“Emerging Opportunities in Challenging Times"
2010/2011 Annual Meeting Address - Frank DeTillio
As we move into the second decade of the 21st Century, Lorain County must continue to cultivate an environment for the creation of a high performance economy. We must build upon the strengths of our existing businesses as they work to accelerate their opportunities for growth. We must also continue to work to create a competitive environment for new business formation.
We have recognized that in this global economy, innovation and a competitive environment are the key drivers of local prosperity. What I mean by this is that innovation leads to productivity, and productivity leads to a regions competitiveness, and a region’s competitiveness leads to prosperity.
We’re in a mess today because we had a financial crisis on Wall Street, not because American companies have lost their ability to compete with foreign rivals. We must continue to have dialogue with our public sector partners to support the changing needs of business today as we pursue innovation and new growth models designed to create new jobs in the near term and economic prosperity for the future.
As we move forward the question we must ask ourselves, “What will it Take” today to position Lorain County to achieve prosperity in the future.
It is important as we look to strengthen our competitive environment in Lorain County, that Business & Government involvement has been essential. New levels of cooperation are being forged every day through the Lorain County Growth Partnership. And we are stronger as we face the challenges of the future together.
Being able to articulate the business agenda will continue to be pivotal as we move forward to strengthen this partnership that is designed to create a more dynamic environment to do business.
Maximizing our local resources has also been an important part of the County Chamber’s economic development strategy. We have always been recognized as a group with a track record of collaboration and accomplishments. These accomplishments have occurred more times than not through the use of limited resources. The Chamber believes that it is extremely important to continue to build our partnerships and collaborations that take advantage of all of our resources. Another important task is the creation of new resources, resources to manage the physical changes that are occurring caused by the globalization of our economy
About 7 years ago I used examples of what was occurring in the world at that time and how we needed to pay attention to Cultural Changes and how they would be directing our future and our competitiveness
Every 15 seconds a new web site was launched
Every 15 minutes a new technology breakthrough occurred
Every 15 days a totally new product or service was born
70 % of jobs in the year 2020 did not exist because
80 % of technology of 2020 had not yet been invented.
These scenarios have required a cultural change for the people of Lorain County. We are being driven by a knowledge and technology based economy and that’s a big cultural shifts that has effected both the public and private sectors as we attempt to get control of our local economy.
Lorain County’s economy no longer relies on the strong backs of our workers. We have begun to realize that education and technology are the drivers of our economy as we grow into the 21st Century.
The Lorain County Chamber’s action plan of 2004 and our updated version in 2008 are now the strategic elements of our 2011 work program have been reported on over the last 6 years. And now this strategic vision is helping Lorain County position itself for the future.
Fostering our regional competitiveness was a major component of that strategy that has played an important role in our attempt to grow our local economy. An important area of concern was that we would maintain an ongoing collaboration with the then newly formed Team NEO, a marketing/attraction collaboration of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, Akron Chamber of Commerce, Stark Development Board, the Youngstown/Warren Chamber and the Lorain County Chamber of commerce.
After the creation of Team NEO, Locally, Lorain County needed a new energized approach to a marketing/attraction team and Business, Education and Government came together to create Team Lorain County, Lorain County’s marketing/attraction group which has resulted in a continued role for Lorain County in the Team NEO regional collaboration that has assisted our local economic development efforts. Today Team Lorain County, with Steve Morey and his staff is an important partner in our future efforts to raise Lorain County’s economic health.
Our second strategic priority was to Retain and Expand our local businesses in Lorain County. We knew that 80% to 85% of business growth in a region occurs from our exiting business base and so we embarked on a collaboration that was designed to pay attention to our local businesses more closely, always positioning ourselves to assist them in providing support for their successful future.
Through the development of the Lorain County Growth Partnership, a collaboration of the Commissioners, Team Lorain County, Lorain County Community College, Lorain County Joint Vocational School and the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce, a new tool, Business Connections, was designed to create a single economic development data base and a collaborative visitation program that the Growth Partnership members would use to more closely monitor and support the Lorain County Business community. In 2010 Business Connects was redesigned for 2011 to better respond to issues that are uncovered during the company visits that will now have a specific protocol in place to assist in developing resolution.
Another activity that is important to strengthen Lorain County response to business issues is the development of new resource. As our businesses face the many challenges of globalization we must be willing to develop new resources that can keep our businesses competitive. We need to stay abreast of new technologies and continue to develop access to regional resources that will provide our business community with state of the art tools to compete in the marketplace.
The third strategic area of work centered on the encouragement of entrepreneurial growth. The entrepreneurial spirit built Lorain County, and we put our resources together to once again provide an environment for small business growth. I’m pleased to say that the growth of an entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well Lorain County today.
