A Plan to Grow Cleveland's Tech Industry - Part I
It has been nearly 90-days since I decided to resign my post as “Tech Czar” at the City of Cleveland and I was reflecting upon my time in the civic realm. A few days past I was going through a few boxes of notes, reports and other personal effects when I came across a presentation that I had put together prior to me interviewing for the post. Some quick history here, my first interview for the “Tech Czar” role was January 7th, 2002. This was soon after Mayor Campbell won in November of 2001. I interviewed twice with Tim Mueller – who was about to become Campbell’s Chief Development Officer. I did not get the job the first time around – the original “Tech Czar” was Tim Moran now at the Cleveland Clinic.
The presentation struck a chord with me, however. Remember, I wrote this presentation in late 2001. (And, in fact, when I interviewed for the post again in 2004 I used the same presentation I did two years prior.) The presentation offered a plan to create a new office within the economic development department called the Office of Technology and Innovation. This Office would then be given the goal of developing an economic environment that would be willing to initiate risk and accept reward; foster a “cycle” of education, creation, commercialization and capital market acceptance of local technology. And thus, create five programs – which I will detail in a moment – that establish Cleveland as a model of private and public partnership; a “case-study” in successful deployment and nurturing of a fledgling technology industry in Cleveland.
The five proposed policies or programs were:
I. The Cleveland Technology Center (“CTC”) – A collaborative hub of thought and development that becomes the centerpiece of Cleveland’s investment in the tech industry. This is a physical space, a state-of-the-art tech-based facility.
II. The Cleveland Ventures Fund (“CVF”) – A technology-centric fund that will invest in promising technologies, partnerships within the City of Cleveland. Goal was to secure $100.0 million to be invested in Cleveland-based tech-companies (and by the way, if Ann Arbor, MI can find $100.0 for tech-based investments then certainly Cleveland could do the same).
III. The “Information Technology” Cradle – Creation of special zones along Euclid, Superior and Carnegie that allow for heavy concentration of tech companies and new real estate development.
IV. Cleveland Municipal Schools Tech Vision – The Mayor’s Office and the CEO of the Cleveland Schools creating a special tech-based curriculum for top students.
V. “Tiger Teams” – A specialized group formed to target middle-market tech and biotech firms and assist them with the relocation of their corporate headquarters or R&D facilities to the City of Cleveland.
I still believe that this plan is just as relevant today as when I first proposed it nearly six years ago. Over the coming weeks, I will be adding some detail on each policy/program, why it did or did not work and current strategies in place by other groups. I will try to be as exhaustive as I can be in the detail. I would like to hear commentary from as many people as possible on this plan and others (I have never thought mine was gospel or the only answer). At the end, though, I believe I will have offered a comprehensive plan that could propel the City as a key national player in the tech and biotech sectors.
The presentation struck a chord with me, however. Remember, I wrote this presentation in late 2001. (And, in fact, when I interviewed for the post again in 2004 I used the same presentation I did two years prior.) The presentation offered a plan to create a new office within the economic development department called the Office of Technology and Innovation. This Office would then be given the goal of developing an economic environment that would be willing to initiate risk and accept reward; foster a “cycle” of education, creation, commercialization and capital market acceptance of local technology. And thus, create five programs – which I will detail in a moment – that establish Cleveland as a model of private and public partnership; a “case-study” in successful deployment and nurturing of a fledgling technology industry in Cleveland.
The five proposed policies or programs were:
I. The Cleveland Technology Center (“CTC”) – A collaborative hub of thought and development that becomes the centerpiece of Cleveland’s investment in the tech industry. This is a physical space, a state-of-the-art tech-based facility.
II. The Cleveland Ventures Fund (“CVF”) – A technology-centric fund that will invest in promising technologies, partnerships within the City of Cleveland. Goal was to secure $100.0 million to be invested in Cleveland-based tech-companies (and by the way, if Ann Arbor, MI can find $100.0 for tech-based investments then certainly Cleveland could do the same).
III. The “Information Technology” Cradle – Creation of special zones along Euclid, Superior and Carnegie that allow for heavy concentration of tech companies and new real estate development.
IV. Cleveland Municipal Schools Tech Vision – The Mayor’s Office and the CEO of the Cleveland Schools creating a special tech-based curriculum for top students.
V. “Tiger Teams” – A specialized group formed to target middle-market tech and biotech firms and assist them with the relocation of their corporate headquarters or R&D facilities to the City of Cleveland.
