| The CEO's Corner - We really ARE doing better than we think! |
 Twice a year, Team NEO holds a "State of the Region" event. On October
9, we had our largest attendance yet, more than 150 of our region's business,
community and civic leaders. These events are part of our continuing
effort to show you the whole picture - a true view of the economy of the
16-county Cleveland Plus region and the many positive steps being taken
across the region to accelerate our economy.
One of the features each time is called "What's Hot, What's New." It is
often not easy to stay up with all the important developments around the
region, so we ask Team NEO's operating partners to send us the most important
developments. You can see this, and the full presentation, by
clicking here.
Building on what's NEW, we also have now started monthly email newsletter
blasts to more than 3,000 business investment decision makers across
the county. We have a lot of good news to spread and we are in a constant
battle to keep the Cleveland Plus 16-county region top of mind when businesses
are thinking about a new investment location. Take a look at how we present
ourselves and the great story the region has to tell by
clicking here.
At each of our State of the Region events we also show how we are doing
in our business attraction efforts. With 2007 being Team NEO's first year
focusing exclusively on attraction, we were not sure what to expect. So
we projected ramping up over 3 years to the level of activity experienced
by some of our well-established competitor regions. We are excited that
after nine months, we are already closing in on goals we set for 2008
and 2009! Northeast Ohio is indeed
Getting in the Game!
The featured topic of our October 9 event was the Regional Economy. Team
NEO released the third edition of our Quarterly Regional Economic Review.
Click here to download the full report. Here are a few highlights:
- Northeast Ohio's economy is expected to grow again for the 6th consecutive
year and 14 out of the last 15.
- Northeast Ohio's economic output is up 32% from 15 years ago, an average
annual growth rate of 2%
- Total Employment is now leveling off, though still among highest levels
in 5 years
- NEO's diversifying economy accounts for the long-term growth
- Manufacturing still represents 20% of economic output (15% of employment)
and has grown 6% compared to 15 years ago, a surprise to many people.
- On top of that, the remaining sectors (80% of the output) have
grown more than 42% over the past 15 years
- Manufacturing output has been stable despite growing global competition
because of productivity improvements and sector diversification
- NEO manufacturers have improved output per worker by 50% since early 1990s
In addition to reporting on our findings, we were honored to have special
guests --
Sandra Pianalto, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
and
Edward W. (Ned) Hill, Professor and Distinguished Scholar of Economic Development, Maxine Goodman
Levin College of Urban Affairs of Cleveland State University -- give their
perspectives on conditions in the region.
Sandy talked about the important role of innovation and education in driving
regional economic growth. She described research done by the Bank which
found that states that were engaged in high levels of patenting activity
per-capita—one measure of innovation—and states that had more educated
workforces—as measured by educational attainment—grew faster.
Noting that these state-level patterns also hold true for our regional
economy, Pianalto said, "While we still are an innovative state and Northeast
Ohio has been at the forefront of Ohio's innovation industries, we need
to redouble our efforts to develop a highly skilled workforce. This is
especially true if we plan to expand our presence in emerging industries
such as information technology, biomedical sciences, and advanced materials."
The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland's insightful research on this topic
can be accessed by
this link. I recommend you take a look.
As always Ned Hill was provocative. His team is updating their look at
the sectors that are growing in the region and two that continue to stand
out are Financial Services and Chemistry-related companies. It has long
been Ned's belief that the field of chemistry is the underlying technology
behind many of the historically strong businesses In Northeast Ohio. Ned
also unveiled some unfinished research looking further at educational
attainment and regional growth. We all can look forward to more on this
in the future.
So, how is the State of our Region? Like we keep saying....
We aren't as good as we want, but
we really ARE better than we think!
Tom
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| Site Visits Yield Interest in Northeast Ohio |
Team Northeast Ohio, along with its partners, has been meeting face to
face with many companies and consultants, raising awareness about the
Cleveland Plus region as a prime place to locate operations. Last month,
Richard Rebadow from the Greater Akron Chamber and Gerald Meyer from the
Greater Cleveland Partnership joined Team Northeast Ohio's Jay Foran and
Steve Fritsch for three days of meetings in Chicago. The team met with
more than a dozen consultants and companies that have strong influences
on location decisions. Foran noted, "Not only are we bringing awareness
of the region to a higher level, we're seeing that the existing perceptions
of Cleveland Plus are positive. News about NASA's activity and Continental's
expansion certainly raised eyebrows."
