Results show progress in four strategies to advance the Northeast Ohio Region
Team NEO released its annual performance and impact report today, sharing that the organization, in partnership with JobsOhio and the Northeast Ohio Economic Development Network, completed 88 projects that will generate almost 5,700 jobs, $304 million in annual payroll, and $2 billion in capital investment for the region, while also advancing collaborative efforts to create a more vibrant regional economy.
According to Team NEO CEO Bill Koehler, there are many factors that play into this success, including alignment in the region to achieve positive outcomes.
“As Team NEO enters its 20th year as Northeast Ohio’s regional economic development partner, I’m gratified by the progress made to grow businesses, create jobs, and build prosperity for everyone in the Northeast Ohio Region.”
Team NEO’s Annual Performance & Impact Report features 2022 highlights and case studies illustrating Team NEO’s progress in addressing its four key strategies:
- Grow Our Diverse Industry Base
- Team NEO facilitates the Smart Manufacturing Cluster of Northeast Ohio, bringing together business, higher education, professional service firms, incubators, and others to collectively advance new technology adoption rates. In 2022, the Smart Manufacturing Cluster, along with partners, presented the Electronic Vehicle (EV) Conference. The event drew a crowd of more than 350 manufacturers and solution providers that gathered to play a meaningful role in the $400 billion nationwide EV supply chain opportunity.
- Team NEO and partners proactively engaged with business leaders to drive job creation and new capital investment through business retention and expansion efforts (BRE). In 2022, Team NEO and local economic development organizations completed 894 BRE calls that resulted in 20 project wins as a direct result of BRE calls and added 25 projects to the pipeline.
- Addressing the Talent Supply/Demand Gap
- In 2022, Team NEO released its sixth annual Aligning Opportunities report, a data-rich research report to equip the Northeast Ohio Region’s education, talent, and workforce ecosystems with insights into the state of current and emerging needs of our region’s employers.
- In 2022, we also released reports on diverse labor pools to ensure we are tapping into all available talent: Misaligned Opportunities, which examined opportunities for STEM occupations in communities of color; Lost Opportunities, examining gender inequities in our region’s talent pool; and Untapped Opportunities, with insights into how tapping into the veteran pool can help create a vibrant and more equitable economy.
- Grow a Pipeline of Competitive Sites
- Team NEO leveraged JobsOhio programs to build a pipeline of competitive sites, including the Inclusive Project Planning (ICP) Program to assist small and medium-sized distressed community and the Ohio Site Inventory Program (OSIP) for grants and low-interest loans for speculative site and building development projects to fill the gaps in Ohio’s real estate inventory.
- Along with the Fund for Our Economic Future, we jointly released Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) to the Power of Place (ESG^P) to assist companies with ESG and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies. This innovative, first-of-its-kind tool 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.
- Promote & Engage the Region
- After extensive research and input from in-region and out-of-region stakeholders, Team NEO launched a new brand to showcase our region’s most marketable strengths. A new website, northeastohioregion.com, highlights the case for business investment in the Northeast Ohio Region, as well as support offered by Team NEO and Northeast Ohio’s coordinated economic development network.
- We created digital campaigns targeting business expansion and/or relocation decision makers, focusing on emerging industries including electric vehicles and aerospace.
- Team NEO hosted more than 400 direct engagement calls with municipal, city, and county economic development directors to share local and regional economic development strategies.
To see the 2022 Team NEO annual report in its entirety, click here.
About Team NEO
Team NEO is a private, nonprofit economic development organization accelerating business growth and job creation throughout the 18 counties of the Northeast Ohio Region. As the designated JobsOhio Network Partner, we align and amplify local economic development efforts in the region’s 18-counties; we conduct research and data analysis to inform local conversations and influence solutions; we market the Northeast Ohio Region; and we work to increase access to jobs, education and training for the region’s 4.3 million people. We do this to build a more vibrant regional economy; one that is more talented, equitable, competitive, innovative, resilient, and prosperous. For more information, visit northeastohioregion.com.
About JobsOhio
JobsOhio is a private nonprofit economic development corporation designed to drive job creation and new capital investment in Ohio through business attraction, retention and expansion. The organization also works to seed talent production in its targeted industries and to attract talent to Ohio through Find Your Ohio. JobsOhio works with six regional partners across Ohio: Dayton Development Coalition, Ohio Southeast Economic Development, One Columbus, REDI Cincinnati, Regional Growth Partnership and Team NEO. Learn more at www.jobsohio.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.