Ohio Rings in the New Millennium on a High-tech Note(cover) Boosting Technology Preparing the Work Force for the New Economy Tax Cuts, Deregulation Too Tempting to Resist Southwest Ohio Flourishes Northeast Ohio: A High-tech Star Northwest Ohio's Economic Boom Dayron, Xenia: Flying High Central Ohio: The Heart of Distribution Request Information |
Northeast Ohio: A High-tech Star
Northeast Ohio has definitely put itself back on the site selection map in recent years. This is in part due to the region's cities making efforts to redevelop their communities from both a quality of life and an economic standpoint.
Cleveland, for instance, began a revitalization program in the mid-1980s that has resulted in one of the most dramatic city turnarounds in the country. The public-private effort resulted in more than $3.5 billion invested in downtown Cleveland by 1998. Improving the quality of life are such projects as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Jacobs Field and Gund Arena for professional sports, the Playhouse Square, Tower City Center and the Great Lakes Science Center. "And the Cleveland Browns Stadium opened this season," says James Kroeger, director of business development with the Greater Cleveland Growth Assn. "The new Browns are back, and that adds to our economy and our quality of life. Likewise, we've retained the Cleveland Grand Prix."
These efforts have created a more attractive environment that is winning back both workers and employers. Cleveland, in fact, now serves as a headquarters location for 112 corporations, including 12 Fortune 500 companies.
Cleveland plans to broaden its business appeal with its recently opened Employment Central, which was established to improve not only the worker training programs, but to provide better quality service to companies. "Employment Central brings together a half dozen or more entities that deal with recruitment and retraining into one location," says Kroeger.
Recent enhancements to local air service make the area an even more suitable location for international firms and office operations. Continental Airlines, the city's hub carrier, has started direct service to London on a daily basis. The airline has also completed and opened its $80 million Concourse D, which serves as its regional jet hub, at the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
Many logistics-related firms are moving into the area to take advantage of the opportunities available there. Tubular Steel from St. Louis, for example, recently opened a $9 million, 80,000-sq.-ft. (7,432-sq.-m.) steel service center in Lorain County, west of Cleveland.
Manufacturing also continues to prosper in northeast Ohio. PPG, which has had an automotive finishes operation in Cleveland for almost a century, has invested $74 million to expand, retool and upgrade its facility. The firm has received help from Kroeger's Greater Cleveland Growth Assn. in its efforts to move toward a water-based paint system for automobiles.
As northeast Ohio boosts its economies by growing traditional industries, the area is also making a name for itself as a haven for high-tech operations. The key component behind the area's growth has been its business incubators, Edison Technology Centers and world-class universities. Cleveland has put an emphasis on growing its biomedical capabilities, while neighboring Akron continues its efforts in the polymers industry.
Cleveland has more than 150 biotechnology and medical products, with more than 300 research and development centers. Among those centers are Case Western Reserve University and its research partner, the University Hospitals of Cleveland. Together these centers receive more than $130 million in federal research funds and are ranked No. 11 nationally in research funds received from the National Institutes of Health. Another $79 million in biomedical research dollars is drummed up by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. The area also offers budding industries the Edison BioTechnology Center, which was recently named the 1999 "Incubator of the Year" in the technology category by the National Business Incubation Assn.
Gliatech hopes to benefit from all of this. The pharmaceutical firm has located its new headquarters and R&D facility in Cleveland. The $50 million investment will result in 50 new jobs.
Northeast Ohio is also a major hub for the polymers industry. Polymers manufacturers are Ohio's second-largest employer category and the state's fastest-growing industry. More than half of Ohio's 1,400 plastic processors are located in northeast Ohio, and the area has more than 1,000 polymer-related firms located there, employing some 35,000 people.
These sort of assets have made it hard for polymer-related operations to locate anywhere else. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., for example, has decided to invest an additional $13.5 million to expand its R&D, engineering, manufacturing and headquarters operations in East Akron. The expansion will result in at least 250 new high-tech and engineering jobs at the complex.
"Quality Mold's growth within the world business community demonstrates the vitality of Akron's polymer industry," says Akron Mayor Donald Plusquellic. "The skills of Akron's metalworking and polymer employees have enabled this company and others like it to thrive in this area."
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The airport and the Port of Cleveland have also made northeast Ohio a hub for logistics operations -- one of the area's fastest-growing industries. In fact, 1998 saw some 2,500 area firms engage in international trade, with more than $26 billion in global trade. The Port of Cleveland international cargo handling also shot up 22 percent in 1998.
Recently, the University of Akron (UA) ranked as the No. 2 polymer science program in the country, second only to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and beating out Cal-Tech, M.I.T and Virginia Tech. UA is also home to the Edison Polymer Innovation Corp., which provides applied polymer research and development of new materials, processes and supports polymer technology.