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| Site Consultants Aided by ClevelandPlusBusiness.com Website |
Have you checked out
www.ClevelandPlusBusiness.com lately? This is the online destination utilized by companies and consultants
to learn about Cleveland Plus. Featuring a robust data center, regional
profile, available sites and recent news section, this website features
all of the key ingredients of a successful business attraction tool. So
far, the site continues to build in monthly visits and site consultants
are giving kudos. If you have suggestions or comments, please contact
Steve Fritsch at
sfritsch@teamneo.org.
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| Stephen Paquette of Stark Development Board Honored by International Economic Development Association |
Please join Team NEO in congratulating Stephen Paquette, President and
CEO of the Stark Development Board, for his recent Honorary Life Member
Designation by the International Economic Development Council. Steve
has been president of SDB since 1989 and has been in the field of economic
development for more than 35 years. Congratulations Steve on a job well
done.
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| TeleTech to Add 300 Positions to Amherst Facility |
TeleTech Holdings, Inc. recently announced that it would add approximately
340 new jobs for its center that will operate in Amherst. Just two months
ago, TeleTech announced the creation of 460 jobs in Lorain County. The
new positions along with those announced in August bring the total to
approximately 800 agent and support positions. Read the full announcement
here.
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| Republic Engineered Products Invests in Canton |
Republic Engineered Products recently announced that it will invest $12.5
million at its Canton operation to install new state-of-the-art equipment
necessary for producing bottom-poured ingots. The new equipment is expected
to be operational in the third quarter of 2008. For the full release,
click here.
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| General Motors to Build New Models in Youngstown-Warren |
General Motors plans to build at least two new products at the Lordstown
Complex beginning in 2009. Analysts expect new midsize Cadillac and Pontiac
models, and possibly a new small car as well, to be built at the Youngstown-Warren
complex.
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| More Growth in Youngstown-Warren |
West Corporation, a leading provider of outsourced communication solutions,
announced that it will add 200 employees to its call center in Niles.
The 80,000-square-foot complex, which will employ 1,500 people, acts
as a customer service center for AT&T and its new Apple iPhone, plus DISH
Network. The center handled all calls associated with the launch of the
iPhone. The Youngstown-Warren area has recently been a hotbed for call
centers which also boasts major operation facilities for Alltel, Cellular
One and InfoCision.
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| FirstEnergy Named Leader in Economic Development |
For the fourth time in the last five years,
Site Selection magazine has selected FirstEnergy Corp. as one of the top utilities in
the country for helping to promote economic development in its service
area. The company helped attract more than $1.6 billion in capital investment
and helped create nearly 11,500 new jobs in their service areas of Ohio,
Pennsylvania and New Jersey in 2006. For the complete announcement,
click here.
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| Crain's Morning Roundup |
Are you getting business news from all of Northeast Ohio's daily papers?
Crain's Cleveland Business makes it easy with a new service that gathers interesting business items
throughout the region and delivers it in a convenient e-newsletter. To
sign up for this beneficial service,
click here.
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| Bioscience Career Fair 2007 |
BioOhio presents the 2nd Annual Ohio Bioscience Career Fair, a statewide
event focused on the biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics,
and contract research industries. The event will be held November 27,
2007 from 2pm - 7pm at the Holiday Inn Worthington-Columbus, 7007 N. High
Street.
Click here for more information and to register.
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| Northeast Ohio Selected for 2008 Technology Annual Meeting |
NorTech recently announced that the State Science and Technology Institute,
the national organization for technology-based economic development, has
selected the InterContinental Hotel in Cleveland for its 12th annual conference.
The event has grown to become the nation's premier event for sharing ideas
on the best ways to encourage technology-based economic development and
foster regional prosperity in a global economy. It will be held October
15-16, 2008. Congratulations to NorTech, in partnership with the State
of Ohio's Department of Development, regional businesses, foundations,
research institutions, and the not-for-profit community who collaborated
to demonstrate our regional commitments to technology research, development,
innovation, commercialization, and entrepreneurship to spur economic growth
in Northeast Ohio.
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| Pass the Plus October Edition |
To read the October
Pass the Plus, the monthly newsletter which is intended to spread some of the good news
(the pluses) of the Cleveland Plus region,
click here.
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