Steve Fritsch leads the deployment of Team NEO’s industry strategy, which includes business development, cluster advancement, and network engagement activities that support growth, innovation, resilience, and competitiveness in targeted industry sectors and the integrated supply chains that serve them. In his more than 18 years at Team NEO, he has been a key part of standing up a network ecosystem towards greater collaboration among industry, institution, and economic development partners in advanced manufacturing, sustainable polymers, energy storage, digital transformation, and water innovation across the 14-county Northeast Ohio Region.
Prior to this role, Steve was Vice President of Marketing and Engagement, leading an inclusive initiative to positively and uniquely position Team NEO and the region, including the Northeast Ohio Region brand currently being utilized by partners throughout the region. He currently leads Northeast Ohio’s Smart Manufacturing Cluster, bringing a sector approach and a network system orientation to his work by engaging partners and stakeholders early, leveraging each’s unique capabilities to lift the collective effort. He is a strategic relator, able to connect and unite to achieve greater impact. Through his teams’ efforts, Team NEO’s Smart Manufacturing Cluster and Industry Advancement Council have emerged as a venue for company leaders to share insights, build alignment, drive performance, and advance inclusion.
Steve currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Urban League of Greater Cleveland and Engage! Cleveland. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Ohio Economic Development Association and the Industrial Asset Management Council Demographics Committee. Steve graduated from Kent State University with a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences. He is actively involved in the United Methodist Church of Kent and resides with his family in Hudson, Ohio.