Cleveland: We're Doing Better Than We Think

(Original Blog Posted mid-January 2010)

Last Friday (January 8th) Brad Whitehead and Tom Waltermire headlined the noon City Club Forum (http://www.cityclub.org/) on the Economic Outlook for the Next Decade.  Together Brad (www.futurefundneo.org) and Tom (http://www.clevelandplusbusiness.com/About-Team-NEO.aspx) gave us a few surprise factoids:
  • the Cleveland area is the center for medical imaging in the U.S.
  • manufacturing output in Northeast Ohio is the highest it's ever been. Productivity per worker is improving.  Also, replacement hiring is coming as workers reach retirement age.
  • Cleveland is one of only three cities to win federal funding to pilot region-wide collaboration.  (The others are Seattle and Minneapolis.)
They made a really important point for us to keep front of mind: The things that will happen over the next ten years have their beginnings today.  The things that are or were big here started small, were successful here and became big.

You can hear the forum, moderated by Susan Goldberg, Editor of the Plain Dealer at http://www.cityclub.org/mediacenter/cityclubpodcast/PodcastListing/tabid/194/Default.aspx

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