In 2022, Team NEO embarked on a new three-year strategy that includes four core pillars to drive a more competitive and prosperous Northeast Ohio Region, one that creates opportunities for all residents to work, earn good wages and thrive. One that offers an environment that supports business growth.
This report looks at our performance and the impact we are having through these four strategies:
1.
Grow Our Diverse Industry Base
2.
Address the Talent Supply/ Demand Gap
3.
Grow a Pipeline of Competitive Sites
4.
Engage & Promote the Region
Our Strategies Make New Business Happen
As one of only six network partners for JobsOhio, we connect companies across the 18 counties of Northeast Ohio to state resources for job creation and retention, regional investments, and business growth.
In the first half of 2022, Team NEO, JobsOhio and the Northeast Ohio Region Economic Development Network worked with companies on 37 projects that will generate:
0
new jobs
$
0
millions in annual payroll
$
0
million in capital investment
37 Project Wins
(through June 30, 2022)
Feature Project
The Kroger Co. Plans New Fulfillment Center in Oakwood Village
The Kroger Co., one of the world’s largest retailers, announced the arrival of the company’s second Ohio Customer Fulfillment Center (CFC) in Oakwood Village. The new state-of-the-art facility will bring affordable, friendly, and fast fresh food delivery service to the Northeast Ohio Region. The CFC will measure 270,000 square feet and is expected to create up to 400 jobs. It’s expected to become operational 24 months after the site breaks ground (this summer/fall?) and wills service areas in northeast Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Feature Project
NASA Supplier ZIN Technologies Plans to Add 125 New Positions
ZIN Technologies, an award-winning leader in providing advanced engineering services and product development solutions for NASA, DoD, and private industry, announced plans to add 125 new positions to the nearly 200 employees in the state.
The minority-owned business, born out of NASA Glenn Research Center, is expanding to accommodate the recent announcement that ZIN Technologies joined a founding leadership team establishing the George Washington Carver (GWC) science park in Low Earth Orbit with Nanoracks-Voyager to reside on the first ever free-flying commercial space station named Starlab.
Local, regional, and state economic development partners – including the city of Middleburg Heights, ODOD, JobsOhio, and Team NEO – worked collaboratively with ZIN Technologies to expand in their headquarters located in Middleburg Heights for this important opportunity.
Feature Project
Charter Next Generation Prepares for Growth
Charter Next Generation is a leading manufacturer of plastic film and bags in the flexible packaging industry. The packaging business market is growing, and the company is expanding with a finishing plant to house its finishing, printing, and recycling operations. To accommodate for industry growth, the company is planning a $50 million expansion with the addition of 300 jobs in Richland county in Ontario.
Feature Project
Gemini Industrial Machine Group Adds Second Line of Business With Aid of JobsOhio Inclusion Grant
Gemini Industrial Machine Group in New Philadelphia on the Tuscarawas Regional Technology Park is a full-service engineering, design and fabrication firm of custom machinery and equipment. The company recently adopted a second line of business to address rising demand for outsourced metal fabrication and processing services.
In 2021, Gemini completed a 5,000 square foot facility expansion for additional material storage and to house a new water jet with a cutting envelope of 5’ x 10’ capable of cutting a variety of products including several inch thick steel plate. To support the company’s ongoing investment, Gemini was awarded a JobsOhio Inclusion Grant, designed to assist the growth initiatives of small to medium-sized businesses in distressed communities. The project will create seven new high skill, full time jobs in Tuscarawas County.
Feature Project
Axuall, Inc. Grows Headquarters in Cleveland
Axuall, Inc., an innovation IT/software company providing solutions for workforce intelligence and digital credentialing in the healthcare industry, plans to grow their headquarters in the Northeast Ohio Region by adding 75 new positions.
The company is forecasting rapid adoption of its platform by healthcare systems, staffing firms, telehealth organizations, and health plans. Axuall’s data network provides insights for network planning, analytics, and reporting, while access to this data has proven to dramatically reduce onboarding and enrollment time for its recipient organizations.
PROGRESS OF THE
FOUR
Stragegies
Grow Our Diverse Industry Base
TO CREATE EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITY FOR A HIGHLY TRAINED WORKFORCE
We must leverage our deep supply chain and diverse industry base to drive innovation, integrate technology, develop new markets.
