Cleveland sports may not be working out the way we had hoped here in early June, but the economic development activities in our region certainly seem to be bearing fruit.

At the Team NEO Economic Development Impact Awards last week, ten awards were handed out recognizing various organizations and initiatives for their positive economic impact our our region.  Here’s a recap of the winners in the various categories:

• Asset Creation: Akron’s BioInnovation Institute
• Business Attraction: Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber
• Business Expansion: Ashland Area Council for Economic Development, Ashland County, Jackson Twsp.Ashland Area Council for Economic Development, Ashland County, Jackson Twsp.
• Business Retention: City of Akron, Greater Akron Chamber, County of Summit, Summit County Port Authority
• Foreign Investment: Growth Partnership for Ashtabula County
• Fostering Entrepreneurship: Lorain County Community College Foundation
• Marketing Cleveland Plus: Cohen & Co.
• Minority Business Development: City of Lakewood & LakewoodAlive
• Public-Private Partnership: Maple Street Commerce LLC. City of North Canton, and Stark Development Board
• Workforce Development: Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering Center of Cuyahoga Community College

After about the forth or fifth award, I lost count of all the jobs created, millions of dollars invested, and businesses attracted.  Rest assured it was an impressive total.

Three things really stuck out during the awards.  First – the overall coverage of the region by the winners.  From Youngstown to Lorain; from Ashtabula to Canton, great things are happening all over the place.  Second – many of the winners were collaborations themselves, providing examples to others on how to partner and accomplish great things.  Finally – the list above is simply the recognized winner in each category.  For all ten categories, there were another 2-3 finalists in the running (and easily another fifty or so overall submissions).

There is a lot of positive change happening in the region, particularly around entrepreneurial activities and economic development.  NEOinc follows several regional blogs reporting on these topics.  Sometimes the posts shine a spotlight nationally (or internationally) on the region.  Every month we publish a short list of some of the stories we’ve noticed that embody the spirit of achievement, growth and change in our region.

Congratulations to all the winners, finalists and everyone submitting an entry.  In the spirit of Team NEO’s awards, congratulations to our region for recognizing the great work we’ve all done over the past year.  Now, let’s look at what happened last month.

Reflective of the Team NEO awards, this month’s recap is all over the region and state, and definitely highlights job creation, collaboration and economic development of all types.  Here then is NEOinc’s May recap of the articles we feel speak to the growth and positive change that is happening quietly, every day, in our region.

May ‘09 Recap

• CWRU’s med school receives $3M grant
• Ohio’s leadership in logistics
• 125 new jobs
• Huntington Bank, State of Ohio team up for $1B business loan program
• Ohio’s wind turbine (our very own) makes it’s debut
• Beck Center reaches fundraising goal (but you can still help!)
• OEConnections inks deal with Navistar
• Orrville company wins military contract
• Two Northeast Ohio firms team up for $33M Nasa contract
• State gives $8M to Summit, Stark
• Medina collaboration building fiber network
• High Tech jobs increasing in Northeast Ohio
• KeyBank breaking ground in Akron
• Entrepreneur’s EDGE highlights companies pumping $1.6B into the economy
• $9.1M grant to Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute
• Jo-Ann Stores first quarter profits nearly triple
• New orders for manufactured goods up by largest amount in 16 months
• Regional Talent Network unveils employment website (another take)

This list certainly isn’t meant to be exhaustive, merely a representative sample of some of the more positive articles we saw throughout the month.  We want to hear from you too! Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts with us here at NEOinc and our other readers.  Come on, you know you want to.

We’re also looking for other blogs to follow that report on positive entrepreneurship and economic development activities throughout Northeast Ohio.  You can review the list below of the blogs we currently follow.  Please post any additional recommendations via the comment box at the end of this post.

NEOinc’s blog reports regularly on entrepreneurial activities within the region, news and successes within the five incubators making up our collaborative, and resources available throughout Northeast Ohio.  If you found this post useful, please consider subscribing to our blog.  Our “Connect With Us” page will give you all the information you need to subscribe via your RSS reader or receive E-Mail updates.

Sources

NEOinc watches the following regional blogs.  Please use our “Contact Us” page, or the comment box below, to recommend a blog not on the list.

• Advance Northeast Ohio – the online home of our region’s economic action plan, which was inspired by Voices & Choices. Learn about the actions our region is taking to grow our economy and engage in conversations that shape the plan and evaluate our performance.
• Brewed Fresh Daily- topical, wide-ranging, and sometimes irreverant, George Nemeth’s blog is a clearinghouse for the pulse of Northeast Ohio.
• Cleveland Plain Dealer’s business blog
• Crain’s Cleveland
• NorTech – NorTech leads the region’s technology based economic development agenda. By supporting and nurturing Northeast Ohio’s most promising technology projects and initiatives, they help to create new technology industries and make the region ’s economy more globally-competitive.
• Ohio Means Business – The OBDC blog is a chance for Ohio executives to share their perspective on how locating in Ohio has enabled them to achieve both their professional and personal aspirations without having to sacrifice one for the other.