The North Coast Technology Fund will administer the loans. Good group. I know a few of the gents involved at North Coast – good crew. NorTech will help evaluate the loan applications as they come in to the County. Love the concept. However, to really make an impact we need millions of dollars going into funds like this and like Jumpstart.

      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.

Not to say that selling Cleveland did not have its challenges. More often than not I would approach or contact a Company and talk about the virtues of Cleveland and I would get the response, “Cleveland? You’re freaking kidding me, right?” To which I would respond, “Just give me a few hours and let me show you a few properties that are going to knock you out.” Lucky for the City, we are blessed with great architecture (most of which needs a little “TLC” but is so impressive when compared to suburban office spaces). And would you believe that we were successful in bringing in 36 tech companies into the City. The good tech entrepreneur loves the City and is a good friend of Cleveland. (Search for the recent article on the success tech in Cleveland as printed on the front page of the PD – and do me a favor, spread the gospel to your friends and family.)

Anyway, the core of my policy at Cleveland was to recruit and to develop a continuum of real estate that offered a selection of pricing and space to tech entrepreneurs. Also, upon reflection of my old development plan was, in fact, the creation of an “IT Cradle” that spanned west to east along Euclid and Carnegie Avenues. Just a reminder of the development plan I put together for the technology sector in Cleveland. The five proposed policies of this plan 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.
    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 original goal of the “IT Cradle” was to remove blight along the Euclid and Carnegie Avenue from Downtown to University Circle with new tech companies being placed in older buildings that merited new life and vigor. The hope was to target regional and national tech firms and offer economic incentives and build-out allowances to relocate into the City. I have always found Euclid and Carnegie Avenues to be rich with potential and could be our very own “Silicon Avenue.” And based upon personal experience – this is a very doable policy. My fear is that the City overlooks the success it has had in tech and will not continue to heavily recruit the next generation of Cleveland companies.

Of course, it needs to be a coordinated effort with the City leading the charge and working closely with its partners – Greater Cleveland Partnership, TeamNEO, JumpStart, NorTech and BioEnterprise. Based upon my experience Cleveland should be bursting at the seams with tech, biotech and medical device companies. The best incentive – truth be told – was not the economic incentive offered by the City (or any other organization) but the operational incentives that the City is blessed with. And by that, I mean the large fiber connections in Downtown (largest fiber pipe between New York and Chicago is resident under Euclid Avenue) and all the assets that have been built around this pipe – the various data-centers, telecom switches, network-operating centers and other tech companies. We have a natural asset (i.e. – the fiber) in which to build a national powerhouse in technology. Now let’s use it.