Nine Projects Win Team NEO Economic Development Plus Awards for 2009 Success

6/24/2010

Most Impactful 2009 Economic Development Projects Recognized at June 23 Event

Nine highly impactful economic development projects that were executed in 2009 were recognized last night for creating jobs, attracting investment and developing opportunities for Northeast Ohio at the Fourth Annual Team NEO Economic Development Plus Awards Dinner, presented by PNC.  More than 20 communities and economic development organizations who worked on these projects were honored for their work.  The event, which was held at the John S. Knight Center in Akron, Ohio, drew a sold-out crowd of more than 650 business and community leaders, economic developers, and chambers of commerce representatives from throughout 16 counties of Northeast Ohio.

“In 2009, Northeast Ohio communities and economic development organizations completed 115 projects that created more than 3,200 jobs and more than $1 Billion in capital investment,” said Tom Waltermire, Team NEO’s Chief Executive Officer.  “This one-of-a-kind event honors Northeast Ohio’s local economic development community who is working hard to regain economic vibrancy. The event celebrates the “wins” in Northeast Ohio: the projects that are helping to diversity and advance our economy.”

Nearly 100 organizations were nominated in more than 70 entries. Of twenty-five finalists chosen by a panel of judges, the following winners were recognized:

• Asset Creation
  Case Western Reserve University: For advancing Ohio’s medical imaging cluster
• Business Attraction
  Team Lorain County, City of Oberlin, City of North Ridgeville and the Lorain County Growth Partnership: The attraction of GreenField Solar Corp. Headquarters with plans to create 200 new jobs by 2012
• Business Expansion
  The City of Westlake: For the expansion of Hyland Software into a new $5 million, 28,000-square-foot office right next to its current operations
• Business Retention
  The City of Cleveland, Village of Cuyahoga Heights, City of Independence & Cuyahoga County: For the retention of 1,250 jobs at Alcoa, and also the company’s commitment to invest an additional $110 million in its Cleveland Works facility by 2011 
• Foreign Investment
  Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center: Overall Impact for 2009
• Fostering Entrepreneurship
  City of Akron, The University of Akron & Akron Global Business Accelerator: Overall Impact for 2009
• Minority Business Development
  ShoreBank Enterprise Group Cleveland: For the establishment of the Evergreen Cooperative Development Fund that provides financing for profitable business opportunities for minorities
• Public-Private Partnership
  City of Wooster, Wayne Economic Development Council, Ohio Bioproduct Innovation Center & the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center: For assisting quasar energy group in expanding its operations
• Workforce Development
  Eastern Gateway Community College: For the Creation of New Facility

For more information about each of the winning projects, see below.

In addition, Dr. Roy A. Church of Lorain County Community College was honored at the event with the annual H. Peter Burg Regional Vision Award.  The award is Team NEO’s highest honor, and commemorates the late chairman and CEO of FirstEnergy Corporation, a regional leader who was the founding chairman of Team NEO.  Dr. Church was recognized for his commitment to maximizing our region’s resources, proven by his wonderful leadership of Lorain County Community College and his impact on the entire Northeast Ohio region.

The 2009 Economic Development Impact Awards are presented by PNC. Additional sponsors include: the Sherwin-Williams Company, University of Akron, Akron-Canton Airport, Andrews-Osborne Academy, Ben Venue Laboratories, GCA Services Group and Thompson Hine.

Team NEO advances Northeast Ohio’s economy by attracting businesses worldwide to the 16-county Cleveland Plus region.  The organization is a joint venture of the region's largest metro chambers of commerce.  Since 2007, the organization has attracted 34 new company expansions or relocations, 3,200 new jobs and $100M in annual payroll to Northeast Ohio, leading to a total annual regional payroll benefit of $260M.

More about the Award Recipients

Asset Creation
Case Western Reserve University for advancing Ohio’s medical imaging cluster.

Having been involved in biomedical imaging research since the early 1980s, Case Western Reserve University is now at the forefront due to a perfect convergence of resources for innovation: a leading academic research program, a strong base of industry to take that research to market and a well-trained pool of university graduates. Two-thirds of Ohio’s imaging companies are located in Northeast Ohio, and many have links to the university. Other biomedical imaging companies have started moving their manufacturing facilities here, in part to have access to local funding, skilled professionals and research taking place in biomedical imaging at Case.

Business Attraction 
Team Lorain County, City of Oberlin, City of North Ridgeville & the Lorain County Growth Partnership for their combined efforts in the attraction of GreenField Solar Corp.’s headquarters.

