities and our state back on track, then we would appreciate your support this November.  He’s not running for State Representative because he needs the job, he’s not looking for a cushy state pension, he’s doing it to try to make a real difference.  Let’s help Craig take his years of experience to the state capitol to make that difference for our communities… our businesses… our jobs… and our children and grandchildren’s future.  Let’s elect Craig Newbold as State Representative in Ohio District One!