Team NEO facilitates the Smart Manufacturing Cluster of Northeast Ohio to provide opportunities for organizations to collaborate and take advantage of new technologies. The cluster brings together business, higher education, professional service firms, incubators and others to collectively advance the technology’s adoption rate.
In April, the Smart Manufacturing Cluster of Northeast Ohio presented the Electronic Vehicle (EV) Conference. More than 350 manufacturers and solution providers gathered at Kent State University for the conference, presented in partnership with BRITE, JobsOhio, MAGNET, JumpStart, Kent State University, Manufacturing Works, the Ohio Aerospace Institute, Team NEO, and the Youngstown Business Incubator. Leading manufacturers and industry experts facilitated discussions about how companies can engage in opportunities and with resources in the $400 billion EV supply chain.
The Smart Manufacturing Cluster of Northeast Ohio is committed to advancing the competitiveness of the region’s manufacturing community and will continue to offer a variety of programs, events, and tools to help manufacturers succeed and adapt to new technologies.
140 Projects in the Pipeline
Along with our partners, Team NEO proactively engages with business leaders to drive job creation and new capital investment through business retention and expansion (BRE) efforts. These engagements uncover opportunities to help a business grow.
As of June 30, there are 140 projects in the pipeline, with the possibility of more than 16,600 new jobs with an annual payroll of more than $478 million, and $4.5 billion in capital investment.
In addition to conducting BRE calls in the region, Team NEO attends industry tech shows and conducts investment missions. With travel restrictions lifted, the team has been busy the first half of the year.
Activity included:
- Two successful investment missions to Europe, one in April and another in June. In nine days, we visited seven countries and conducted 21 pitches.
- Pitched as part of the JobsOhio team at the SelectUSA Investment Summit in June; 46 pitches to international companies and multipliers.
- Connected with food business innovation leaders at the Future Food-Tech Summit in San Francisco in March.
- Participated in the June Bio International Show in San Diego, in partnership with JobsOhio.
- Attended the International Silicone Conference in Northeast Ohio this May.
Grow A Pipeline of Competitive Sites
TO IMPACT THE REGIONAL LANDSCAPE THROUGH THOUGHTFUL COMMERCIAL & INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN LOCATIONS THAT DRIVE A COMPETITIVE REGION & OFFER MORE EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Team NEO continues to make strides to build our pipeline of competitive sites. In April, in partnership with The Fund for Our Economic Future, we released ESG to the Power of Place (ESG^P), an innovative, first-of-its-kind Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) tool that enables businesses to compare development sites across Northeast Ohio against factors related to racial equity, climate change and access to talent. It is also expected that this tool will be used by economic developers, public sector leaders and planners in improving the attractiveness of their sites and planning for new growth.
This is the first tool of its kind to provide site selection metrics that directly impact ESG strategies and initiatives, and it enables decisionmakers to include considerations of talent, equity and sustainability alongside traditional factors related to time, risk and cost.
The tool grew from findings of the 2021 Where Matters report, which demonstrated the significant variation across sample sites on ESG factors. For instance, the difference in labor shed access between five comparable sites in the report revealed a tenfold difference in the number of workers within a 30-minute car commute. This finding is especially significant in today’s tight labor market.
Address the Talent/Supply Demand Gap
GROW IN-DEMAND TALENT IN THE REGION TO REDUCE THE TALENT GAP & ENCOURAGE BUSINESS INVESTMENT, WHILE DRIVING MORE INCLUSIVE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL RESIDENTS OF THE NORTHEAST OHIO REGION
In May at a virtual event with more than 100 registrants, Team NEO released its latest economic research report, Untapped Opportunities, examining how the veteran talent pool can help lay the groundwork to create a vibrant economy. In addition to data insights, the report highlights resources and organizations that are working to help transition veterans into the civilian workforce. You can view a recording of the event here and watch News 5’s coverage of the report here.
Untapped Opportunities is a supplement to Team NEO’s annual Aligning Opportunities report, which provides a clear assessment of in-demand jobs, the availability of trained workers to meet demand, and a picture of what skills and training our workforce needs to fill them. Untapped Opportunities complements Team NEO’s Misaligned Opportunities report, a supplement that takes a deeper look at racial equity as it relates to labor force opportunities, and Lost Opportunities, a supplement that examines the pandemic’s economic impact on working women.
Untapped Opportunities Reflects JobsOhio and Team NEO’s Dedication to Recognizing the Contributions of Northeast Ohio Military and Veterans
Team NEO and JobsOhio, along with regional partners, held the first Hometown Heroes Celebration Night on May 17 at Progressive Field when the Guardians played the Cincinnati Reds.
