New Government Push for Business Growth

Posted byChris Thompson - 01.20.2011

Both the State of Ohio and Cuyahoga County are undergoing a major overhaul of how they promote business growth.

New Gov. John Kasich has unveiled more details of his plans to privatize part of the state's economic development efforts by forming JobsOhio. Kasich said JobsOhio will be an efficient economic development engine compared to the Department of Development, which he described as slow bureaucratic, outdated and ineffective. The Ohio Chamber of Commerce has endorsed the strategy, as part of its Campaign for Jobs. The Campaign for Jobs also reinforces the need for more efficient local government; a key priority of Advance Northeast Ohio.

And Michael Douglas of the Akron Beacon Journal highlights in this column the value of aligning state development efforts around innovation clusters, such as Akron's leadership in polymers. This is a strategy advocated by partners in Advance Northeast Ohio and is embodied in the work of NorTech.

Meanwhile, Cuyahoga County's new Economic Development Commission met for the first time on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at Cleveland State University. According to this story by Laura Johnston of the Plain Dealer, the Commission will be developing a five-year economic strategy for the county. Read Jay Miller's story on the first meeting at CrainsClevleand.com here.

And as this editorial from the Canton Repository highlights, more communities in Northeast Ohio are looking at making fundamental changes in the design of local government to make them more effective and more competitive. Should Stark County shift to a charter form of government and follow the lead of Summit and Cuyahoga counties?

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Comments

Dave Meeker said:
We need to continue to push for consolidation of services in the region. Bringing together training services for police, fire, EMS and many other services would save money and improve the quality of training. Leaders should encourage that. The Twin Cities have provided some good examples.

Posted: 01-27-2011 at 11:02 AM

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