NEOSA and REI staged a remarkable economic development event
in this Future Forum, and Myers University Club was a great venue -
congratulations to all the organizers and presenters. The objective was to
"focus on the impact of new and disruptive technologies and trends -
helping us to visualize the potential and possibilities as well as the risk
inherent in all change" and attendees certainly got alot to think about.
To put things in blunt conclusion, the future is terrifying.

For the past several years, one of the hottest topics in NEO economic development circles has been the value and future potential of our "creative class" - Cleveland State recently estimated Playhouse Square's contribution to the economy at $43 million per year, and CPAC finds just arts and culture creates $1.3 billion a year in econopmic activity in Cuyahoga County alone - but creative class guru Richard Florida only ranks our creative class at 30th out of the 49 largest regions in America, and all local economic development thinkers think we have lots more value to capture. REI Director Ed Morrison projects that "Creative" industries are in fact our next "Steel", and he and other creative leaders here are doing lots about forging more value in this sector of the new economy, including hosting a session at REI November 9 about harnessing more of its horsepower. Here are my notes from the session:

Building a creative industry base in Northeast Ohio requires us to think in new ways. We're lucky, in that a number of other regions -- mostly in the U.K, Australia, and New Zealand -- have been moving in this direction.

More
about Sustainable Transportation

Location

Futures
Forum
Sponsored by: The Northeast Ohio Software Association, The SBC Foundation, The
Center for Regional Economic Issues

Location

Case - "CRWU - Case Western Reserve University - through their Weatherhead Business School, Engineering School, Center for Regional Economic Issues, and other departments, hosts frequent, exceptional meetings, roundtables and forums on issues of interest for regional economic development and entrepreneurship - most are help in the Case campus and free and open to the public - all related information and comments from attendees are posted in this book.

Numerous NEO researchers and entrepreneurs are interested in developing a bioenergy industry here, and signirficant progress is being made - follow and report on developments here!

Topic:
"The Budding Ohio Wind Industry: Where
Do We Stand in the Nation?"

Location

"Energy
Alternatives: The BIG multi-dimensional--technical, political and economic --
Picture!" 09-30-04. Student
lead forum with a panel of topical experts juxtaposing a fossil-fuel centric
viewpoint with realistic
summaries of state of the art Wind, Solar and Fuel Cell technologies,
wrapping up with what public energy policy might look like in the future.

Location

Norm Roulet's notes from REI - presentation by the Glenville Development Corporation on the Future of Glenville.

GDC service area corresponds with the bounderies of Ward 8, an odd shaped neighborhood on the East Side of Cleveland running along Lake Erie from E. 72nd street to around E. 110th, and south including Martin Luther King to University Circle, and environs surrounding (PDF map linked as attachment).Presenting were John H. Cieszkowski, Jr., Business Development Specialist, and Tony R. Diggs, Community Outreach Coordinator. The Glenville Development Corp. website is linked below:

Glenville development corp. website

More information on Glenville is found at Cleveland State University's Neighborhood Link site at http://www.nhlink.net/neighborhoodtour/glenville/

Detailed 2000 census data is posted at http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/census/factsheets/spa32.html

First presenter is John, who points out that despite challenging economic conditions Glenville has wonderful physical assets, a wealth of historic property, close proximity to Lake Erie, parks and University Circle and many other strengths. His presentation focused on many great efforts of the GDC to leverage those strengths to develop the neighborhood's housing stock and quality of life of residents, focused on a bright future.

In order to address issues facing neighborhood retail corridors, GDC participates with 10 other CDCs (Community Development Corporations) as part of the Re-$tore Cleveland program.

ED successes include retail development such as Glenville Towne Center (featuring East Side Market), a McDonalds, video store and Rite Aid - area is nicely landscaped and enhanced with clock tower to accentuate this special retail dsitrict.

"Energy
Alternatives: The BIG multi-dimensional--technical, political and economic --
Picture!"
09-30-04. Student lead forum with a panel of topical experts juxtaposing a
fossil-fuel centric viewpoint with realistic summaries of state of the
art Wind, Solar and Fuel Cell technologies, wrapping up with what public energy
policy might look like in the future.

Location

Norm Roulet's notes from Wind Power session at REI:

Reporting
from REI on dialogue among a range of community leaders interested to develop a
wind power industry in NEO. The focus is on developing this as a product
fabrication industry – building a facility to manufacture towers. At the meeting
are folks from the heavy fabrication side – Lincoln Electric and AT&F. Also
here are lots of folks from the sustainability non-profit side – Entrepreneurs
for Sustainability, Green Energy Ohio, Bowling Green Wind Farm - and there are
promising, hopeful wind industry entrepreneurs like session leaders Jeff Buster
and Martha Eakin.

Topic:
"Wind
Innovation and Manufacturing Opportunities in Northeast
Ohio"

Location

"Community
of Minds," Regional Business
& Technology Networking Event, Wednesday, 11-17-04,
5:30PM - 8:00PM, George Dively Building, Case.
Be alert! Listen and exchange insights with speaker Len Steinbach, CIO, The
Cleveland Museum of Art. CMA connects culture, community with
telecommunications technology bridging the gap between business, exhibition, the
internet and new media technologies. Videos & display interactives. Join
us. Meet cool thought leaders in University Circle & learn about changes
affecting technology and business. Co-sponsored by Thompson Hine and
REI. This event is free but you must register online
in order to attend at: http://www.communityofminds.com/LogIn.asp?NextPage=registration.asp?EventID=86.

Location

"LIVEWire Forums," Tuesday, 11-16-04, 11:30AM-1:00PM, Peter
B. Lewis Building, Room 103. REI hosted regional
networking forums to connect students with each other and business.
 Speaker: Amin Varghai, CSU Student Chapter,
Northeast Ohio Software Association (NEOSA) talking about what's up for
students in the technology industry in NEO and what we need to be paying
attention to. Pizza and soda provided. Read more: http://www.smartmeetingdesign.com/rei/index.php/Main/LIVEWire

Location

"Bizart
Creative Industries Symposium," 11-12-04. Speakers

Location

Norm Roulet's notes from the 10/19/04 Tuesday@REI session on
"Supply Chain and Logistics Technology: Northeast Ohio's Economic
Development Engine"

This was the most insightful Tuesday@REI session I’ve attended – probably the
most eye-opening session I’ve ever attended in Northeast Ohio. My compliments
to Herb Crowther for planning an important agenda and pulling together a remarkable
panel of experts.

The Center for Regional Economic
Issues at Case Western Reserve University provides this weblog as a
free service to the economic development community.

Making Change: Strategic Frameworks for our Global Economy 

Location

Tuesdays@REI
"International Student Networks: Doors to a Global Marketplace"
Sponsored by: The Center for Regional Economic Issues (REI)

Location

About REI
REI@Weatherhead integrates high quality economic research and analytic tools to
understand and accelerate regional economic development.

REI@Weatherhead operates as part of a network of university-based economic
development centers in Northeast Ohio. Each of these centers has its own
particular strengths. Together, we form an important support network to civic
entrepreneurs who want to make change.

Topic:
"Today's Steel Industry:
Creative Arts & Digital Technology" 

Location

Tuesdays@REI
The Future of Glenville
Sponsored by: The Center for Regional Economic Issues

Location

Deliberations
Day 2004
By The People: A National Conversation about America in the World
Sponsored by: By the People/MacNeil/Lehrer, The SBC Foundation, The Center for
Regional Economic Issues, ideastream

Location

As always happens at REI, discussion quickly moved to local economic development and entrepreneurship issues and concerns - which allowed for discussion about REALNEO among a small and diverse group of community leaders.