The celebration honored the men and women from Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Mansfield Lahm Air National Guard Base, Camp James A. Garfield, the United States Coast Guard 9th District and all our veterans. We also celebrated the men and women from our very own NASA Glenn Research Facility and the Defense Finance and Accounting Services who help ensure Ohio remains the number one state for military and federal missions.
Engage and Promote the Region
BY TELLING STORIES, PROMOTING ASSETS & SHARING DATA INSIGHTS WE IMPROVE THE NORTHEAST OHIO REGION’S COMPETITIVENESS & ECONOMIC PROSPERITY
Team NEO created a new brand for the Northeast Ohio Region based on exhaustive research to identify our region’s most marketable and supportable strengths.
- Supports marketing efforts within the region and outside of the region.
- Leverage both the shared strengths of the region and the unique attributes of their communities. Collaborate with our stakeholders as we leverage the shared strengths of the region and the unique assets of each community to enhance the brand’s success.
The brand has flexibility to highlight different communities and strengths throughout the region.
Vibrant Economy Index Launch
In February, we launched the Vibrant Economy Index (VEI) at our annual ED NOW! event for elected officials and economic development professionals. The VEI is a new tool that uses an expanded dataset in six categories – talented, equitable, innovative, resilient, competitive and prosperous – to offer a more detailed, nuanced and accurate measure of the Northeast Ohio Region’s economy and individual prosperity.
More than 200 attendees participated in the workshop that included lively breakouts to uncover new, data-driven takeaways to help us make businesses in our region more competitive, residents more prosperous and communities more resilient.
We heard resounding support for the direction and value of the new tool that helps inform solutions and strategies that support economic growth and address disparities in economic opportunities and outcomes.
1.
Talented
2.
Equitable
3.
Innovative
4.
Resilient
5.
Competitive
6.
Prosperous
Connecting with Northeast Ohio’s Economic Development Network
- Hosted weekly “roundup” calls on updates to programs and initiatives merging from JobsOhio and Team NEO.
- Facilitated monthly Northeast Ohio Development Exchange (NODE) meetings, a peer led group, with educational topics to help with business retention and expansion calls.
Our Research Supports Our Strategies
A research powerhouse, Team NEO gathers and analyzes data to create a clear
picture of what is and is not working across our regional economy. These insights
inform local conversations, influence solutions and impact regional growth.
Quarterly Economic Review
In addition to research mentioned previously in this report for the VEI and talent work, Team NEO partnered with the Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP) to shine a light on the state of information technology (IT) employment in the Northeast Ohio Region, publishing two reports that offer insights about this key sector for the regional economy.
Team NEO’s May 2022 Quarterly Economic Review (QER) provided data demonstrating that occupations in IT remain resilient throughout economic downturns, as they support sectors such as professional, scientific, and technical services; headquarters; and health care.
Energy Storage Roadmap
Team NEO, along with Youngstown State University and BRITE, worked
to develop a Northeast Ohio regional roadmapping process. The process included engagement around a stakeholder workshop, follow-up interviews, and market analysis/report as a subset of the overall task. The goal was to establish a regional vision for the future of energy storage, assets, our ecosystem, and current/future investments while focusing on workforce
challenges and opportunity. The roadmapping and exercise involved stakeholders across research, workforce, and innovation through information gathering and assessment of the greatest opportunities for the sector
throughout Northeast Ohio.
Corporate Investors
Visionary Partners & Above
Economic Development Partner Investors
Philanthropic Investors
Talent Partners
For a complete list of funders, visit teamneo.org/investors. To join Team NEO as an investor partner and help drive the next wave of economic growth in our region, connect with Dawn Southard, Vice President, Investor Relations at (440) 476-0476 or [email protected].
Learn More About Team NEO
Economic development across 18 counties of Northeast Ohio
Ashland Area Economic Development
Columbiana County Port Authority
Erie County Economic
Development Corporation
Geauga Growth Partnership, Inc.
Greater Akron Chamber
Greater Cleveland Partnership
Growth Partnership for Ashtabula County
Huron County Development Council
Lake Development Authority
Medina County Economic
Development Corporation
Portage Development Board
Richland Area Chamber &
Economic Development
Stark Economic Development Board, Inc.
Tuscarawas Economic
Development Corporation
Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber
Wayne Economic Development Council
