Greater Cleveland Partnership

Programs: Member programming:in 2016, the greater cleveland partnership ("gcp") launched a new business model to create a unified economic development strategy. The new structure better connected the work of the council of smaller enterprises (cose) and the gcp's other programs-the commission on economic inclusion, the middle-market initiative (rebranding as accelerating middle market progress/ammp in 2016) and ohtec. This stronger collaboration as one organization will produce a more significant impact across businesses of all sizes. Continued on schedule ocose: as the small business program of the greater cleveland partnership, cose (council of smaller enterprises) has supported and advocated for the small businesses in the region since 1972. As the region's small business expert organization, cose offers its members networking and educational events, advocacy on legislative and regulatory issues and cost-effective group purchasing programs. Through a deep understanding of small businesses, cose provides the right solutions and resources to help business owners succeed - every day - because small business growth and success is the organization's priority. Gcp became the sponsor of the cose health and wellness trust, a self-funded benefit option for small businesses providing a more competitive set of healthcare options. Business education experience reimagined: hundreds of business and civic leaders attended bizconcle, a coming together of the greater cleveland middle market forum, presented by the greater cleveland partnership, and cose's small business convention. The event represented a unique education and networking experience exclusively designed for small and middle-market company ceos, c-suite, and their employees. Included were nationally-recognized keynotes, plenary sessions led by regional business and community leaders, and hands-on workshops in areas such as talent, people and hr; marketing, customers and branding; business growth, sales and financials; and owner, leader and team development. Making connections across northeast ohio: entrepreneurs do not succeed alone. That's why cose focuses on helping small business owners connect with their fellow entrepreneurs and large corporate and government purchasing organizations in the region. The 12th annual cleveland b2b matchmaker was one way cose provided connections within and for the northeast ohio entrepreneurial community. The matchmaker presented a great opportunity for small businesses to gain access to buyers who represent millions of dollars in purchasing. Vendors and purchasers met through one-on-one pre-scheduled sessions. Middle market: now in its fifth year, the gcp's middle-market initiative continues to provide resources and information to help create and sustain long-term success for northeast ohio's mid-market companies. This past year, to recognize what we've achieved in our outreach to these businesses, we launched a new brand for our work in this area - accelerating middle-market progress (ammp). We also presented a series of programs (monetary policy and the middle market, growth strategies and insights for middle-market leaders, the economic outlook, trends: ideas on manufacturing, gen y, and your leadership dynamic) to spark ideas and provide connections to support the growth strategies of the region's middle-market companies. Ohtec: a technology industry advocate and support resource within the greater cleveland partnership, ohtec focuses on building relationships and a strong technology industry within northeast ohio by offering opportunities for collaboration among large, mid-sized and small companies, as well as entrepreneurs and leaders within the it field. The peer groups share common tech opportunities and challenges, discuss challenging topics, and gather best practices (ceo roundtable). Tech week: ohtec launched tech week in 2011 with the intention of expanding on the best of tech awards and creating additional awareness of the regional it industry. The best of tech awards recognize outstanding tech companies and entrepreneurs in northeast ohio. Tech week is the opportunity to expand the mission to support, connect, engage and celebrate the regional it community by including a week-long series of events hosted by both ohtec and other it organizations, companies and entities across the region. Cio symposium: now in its 17th year, ohtec's cio symposium is the longest-running gathering of cios in the region. The 2016 symposium offered cios and their teams an opportunity to plan their organizational strategy. The event included keynote speakers, breakout sessions, and tech talks focused on tech trends, insights on the future of tech, executive leadership strategies and more.

