Ohio may not yet be the buckle on the rust belt, even though one out of every four jobs lost in the United States since President George W. Bush took office has occurred in the Buckeye State.

Now, armed with $8. 1 million, the state has started a national campaign to draw business and jobs to Ohio. Ohio has lost an estimated 270,000 jobs since January 2001, including several thousand good-paying Steelworkers positions.

The state will seek to burnish its rust belt image in the campaign, which is being funded from a $9. 8 million fine SBC Communications paid over several years for poor telephone service. The money was earmarked for economic development after the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio was unable to determine how to divide it equitably among customers who receive poor telephone service.

Jaimie Alexander of Frame 360, a business-strategy and marketing consulting firm in Columbus said, "Ohio probably suffers from an identity crisis. They think we're Iowa anyway. People don't understand what Ohio has to offer. "

Ohio will be joining Florida, Utah, Michigan and California and about a dozen other states that have nonprofit marketing groups. In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appears on billboards proclaiming "Arnold Says: California Wants Your Business. (Actually he says 'Kah-li-fornia')"