Last week, the UN issued an important report on the future of our environment. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is focused on improving our insights into the environmental consequences of development.

Sustainable development is a growing trend in economic development. Cities that move toward sustainable practices will have an inside track on these expanding markets. NEO is ideally positioned to capitalized on this opportunity.

Key Bank has awarded $1 million to Cuyahoga Community College to establish "Key Entrepreneur Development Center." The Center should become a regional hub for business development.

Here's an announcement on the Cleveland Botanical Garden Flower Show, the largest outdoor flower show in North America. It takes place May 27 - 30.

The Akron Beacon Journal does a good job in covering economic development issues for our region. Here's a story on the shifting use of economic development incentives. Read more.

Here's a sensible collaboration that provides an example for NEO.

North East Texas Workforce Development Board is partnering with Northeast Texas Community College and local economic development councils to present a summit on manufacturing. Read more.

Toledo is considering a coke plant for economic development, and they have had difficulty figuring out which jurisdiction gets the tax revenues.

Earlier this week, local political leaders reached an agreement.

Yesterday, I traveled to Orrrville, OH to meet with a group of librarians from Wayne County. The question we explored: What s the role of libraries in the future of Northeast Ohio's economy.

During the industrial era, our economy generated enormous wealth. One of the legacy assets of this period is our extraordinary library system. (For example, Orville's library ranks sixth in the nation for a community its size.)

A little over a year ago, the Brookings Institution produced a report on Pennsylvania. The basic findings focused on the competitive disabilities created by no-growth sprawl. Learn more about the Brookings report and download the report here.

KeyCorp has made an important investment in the Civic Development Corporation of Ashtabula County. Learn more about what the Civic Development Corporation provides to our region by reading the relea

 Jurgen Faust has developed a vision for a "Future Center"
- an innovative collaborative strategy to address NEO's "Design Crisis" 

Q. What is design?

A. Design is a different way to think. At the beginning it is relatively
opposed to scientific thinking - image based thinking and method to solve
problems - thus has largely surfaced from art schools.

Each Tuesday from 2:00 - 4:00 PM REI holds REALNEO planning and
orientation sessions. These sessions are free and open to anyone
interested in this initiative - and excellent time to work with
volunteers on your Community Of Interest Links - feel free to come

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Each Tuesday from 2:00 - 4:00 PM REI holds REALNEO planning and
orientation sessions. These sessions are free and open to anyone
interested in this initiative - and excellent time to work with
volunteers on your Community Of Interest Links - feel free to come

Location

What Lakefront Access Means to NEO

Chris Ronayne, former Cleveland Planning Director and current Chief of Staff at City Hall will address Cleveland's competitiveness as a 21st Century City. From an accessible waterfront to a growing downtown, an emergent R&D Center at University Circle and a diversified local economy. Ronayne will build the case that Cleveland is poised for growth and has a unique pportunity to become the next development frontier of our region.

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Each Tuesday from 2:00 - 4:00 PM REI holds REALNEO planning and
orientation sessions. These sessions are free and open to anyone
interested in this initiative - and excellent time to work with
volunteers on your Community Of Interest Links - feel free to come

Location

The planning department in Summit County is guiding a planning process for the county. The Department of Community and Economic Development is asking questions, such as "How much farmland should Summit County have?"

You can read more about the process here.

This process touches on a deeper set of issues facing our region: No growth sprawl. Like Pennsylvania, Northeast Ohio has developed inefficient patterns of development. You can download the Brookings study from this page. You can also download a reportcompleted in 2000 on the costs of sprawl in Pennsylvania.

The 03.22.05 Tuesday@REI is focused on the topic of creating Arts Districts as "Economic Engines�. Four presenters will discuss specific initiatives already showing great value in the region. Lots of people think of arts districts and think of Playhouse Square – a commercial district – but today we are looking at neighborhood based districts – linked to residents that live in the area. We hear a lot about silver bullets around NEO – half billion-dollar projects like convention centers – but research finds these projects don’t necessarily do it – there may not be a “downtown� solution – “downtown� may just be another neighborhood. The jury is still out on the broader “Richard Florida Creative Class� concept, but it is certain that making neighborhoods desirable with arts districts is valuable – that has been a fact all through history.

Each Tuesday from 2:00 - 4:00 PM REI holds REALNEO planning and orientation sessions. These sessions are free and open to anyone interested in this initiative - and excellent time to work with volunteers on your Community Of Interest Links - feel free to come anytime between 2 and 4, and stick around after for the weekly Tuesday@REI meetings, from 4:00 - 5:45 PM.

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The Cleveland Institute of Art's vision for strengthening NEO Design is an encouraging development. In the tradition of Hugh Greenlee and Victor Schreckenghost - honored seatholders in the Pantheon of Cleveland designers - the region's design center credentials are getting burnished.

The
Economics of Early Childhood Development: Support Workshop

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Jack Ricchiuto sent out 12 emails to convene a meeting to explore the
state of "facilitation" in NEO and 40 or so people showed up - 20
more said they can't come but want to come to a future event... all here are
interested to know each other. He convened this group to determine who are
facilitators in region, how may they work together as a "practice
area" and how can we help our community and clients understand what we do
and the value to the community. So he asks four questions:

March 29: “CIA
Design & Technology Transfer Center: A Showcase for Sustainable Business
Development in NEO"

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March 22:
"Creating Arts Districts as Economic Development Engines"

Jim Harris, HL

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March 15: "A
Holistic Approach to Developing Cities and Regions" 

Michael

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Developing dialogue and inclusion: Building the Facilitation Community
in NEO

Appreciative
inquiry, deliberative discussion and other techniques of large group
facilitation are critical to our economic future. Northeast Ohio has has one of
the largest concentrations of trained facilitators in the country. David
Cooperrider at Case designed Appreciative Inquiry, and it is widely taught at
Case and Cleveland State. Kim Sebaly of Kent State University is one of the
nation's leading experts on deliberative discussion. The Gestalt Institute of
Cleveland is a global leader in providing training in personal growth and group
dynamics.

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