FUTURE NEO

Project Overview

The proposed project will include the combined efforts of more than 80 partners across 16 counties throughout Northeast Ohio, including Workforce Investment Boards, institutions of higher education, representatives of the local K-12 systems of education, workforce development organizations, business and industry and Chambers of Commerce.

The FUTURE (Focusing on Unique Transformations Using Resources Effectively) NEOhio is designed to support economic development in Northeast Ohio through the transformation of the workforce development system, the growth of manufacturing industries through technology innovation and entrepreneurship, and the development of entrepreneurs who will incubate and grow their businesses in the region. This project will focus on advanced manufacturing, the bio-science industries including bio-med and bio-tech, and alternative fuel and renewable energy.

Northeast Ohio is a 16-county region comprised of five contiguous metro areas of Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Mansfield, and Youngstown: These include Cuyahoga, Summit, Lorain, Mahoning, Stark, and Richland (as urban counties) and Ashtabula, Trumbull, Columbiana, Carroll, Lake, Portage, Geauga, Wayne, Medina, and Ashland. The regional partnership will be brought together under the leadership of:

• The Lorain County (Ohio) Workforce Investment Board (the applicant)
• The Workforce Institute, Inc. of Lorain County
• The Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network (MAGNET) a lead business advocacy and regional development agency
• The Innovation Alliance (a partnership between the University of Akron and Lorain County Community College)
• A regional representative of the Stark County P-16 initiative serving as project co-leaders.

These five organizations will be responsible for guiding the project and working with the partner institutions listed below and others in the region to develop the region’s new economy, the talent development system, innovations in incubating and developing new growth industry opportunities with high wages jobs, and the necessary transformations to the region’s infrastructure.

Key partners in the region will include:

• Educational institutions (Lorain County Community College, Lakeland Community College, North Central State College, Stark State College of Technology, the University of Akron, Ashland University, Ashland-West Holmes Career Center, Polaris Career Center, the Stark Education Partnership, Cuyahoga Community College)
• Employer representative groups (MAGNET, NorTech, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, BioOhio, Polymer Ohio, Stark Development Board (SDB), JumpStart and others)
• Workforce Boards and their one-stop centers (including Lorain, Ashland/Holmes/Wayne, Richland, Summit)
• Economic development incubators (NEO inc)
• County governments.

The FUTURE NEO Project is based on four major goals:

1. Innovation and Entrepreneurship - To energize Northeast Ohio’s entrepreneurial economy through expanded entrepreneurship efforts and new business incubations, especially in the emerging technology areas of renewable energy, alternative fuels, fuel cells, nanotechnology, bioscience and bio-medical. 
    
   The goal is a regional/local system for providing technology, business development and pre-seed capital to start-ups, equity capital for technology enterprises with exceptional growth potential, and assistance to existing companies to improve competitiveness and productivity through innovations in products and processes.
    
2. Regional Transformation - To transform the region’s workforce/talent development system into a collaborative, comprehensive demand-driven system that addresses and anticipates the needs of businesses through expanded, improved and coordinated services that better prepare Ohioans to meet those needs.
    
   The goal is transform the way that economic development organizations, educational institutions (the P-16 continuum), employers and the public workforce development systems are convened and work together to develop and implement a demand-driven system to assist employers including technology enterprises through a seamless system that makes talent development an integral part of economic development.
    
3. Talent Development- To further educate and expand Northeast Ohio’s talent pool to meet the needs of current and future employers, especially in the emerging technology areas of renewable energy, alternative fuels, fuel cells, nanotechnology, bioscience and biomedical.
    
   The goal is career pathways along the P-16 continuum developed and implemented toaddress current and emerging workforce needs and guide individuals through appropriate education and training which result in high wage/high skill careers. These pathways will include certificates and credentials and will be available throughout the region to avoid duplication and to ensure access for all stakeholders. When necessary new or revised curricula will be developed to address emerging needs along the pathway.
    
4. Transforming Local and Regional Government – To substantially increase the level of government and government-led economic development leadership to transform the region’s economy by creating greater efficiencies in government to drive the workforce/talent system locally and regionally. The goal is to coordinate the efforts of local and regional economic development/talent development to meet the needs of the region’s businesses and the emerging industries.

The FUTURE NEO project is designed to address the need articulated in the following quote by Ohio Governor Strickland “Along with technology and capital, knowledge and skills are the core drivers for economic success. This means that Ohio workers must have marketable credentials in high-wage, high-demand occupations.”