Economics at work—the Greater Cleveland Growth Association - Economics at Work

Business Economics, April, 2002 by Jack E. Kleinhenz

The Growth Association realigned its structure, priorities, and resources--both human and financial--in 1995. As part of this new agenda I joined the organization as chief economist and research director. This newly created position was charged with gearing the research capabilities and scope towards policy analysis, improving analysis of current conditions, supporting our business retention and expansion efforts, and serving as a spokesman on the regional economy. To meet these new goals, a research professional with a PhD in economic development and a database manager joined the core staff.

Over the past several years we have conducted policy analyses on a broad range of topics including: access to capital for local business, the importance of small business in the region, the impact of proposed living wage legislation, the case for incumbent worker job training legislation, workforce assessments and future skill needs of the region's information technology and biotechnical/biomedical industries, the economic impact of selected industries, and downtown transportation. Many of these studies involved working with other local and regional research professionals and engaging research centers at our local universities to undertake the assignments. Beyond conducting these studies, we created a unique database designed for use by our business development group that provides ready comparison of Greater Cleveland's economic and demographic data with other key competitor regions. Last year, we geocoded our members by federal and state legislative districts for use in our government advocacy efforts. In a ddition, we have undertaken a corporate "image and branding study" in conjunction with a national consulting firm, quarterly customer satisfaction surveys, new product development investigations, and the design and coordination of our annual business planning and measurement system.

Industry Cluster Project

Along with my duties as chief economist, I have served as the primary project manager for The Northeast Ohio Regional Economic Development Strategy Initiative. It is more commonly referred to as the Cluster Project. This project stretches over eight counties and is the seminal collaborative effort by the region's four leading economic development organizations: the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, Cleveland Tomorrow (composed of CEO'S from the largest area corporations), and the Greater Cleveland Growth Association. The ongoing project's purpose is to accelerate economic growth and development in the Northeast Ohio region.

As the project manager, my responsibilities include coordinating overall and individual cluster activities with the Cluster Project Management Team. This team is comprised of senior staff of our partnering organizations. In addition, I lead efforts to obtain initial and continued project funding.

The Clusters Project was launched in 1996 and funded by The Cleveland and George Gund Foundations. It was initiated on the premise that the region's economic performance, in terms of the quality of jobs, quantity of out-of-region exports, and generation of wealth and income, is based on a portfolio of industries whose competitive strength is reinforced by a network of customers and suppliers. This "clustering" concept has been evident in several regions, including Silicon Valley in California, The Research Triangle in North Carolina, and the Optics Valley in Arizona.