I still believe that this plan is just as relevant today as when I first proposed it nearly six years ago. Over the coming weeks, I will be adding some detail on each policy/program, why it did or did not work and current strategies in place by other groups. I will try to be as exhaustive as I can be in the detail. I would like to hear commentary from as many people as possible on this plan and others (I have never thought mine was gospel or the only answer). At the end, though, I believe I will have offered a comprehensive plan that could propel the City as a key national player in the tech and biotech sectors.
If they were players, these programs would have been implemented 6 years ago; by now, some would have made it, some would have failed. They--these who think they're players, movers, and shakers--continue to wait for the sure thing, the magic formula, the demonstrated success of others' programs before they implement, at which time they're way too far behind the power curve to be effective--witness the lame attempts at instituting gaming as a source of revenue, when the market's been saturated.
I would much rather see programs in which Cleveland becomes the model of the private sector, the people, bending the government to their will. For many reasons, we can't afford government to be involved except for providing basic common services, which all will pay for equally and without exception, if they opt to use them. The freeloading of the nonprofits and the government itself needs to end. Crain's Book of Lists says the County is the third largest employer, the City of Cleveland is sixth, and the Clinic is first. This amounts to a lot of businesses that use services but do not pay their fair share.
You shouldn't want to have partners with a CYA mentality. (Comment this)
Now I read that Brian Reilly is gone from Econ Dev. I had been in contact with him over the last few weeks asking for assitance with a company (client) I have trying to buy a building in Ohio City. I got no results. I mean, NONE. Now maybe it was because of the change in command. When I say I got no results, there were things suggested to me, and was told I would be 1)hearing from so and so, 2)getting email with info I could follow up on and 3) forms from the city for my client.
I'll be back on the phone tomorrow - just wanted to say your ideas were terrific and let's hope we can do it ourselves! I bet we can. (Comment this)
I still have a lot of contacts at City Hall and at the County that can help you. Feel free to contact me at 216.212.4067.
Michael (Comment this)
Just saw that Reilly resigned... another black mark... (although I don't know of his track record - I need to get up to speed on what's going on back in CLE these days)
(Comment this)
I think Tim makes an excellent point. It brings to mind Boyd's Law of Iteration: Speed of iteration beats quality of iteration. See: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000788.html
BTW, John Boyd was a very interesting guy who revolutionized military doctrine and, IMO, is quite relevant to the non-military world. See: http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000172.html (Comment this)
"Mr. Hardman said he is moving the company to Cleveland because of the growing number of technology companies located downtown" < from the attached article
Data services biz plots Tyler Village move
By CHUCK SODER
4:30 am, January 21, 2008
Data services company SparkBase LLC of Solon is planning to move its headquarters to Tyler Village in Cleveland.
The company, which processes transactions for businesses that sell gift and loyalty cards to retailers, is in the process of finalizing a lease to take 3,500 square feet on the third floor of Building 44 of the sprawling industrial complex, which was once the home of Tyler Elevator Products.
SparkBase will have the option to take another 2,400 square feet nearby, and it might need it, said company president Doug Hardman. The company, which aims to move in by March 1, will have seven or eight employees by the time it leaves its 1,000-square-foot headquarters on Bainbridge Road in Solon. It aims to employ 13 by the end of 2008.
“My company’s growing like a weed right now,” Mr. Hardman said, declining to give revenue or profit figures.
Mr. Hardman said he is moving the company to Cleveland because of the growing number of technology companies located downtown. He chose Tyler Village, which is just east of downtown on Superior Avenue, partly because interactive marketing company DigiKnow Inc. already is there.
“They gave it a lot of credence,” Mr. Hardman said.
Cleveland developer Graystone Properties Inc. is recruiting technology companies to Tyler Village in its effort to revitalize the 1.2 million-square-foot complex, which consists of more than 20 interconnected buildings.
The developer offers high-speed and wireless Internet access at the location, and it is trying to build community among tenants by adding more common space, said David Fleming, Graystone leasing agent.
The developer also is interested in recruiting biotechnology companies, Mr. Fleming said. For instance, Analiza Inc., a company that analyzes potential drugs for pharmaceutical companies, moved to Tyler Village from Solon last fall.
“We’re close to the Clinic, we’re close to downtown, we’re close to the freeways,” Mr. Fleming said (Comment this)