A Plan to Grow Cleveland’s Tech Industry - Part VI
Tonight we have the final entry on the economic development plan that I originally prepared for the Mayor Campbell administration. And the capstone entry deals with the “grass roots” component of economic development which is the recruitment effort necessary to get more tech companies to call Cleveland home. Before we get to the cool details on the “tiger team” concept perhaps we should review – for the last time - the original five policies that were detailed in this series:
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.
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. The goal of the “tiger teams” is to form a specialized group to target small and emerging growth tech companies (be they in the software, biotech, or medical device industries) and assist them with the relocation of their corporate headquarters and staff to the City of Cleveland. Given the vast array of alphabet-soup ED groups (NorTech, GCP, NEOSA, TeamNEO, etc) that are charged with recruitment for the region (including Cleveland) – it was wise to form the plan with their participation. So, teams were formed by industry specialization meaning there was to be a “tiger team” for software development companies, another for biotech companies and another medical device companies and so on and so on. Each team would have a member from NorTech, GCP, NEOSA, TeamNEO and others. A lot of travel would be expected. These teams could then be used to improve the perception of Cleveland as a hub of innovation and commerce while creating opportunities to relocate the tech companies or even their R&D groups to the City. It was imperative, and still is, to craft a target list of technology companies that may be favorable to the Cleveland business environment (one of the first acts I took as “Tech Czar” was to create such a list – it is amazing how many companies on that list finally selected Cleveland as home). And why not be creative and offer a tailored economic package for each company on the list? Not every company needs a low interest loan – but perhaps workforce training credits or rent subsidies might do the trick. The point being to be responsive to the need as opposed to offering the stale slate of incentives that the region provides today. I would even suggest creating a special team or campaign for tech companies operating in high cost areas such as Silicon Valley, New York, Boston, Chicago and the Washington D.C. area. We have a very provocative cost advantage in rent, operational expense (i.e. telecom and connectivity charges), labor expense just to name a few. I might even offer the creation of International Tiger Teams that target the tech hotspots around the globe and visit. Tell the story and then recruit, recruit and recruit. I found out the hard way that to recruit companies into the City makes a many influential people a wee bit nervous…but it works well (and especially for the City) if we can create density (much like we did in Playhouse Square with tech companies). If someone wanted to create a lot of buzz in economic development they would create these cross-functional teams and send them around the U.S. to spread the Gospel. The City and, indeed, the region has to be more aggressive (very aggressive) and competitive to foster and create the image that Cleveland is a very progressive and cool place to create and grow companies. We had this image a long time ago and it is absolutely necessary (mandatory, man) to do it again.
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.
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. The goal of the “tiger teams” is to form a specialized group to target small and emerging growth tech companies (be they in the software, biotech, or medical device industries) and assist them with the relocation of their corporate headquarters and staff to the City of Cleveland. Given the vast array of alphabet-soup ED groups (NorTech, GCP, NEOSA, TeamNEO, etc) that are charged with recruitment for the region (including Cleveland) – it was wise to form the plan with their participation. So, teams were formed by industry specialization meaning there was to be a “tiger team” for software development companies, another for biotech companies and another medical device companies and so on and so on. Each team would have a member from NorTech, GCP, NEOSA, TeamNEO and others. A lot of travel would be expected. These teams could then be used to improve the perception of Cleveland as a hub of innovation and commerce while creating opportunities to relocate the tech companies or even their R&D groups to the City. It was imperative, and still is, to craft a target list of technology companies that may be favorable to the Cleveland business environment (one of the first acts I took as “Tech Czar” was to create such a list – it is amazing how many companies on that list finally selected Cleveland as home). And why not be creative and offer a tailored economic package for each company on the list? Not every company needs a low interest loan – but perhaps workforce training credits or rent subsidies might do the trick. The point being to be responsive to the need as opposed to offering the stale slate of incentives that the region provides today. I would even suggest creating a special team or campaign for tech companies operating in high cost areas such as Silicon Valley, New York, Boston, Chicago and the Washington D.C. area. We have a very provocative cost advantage in rent, operational expense (i.e. telecom and connectivity charges), labor expense just to name a few. I might even offer the creation of International Tiger Teams that target the tech hotspots around the globe and visit. Tell the story and then recruit, recruit and recruit. I found out the hard way that to recruit companies into the City makes a many influential people a wee bit nervous…but it works well (and especially for the City) if we can create density (much like we did in Playhouse Square with tech companies). If someone wanted to create a lot of buzz in economic development they would create these cross-functional teams and send them around the U.S. to spread the Gospel. The City and, indeed, the region has to be more aggressive (very aggressive) and competitive to foster and create the image that Cleveland is a very progressive and cool place to create and grow companies. We had this image a long time ago and it is absolutely necessary (mandatory, man) to do it again.
