Since Matt Dolan became CEO of Team NEO a year and a half ago, the lawyer, part owner of the Cleveland Guardians and former state legislator has been regularly meeting with businesses in the region.
“We work primarily in the traded sectors,” Dolan said. “That is, those industries that sell goods and services outside of the state, have a choice of where they can locate. Those are the industries we work on. So, think advanced manufacturing, basic manufacturing, aerospace, aviation and life science, technology, food processing.”
The Beacon Journal sat down with Dolan to discuss ways private and public stakeholders of economic growth in Northeast Ohio can help boost businesses’ success and how nonprofit Team NEO fits into some of that. Below are five takeaways:
1. Advertise Northeast Ohio using regionwide economic data
Out of U.S. cities, no single city in Northeast Ohio “tops the top 30 in GDP or economic vibrancy,” Dolan said.
But the picture changes when you combine all 14 counties that Team NEO – a nonprofit economic development organization – includes in its definition of the region, he said.
“Collectively, we are 19th in GDP. Collectively, we are eighth in manufacturing workforce. Collectively, we are 15th in health care,” Dolan said.
Additionally, referring to the region as “the Cleveland-Akron-Canton region” means more to out-of-staters than “Northeast Ohio,” he said.
Dolan said he is working with regional leaders to adopt a “one-region strategy” and helping them realize that “the region’s strength is their strength.”
But that doesn’t mean that city leaders aren’t going to fight to site a company within their borders.
“Akron and Summit County and Huron County and Cleveland can all fight to get their sites,” Dolan said. “And we will present them all … because we are the entity that talks to businesses every day, both inside and outside of our region. We know what businesses want.”
2. Attract businesses by focusing on the site that’s best for them
The first thing Team NEO specifically looks at when seeking to bring a business into the region is the site, Dolan said.
“What property can they see their business grow? And they have to look at a property, and it has to satisfy the time, the risk and the money,” he said. “We can’t waste their time, we can’t add to their risk and we can’t cost them more money because if they see those three, they move on.”
Dolan said Team NEO has a program where it will match developer “last-readiness-mile investments” at sites by up to 50%. That applies in instances, he said, “when a business looks at that property, they can see their building going up.”
3. Communities, data center businesspeople should talk more
Dolan said businesspeople behind data center projects should “have an honest, open discussion with the community about the importance of data centers, about what is the electric use, what is the water use, what is technology doing to change all that.”
He said companies need data centers and “are telling us that the closer they feel they are to the data center, the better operations they have.”
Boycotts and moratoriums on data centers make other electricity-intensive businesses that are looking for a site weigh their options again, he said, adding that they wonder if they’ll get boycotted or have to go through a lengthy approval process.
“So, we have got to deal with the data centers like we deal with any other business – have an open discussion, make the data centers show their electric use and their water use,” Dolan said. “And they say to us, ‘Look, we don’t use as much electricity as people tell us.’ That’s fine; then tell the locals that. You have a closed-loop water system. Great; tell the locals that – because the reaction by the locals has a chilling effect on other businesses, and that’s our concern.”
4. High school freshmen should learn more about career pathways
To ensure a thriving regional labor market, Dolan said it’s important to educate high school students about various career possibilities at an earlier age.
“Imagine if we were to say to you that every year, we’re going to bring 40,000 people to the workforce of Northeast Ohio. Our businesses would be ecstatic,” Dolan said. “Well, we do do that. Every year, we graduate around 40,000 … seniors in high school.
“So, why aren’t we looking at those seniors when they’re a freshman and saying, ‘What is the path for them? What can we do to make them get a family-sustaining wage? What certificates are available? What schools are available?'”
The regional economy needs four-year-degree graduates, two-year-degree graduates and certificate- and license-holders, Dolan said, adding that there’s a shortage of technicians.
5. Public, private sectors should link up on redevelopment work.
Although he said it’s not directly in Team NEO’s purview, Dolan said successful redevelopment of old buildings in downtown areas have to involve “a private-public relationship.”
“And that private-public relationship means the state needs to continue to provide these historic tax credits, these brownfield remediation funds, so that private developers who are going to take a risk understand that there is going to be assistance to them,” he said.
Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@usatodayco.com or on X @pwilliamsOH. Sign up for the Beacon Journal’s business and consumer newsletter, “What’s The Deal?”
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Matt Dolan of Team NEO shares 5 ways to help local economy grow
Reporting by Patrick Williams, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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By Patrick Williams, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