physical development:the greater cleveland partnership uses its resources to support and invest in catalytic real estate projects in the city of cleveland. Gcp's real estate investment affiliate, cleveland development advisors (cda), targeted investments in projects that will advance the renaissance of downtown cleveland and revitalize neighborhoods. In 2016, cda deployed 35 million of federal new markets credit allocation and 3 million of ohio new markets tax credits to advance projects that focus on education and workforce development and are described below:continued on schedule ohistoric renovation of the standard building: the $81 million project to convert the 90-year old standard building near public square will add 285 one-, two-, and three-bedroom luxury apartments to the downtown market while retaining street-level retail. Developing a lakefront neighborhood: the first step was realized with the opening of nuevo, the modern mexican restaurant and tequila bar on the east 9th street pier. A new campus for st. Martin de porres high school: construction of a new campus in the st. Clair superior neighborhood is underway. St. Martin is a cristo rey network school that provides children of modest economic means with an education experience that emphasizes work study. This is scheduled to open before the 2017-18 school year. Renovations creating new menlo park academy facility: the renovation of the abandoned joseph & feiss building in the stockyard neighborhood will create a new school for menlo, ohio's only tuition-free community school focusing solely on gifted learners in grades k-8 and an approved partner of the cleveland metropolitan school district. The new location will enable menlo to increase its enrollment by 300 students. This is scheduled to open before the 2017-18 school year. A new welding technology center: the lincoln electric company will develop a new welding technology center in euclid, which will focus on the training of welding educators and industry leaders to address the rising demand for welding education and career pathways. Sixth and largest new markets tax credit allocation: cda's $60 million award will be used to attract private investment needed to complete catalytic projects that create positive economic impacts in low-income communities, including workforce development, quality employment and neighborhood revitalization. The new civic connection collaboration continues the legacy of build up greater cleveland (bugc), a preeminent public-private collaborative created in 1983. In the subsequent 30+ years, greater cleveland's public infrastructure partners, including the city of cleveland, cuyahoga county, greater cleveland regional transit authority, northeast ohio regional sewer district, and the cleveland-cuyahoga county port authority (port), have combined to invest more than $12 billion in regional roadways, bridges, transit, ports, and electrical, water, and wastewater utilities that have helped to support the catalytic development that greater cleveland is seeing today. Voinovich bridge completion supports downtown resurgence: this past fall, greater cleveland cut the ribbon on its most substantial infrastructure investment ever with the full opening of the twin span george v. Voinovich bridge. The $566 million investment, which involved the demolition of the obsolete 1959 innerbelt bridge and the construction of two new bridges, constituted the largest bridge replacement project in ohio's history and largest single investment in the ohio department of transportation's history. The voinovich bridge carries over 140,000 vehicles per day and will continue to support the economic resurgence in downtown cleveland for decades to come. Opportunity corridor project remains on track: another catalytic transportation project continued to materialize east of downtown, as the first phase of construction on the opportunity corridor progressed in the university circle and fairfax neighborhoods. Additional preparation work is taking place throughout the buckeye-woodhill, kinsman, and broadway-slavic village neighborhoods. Managed by the ohio department of transportation and the city of cleveland, the three-mile boulevard remains on track for completion by 2020 and will provide enhanced multi-modal and utility access to thousands of residents while supporting the potential redevelopment of several hundred acres of vacant or underutilized land. Rejuvenated public square makes grand debut: perhaps no single infrastructure investment in cleveland received greater attention - locally, nationally, and globally - in 2016 than the dramatically rejuvenated public square, which was unveiled in time for the republican national convention following the completion of a $50 million makeover. The revitalized public space served as an iconic gathering place for the thousands of delegates, media, and visitors to the city during the weeklong convention and epitomized the resurgence taking place throughout our community. The greater cleveland partnership continued its representation on the group plan commission and provided staff leadership to the commission for ongoing work, financing and fundraising activities. The project was made possible due in large part to a cleveland development advisors $5. 2 million bridge loan.