In 2007, Greenfield Solar Corp., a startup business that makes solar panels, received a capital investment and was considering places to locate a headquarters permanently and expand. After considering Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, and Texas, GreenField selected Oberlin for its expansion, with additional offices located in North Ridgeville. Team Lorain County and other economic development organizations helped GreenField navigate job-creation tax credits, find additional incentives and linked GreenField to lab space that otherwise would not have been readily available. Greenfield was awarded over $1.5 million in incentives for their $9.8 million investment in the cities of North Ridgeville and Oberlin. What was once a team of 10, GreenField has now expanded to 25 and intends to create 200 jobs for Ohio by 2012.

Business Expansion
City of Westlake for its assistance in the expansion of Hyland Software.

Faced with the possibility of losing Hyland after the successful software company outgrew its original Westlake headquarters, the City of Westlake assisted Hyland in striking a deal with its neighbor, Nordson Corp., to purchase Nordson’s world headquarters.  The City of Westlake provided Hyland with a job-creation grant, which the company used for the cost of the expansion.  Meanwhile, the City of Westlake assisted Nordson in building its new $5 million, 28,000-square-foot office right next to its old location by granting the company a 15-year, 50 percent tax abatement.

Business Retention
City of Cleveland, Village of Cuyahoga Heights, City of Independence & Cuyahoga County for their combined efforts in the retention of Alcoa.

After a stress fracture on Alcoa’s 50,000-ton press threatened to derail its operations in Cuyahoga Heights, the State of Ohio, Cuyahoga County, the cities of Cleveland and Independence, and the village of Cuyahoga Heights stepped up to the plate to help save more than 1,250 jobs in Northeast Ohio.  The State of Ohio awarded Alcoa a total of $20.6 million in funding to help refurbish its press, followed by the City of Cleveland’s guarantee of a local match on a loan of $800,000 on behalf of the three local entities.  Doing so not only saved the jobs at Alcoa, but it also paved the way for the company to invest an additional $110 million in its Cleveland Works by 2011.

Foreign Investment
Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center for overall impact for 2009.

Since 2007, the GCIC has been instrumental in attracting nine international medical companies to the area.  Companies from Israel, Ireland, Brazil, Japan and Switzerland.  Collectively, these companies will create more than 150 higher paying jobs in the region. In 2009, they helped two Israeli companies invest in Northeast Ohio – CardioStar and VasoStar. 

In fact, they were just in Israel again last week on a recruitment mission. With their efforts, we are sure to continue having success in building a cardiovascular cluster in Ohio.

Fostering Entrepreneurship
City of Akron, The University of Akron & the Akron Global Business Accelerator for the overall impact of the Akron Global Business Accelerator in 2009.

One of the country’s oldest business incubators, the Akron Global Business Accelerators allows entrepreneurs the benefit of below-market-rate space and business services at their fingertips, and it creates an advocacy for Akron as an ideal location to site North American operations.  ABGA is home to 49 tenant companies employing 215 people. Both numbers have doubled in the past 18 months, and average job salaries are $50,000-plus. Over the past year, its tenant companies have raised $18.5 million in investment capital to commercialize technologies in areas such as advanced and renewable energy, biomedicine, polymers and green technology.

Minority Business Development 
ShoreBank Enterprise Group Cleveland for its establishment of the Evergreen Cooperative Development Fund.

Through the establishment of the Evergreen Cooperative Development Fund, ShoreBank Enterprise Group hopes to create real wealth within Cleveland’s inner-city neighborhoods. Last year, ShoreBank provided funding for two green startup businesses that are now serving major anchor institutions in University Circle. Both companies were founded on the premise of not only providing employment for people from low-to-moderate incomes from neighborhoods that surround University Circle, but also offering those employees an ownership stake in the company after six months on the job.  Together the two companies are well on their way to creating 100 jobs, and repaying their loans to the ECDF, which will in turn fund even more enterprises.
 
Public-Private Partnership 
City of Wooster, Wayne Economic Development Council, Ohio Bioproducts Innovation Center & the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center for their combined efforts in assisting quasar energy group in expanding its operations.

When quasar energy group was planning its expansion into the waste-to-energy market, it partnered with The Ohio State University’s Agricultural and Development Center in Wooster and its 550,000-gallon digester facility became the first tenant of the BioHio Research Park.  Its digester annually churns 19,382 wet tons of spoiled food, manure, crop waste and grasses into methane, which in turn can generate 4,252 megawatts of electricity.  Besides the benefit of providing clean power, its digester is loaded with components, most of which must be made specifically for quasar, thus creating a potential for other companies along the supply chain to locate in close proximity.

Workforce Development
Eastern Gateway Community College for its creation of a new community college

By absorbing an existing community college and adopting programs already established at other colleges, Eastern Gateway Community College cut through the red tape in order to train students immediately and reach students in the Mahoning Valley who had otherwise not had access nor the funds to obtain associate degrees. Eastern Gateway Community College served 3,010 students during its inaugural 2009-2010 academic year. School officials expect enrollment to swell by 5 percent overall this summer with much of the increase due to new students from Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties.

 

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