The Lorain County Chamber’s Small Business Development Center, a partnership between the County Commissioners and the Chamber of Commerce is designed to provide entrepreneurs access to business counseling in the areas of business plan development, market research, access to capital and a number of other assessment tools. You heard earlier from Paul that 2010 was a record year in clients, counseling hours, and SBDC training events for our Lorain County area.
The Chamber also formed a partnership with the Lorain County Community College and the Lorain County Commissioners to create GLIDE-Great Lakes Innovation & Development Enterprise to provide additional business support in the areas of innovation and acceleration.
Today GLIDE and the SBDC are co-located 1 day a week in the EII building on campus to maximize our resources and provide small businesses with an array of business products designed to make them competitive and successful.
Access to Capital was also a great concern for the Chamber as it related to start ups and fledgling entrepreneurs. We worked with Roy Church and the college foundation to develop the Innovation Fund, a unique resource in the financial continuum that is driving new investment in Lorain County and our region. This financial tool has gone a long way towards strengthening the entrepreneurial climate in Lorain County.
The Chamber is also working with the County economic development staff to redesign local debt financing tools and coordinate local lenders that will assist small businesses in their quest to secure financing to develop strong, successful businesses. Our small business work is essential to the creation of a platform for economic success.
The next area of the strategy was to Promote Sustainable Growth. Sustainable development is a strategy by which communities seek economic development approaches that also benefit the local environment and quality of life.
The efficient use of our natural resources is a primary concern of the Lorain County Chamber. Sustainable development provides a framework under which our community can use resources efficiently, create efficient infrastructures, protect and enhance quality of life, and create new businesses to strengthen our local economy.
At a time when fossil fuel has a strangle hold on our economy, it is important to identify and develop alternative energy sources, not only for the possible relief from foreign oil but also to create an environment for the wind turbine industry which would create jobs and tax base for Lorain County. The Chamber worked with Ted Kalo and the Lorain County Commissioners to identify resources that provided a staff person, Mike Challender to continue to maintain a Lorain County dialogue in the regional conversations designed to build a wind turbine presence in northeast Ohio.
Sustainable Development can help us create a healthy community that can sustain our generation, as well as those that follow ours. Our environmental stewardship is an important part of our future. Creating a smart community, one that discovers that traditional approaches to planning and development are creating, rather than solving, societal and environmental problems is an important part of the Chamber mission. Where traditional approaches can lead to congestion, sprawl, pollution and resource over-consumption, sustainable development offers real, lasting solutions that will strengthen our future. The Chamber is proud to be part of the County’s sustainable strategy.
The Articulation of a Clear Agenda for the New Economy was another priority for the County Chamber. There were misconceptions concerning the “New Economy”. A number of individuals thought that the new economy was about new businesses, but in reality, the new economy is not about who is doing business in Lorain County but how is business being done.
An important ingredient for the new economy dialogue was a competitive digital infrastructure. At the present time Lorain County is better off than most, but we still need to complete universal access at an affordable price, so that everyone in Lorain County has access to broadband.
We also recognized that we needed a clear agenda for business & government to become e-competent. Through the Lorain County Growth Partnership, business, government and education are aligning digital resources designed to create a single delivery system of economic support to business. We are looked at as a model community in northeast Ohio, but business is conducted over the internet and we realize that competency in that area is a must for us to pursue.
The “New Economy” has required us to do things differently. We have understood our community in a different perspective. Community Cultural Shifts have required of us to compete in this global economy. Education and training priorities are critical to our community’s success. Changes in the work environment have directed us to re-evaluate the delivery of our education and training component. We can no longer be satisfied with Ohio being ranked at the bottom of the list in education in the U.S. We will need to work with our partners to help make significant changes in our local culture to meet the needs of business and our citizens.
The high unemployment and the stuttering economy will present a number of challenges as we move into the future. But having a strong underpinning of the Lorain County Growth Partnership and its partners with the desire to provide resources, strategies and creative solution will provide a conduit for future success. We can no longer wait to see what will happen next. We need to control what happens next. And the Chamber believes that these collaborations will position Lorain County for greater success into the future.
As we continue with this agenda you may ask what will be our Return on Investment of time, resources and dollars be.
The Lorain County Chamber and our partners believe that these collaborations are creating economic activity and community vitality. They will have an impact on job creation and population growth, expanded local tax base and business stability and enhanced business valuation and increased real estate values.
The Lorain County Chamber believes that we are in control of our future. We must continue to build Partnerships & Collaborations demonstrating that the collective use of our resources will support our efforts to create a strong, vibrant economy. We have built a strategic agenda with our partners, and have positioned Lorain County for success and provided a return on investment that enhances our quality of life. Now we must continue to execute that strategy and work to make Lorain County the envy of northeast Ohio. We can do that TOGETHER.
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