advocacy:the greater cleveland partnership's advocacy team works with political leaders to create conditions that will maximize the economic development potential for all greater clevelanders. They also interact with the business community to identify priority issues for the private sector. Some significant victories were achieved in 2016 for the business community, locally and throughout ohio. Minimum wage and part-time workers' initiatives withdrawn: the gcp opposed a cleveland-only, $15 minimum wage proposal and a separate cleveland-only part-time workers' initiative. Continued on schedule othe minimum wage proposal was ultimately blocked by state legislation that prohibited political subdivisions from establishing minimum wage rates different from what is required by state law. The part-time workers ballot issue was also eventually withdrawn by petitioners. If passed, both issues would have had direct effects on the cleveland business community by hindering job creation and business growth, as well as the overall positive momentum the city is experiencing. Unemployment compensation reform secured: the gcp supported and helped secure legislation that allowed the state to pay federal debt a year ahead of schedule, saving ohio employers millions of dollars in the short term. Next steps include continuing to advocate for long-term reforms that allow the unemployment fund to achieve a path toward solvency, which would guard against increased costs for businesses in the event of an economic downturn. Employers get relief on some workers' compensation claims payments: effective august 31, 2016, a new policy, which resulted from legislation supported by the gcp, added language to the ohio revised code that changed how certain workers' compensation claims can be paid. It is effective when the claim is based on a motor vehicle accident involving a third party. The new policy allows payment on those claims to be charged to the surplus account in the state insurance fund and not impact the employer's experience. Gcp-supported school levy renewal passed: the gcp was a key supporter of efforts to renew the cleveland schools levy, which was passed by voters in november 2016. The 15-mill levy, which generates about $77 million annually, funds the cleveland plan for transforming schools without raising taxes. The levy was originally passed in 2012 to support: (1) growing the number of high-performing schools in the cleveland metropolitan school district; (2) investment in high-leverage system reforms across all schools from preschool to college and career readiness; and (3) the creation of the cleveland transformation alliance, a public-private partnership, to ensure accountability for all public schools in the city. Other gcp-endorsed levies passed by voters: voters also approved the gcp-endorsed health and human services levy. The result is an eight-year, no-tax-increase renewal rate of 4. 8 mills that is locked in for a longer period of time and fewer campaigns will be needed to maintain the vital community services. The levy generates roughly $130 million annually. In addition, the gcp was a key supporter of cleveland mayor jackson's municipal income tax proposal that was successful on the november 2016 ballot. The initiative, the first increase in 35 years, will generate more than $80 million annually to improve numerous city services. Efforts successfully support tax credit programs: the gcp played a lead role in securing a needed reform to ohio's new markets tax credit program to remove a restrictive real estate provision that limited the use of this tax credit. The state program will now be in greater alignment with the federal tax credit program and allow mixed-use projects - a growing trend in development in cleveland's major business and technology corridors-to-be eligible for the program. At the federal level, the gcp supported cleveland development advisors, its real estate and business development finance affiliate, on a winning application resulting in a $60 million new markets tax credit (nmtc) award. This is the largest federal nmtc award in cleveland to date to spur economic growth in our community. Projects championed receive state funding: the gcp was successful in advocacy efforts on the state's 2016 capital bill that brought more than $23 million to cuyahoga county for core community projects, more than half of which were projects that the gcp directly championed. Funding secured for public square: the gcp staff lobbied state leaders to secure $3. 5 million in funding for the public square redevelopment project needed to complete the project prior to the republican national convention in july 2016.

business development:the organizations in the regional economic development system that the greater cleveland partnership helped to create and continues to support - bioenterprise, jumpstart, magnet, team neo, and cleveland plus - along with gcp's business development team - report strong results in 2016 as evidenced by job creation and the attraction of new investment. The gcp business development team members played a crucial role in recruiting, hosting and staffing the international economic development council (iedc) annual conference held in cleveland. It was the highest-attended conference in the history of the iedc exceeding more than 1,600 participants. In 2016, the business development team delivered on the first year of its three-year strategic plan. While much more remains to be done, significant progress has been made in the effort to be recognized as the number one trusted program team for greater cleveland businesses. In addition, the gcp participated in multiple national site-selector forums and activities throughout the year, showcasing cleveland and northeast ohio for business growth opportunities. Collaborative efforts by the greater cleveland partnership air service demand task force, the city of cleveland and cleveland hopkins international airport (cle) led to new or expanded nonstop routes by several carriers including american, frontier, jet blue, southwest and spirit. Among the destinations served are boston, las vegas, los angeles, philadelphia, phoenix, portland, san francisco, st. Louis, and washington d. C. /reagan. More nonstop routes from cle will be added in 2017, including atlanta, charlotte, houston/bush and minneapolis. Other economic development activities that occurred through gcp affiliates:team neo: team neo enhances the economy of northeast ohio by collaborating with its partners and others to attract new businesses, help those that are here to grow and accelerate the impact of innovation in the region. Cleveland plus is the regional brand team neo uses to market the region. In 2016, team neo and its partners tallied 75 project wins, resulting in 4,853 new jobs, $262 million in new payroll and $1. 5 billion in capital investment. For the past 10 years, the cleveland plus campaign, which was conceived and launched by the greater cleveland partnership (gcp) has worked to place more than 500 positive stories in target business media outlets.