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.
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.
