Cleveland Rocks: The Greater Cleveland Growth Association Marks Its 150th Anniversary

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Photo by Lois Anderson

A quarter century ago, Cleveland bore the image of a city so decayed that its river caught fire. Financial devastation was just around the corner.

Today, more than seven million people visit the Greater Cleveland area annually—because they want to. The Gateway complex that anchors the southern downtown area is home to sports and entertainment centers Jacobs Field and Gund Arena. The one-of-a-kind Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Great Lakes Science Center draw sightseers to the lakeshore, and just a few blocks to the west, along the once maligned Cuyahoga River, the restaurants and nightclubs of The Flats stay busy all year long.

The city's rebound sparked headlines across the country. "Why Can't We Be Like Cleveland?" challenged more than one editorial writer, and "Is this heaven? No, it's Cleveland," remarked The Chicago Tribune.

How did this renaissance come about? With help from organizations like the Greater Cleveland Growth Association, which now hosts officials from other cities regularly—visitors who are looking to Cleveland as a successful model of renewal.

Specifically, the mission of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association is to serve as a catalyst for economic growth and jobs creation in Northeast Ohio. It was founded in 1848 as the Cleveland Board of Trade, and has evolved into one of the nation's strongest economic development organizations.

"Our history is replete with examples of Growth Association involvement in the economic initiatives that have helped define Cleveland and Northeast Ohio in the 20th century," says Carole F. Hoover, Growth Association president and chief executive officer. "Thanks to our strong volunteer leadership over the years, we have played a central role in the business and civic life of this community—and continue to do so today."

Jacobs Field

Photo by Lois Anderson

In 1997 alone, the Growth Association contributed to the creation of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in capital investment. Below are just some of the accomplishments:

• Companies new to the region accounted for nearly 1,000 jobs and $230 million capital invested
• Completed 71 expansion or location projects resulting in the absorption of 3.3 million square feet of commercial real estate
• Achieved a state commitment of $650,000 to help design the Cleveland and Cuyahoga County one-stop system

While the 1998 Growth Association business plan focuses on all issues relating to a healthy economy for Greater Cleveland businesses, workforce development is one of its highest priorities. Northeast Ohio needs a strong, well-equipped labor force in order to remain viable and competitive. Thus, the creation of the Jobs and Workforce Initiative (JWFI).

JWFI is a far-reaching attempt to fundamentally alter the ways in which the community prepares its current and future workers. It is a business-led, collaborative approach designed to address the immediate occupation needs of area employers in the short term, and increase the economic performance and competitiveness of the entire Northeast Ohio region in the long term.

Over the course of the next three years, JWFI will focus community energy and resources on developing efficient training and job matching systems by implementing the following priority activities:

• Develop a regional network of "one-stop" workforce development centers to integrate training and placement services. At least five centers are being established throughout Cuyahoga County, with at least three sited in Cleveland. Similar one-stop systems will be developed in the six counties bordering Cuyahoga as part of a regional network.
  
  
• Respond to immediate occupation shortages through collaborative training and recruitment initiatives. Implementation of such programs gives area companies ready access to qualified workers and attracts new businesses into the region by ensuring an ample supply of job-ready workers.
  
  
• Create a permanent regional workforce forum as an ongoing vehicle to promote information sharing about workforce needs among educators, trainers, employers, government officials, and organized labor.
  
  
• Improve the quality of training and job match services by basing them on employer-defined competencies, instituting better performance measures and building in a continuing system of evaluation and monitoring.
  
  
• Smooth the transition from school to career with initiatives such as increasing business involvement in school-to-work programming, and building a community system that encourages the coordinated use of profiling systems to shape regional education and training efforts.
  
  
• Support innovations that improve the region's ability to address specific workforce issues such as welfare-to-work, career pathing, and reverse commute pilots.

The Flats

Photo by Lois Anderson

"Workforce development and other significant issues of the day call for the leadership that a business organization such as the Growth Association embodies: the ability to define the problem at hand, decide how to address it and unite the region's business community to get the job done—often in concert with the public sector," Hoover says.

To advance Greater Cleveland to new levels of economic growth, the Growth Association is continuing to implement the priority-based strategy it established in the mid-1990s. The organization has identified six priorities for economic growth and jobs creation upon which it will concentrate its work throughout the year and into the next millennium (see box).

"These six priorities are focused on enhancing the region's competitiveness," says Hoover. "We are addressing the full range of issues that can constrain or contribute to business development, because the decisions businesses make today will shape the economy of our region for future generations."

The Growth Association's anniversary theme, "150 Years of Growth: Enhancing Greater Cleveland's Competitive Advantage Through Leadership, Collaboration and Innovation," captures the success of the organization's past efforts and the excitement of future growth for Greater Cleveland.

Through strong leadership, the Growth Association will continue to enhance Greater Cleveland's competitive advantage—and serve as an excellent role model for other cities where business and the community need to form stronger partnerships.

GREATER CLEVELAND GROWTH ASSOCIATION'S STRATEGIC PLAN FOR 1998:
Priority 1:	Improve the Region's Business Climate
Priority 2:	Improve the Operating Environment for Small- and Mid-Sized Businesses
Priority 3:	Strengthen the Region's Capacity to Support Manufacturing, Service, and Technology-Related Sectors
Priority 4:	Increase Minority Participation in the Economy
Priority 5:	Create a More Efficient Labor Market
Priority 6:	Improve the Region's Transportation Capabilities