Grantmaking by Members of the Fund for Our Economic Future
Since 2004, six nonprofit regional economic development organizations have received the majority of the dollars from the Fund's members. The following offers an overview of the major grantees' recent performance and recent news for 2009. Learn more about the Fund's additional grantees here.
Mission: Form, recruit, accelerate and grow health care and bioscience companies.
Fund Support: $8.6 million
Performance: BioEnterprise helped establish Northeast Ohio as a global bioscience center: With more than $150 million in venture capital raised annually and more than a half dozen bioscience investors with offices located here, the region is now the largest market for bioscience venture firms between the coasts. Since 2007 BioEnterprise has added 72 portfolio companies that have attracted $599 million in growth capital. BioEnterprise is operated by the region's leading health care institutions. By supporting BioEnterprise, the Fund is encouraging greater collaboration among key stakeholders in this large sector of the region's economy.
2009 News:
- During the first three quarters of 2009, Northeast Ohio bioscience companies attracted $55 million in growth capital, with 22 companies receiving funding to date.
- BioEnterprise assisted with the launch of the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron, which is an $80 million effort to accelerate commercialization of companies in the biomaterials arena.
- Collaborating with Team NEO to attract growing bioscience companies to Northeast Ohio, and launched a new web site, ClevelandPlusBiomedical.com to support that effort.
- Companies that have recently raised capital include Freedom Meditech, Checkpoint Surgical, Staff Knex and Neuros Medical.
Mission: Accelerate growth of early-stage businesses and ideas into venture-ready companies.
Fund Support: $8.85 million
Performance: Companies assisted by JumpStart have raised more than $100 million in growth capital. Through the thrid quarter of 2009, the organization has directly invested in 41 companies that have raised more than $70 million in follow-on capital. JumpStart is ranked among the nation’s top 10 most active early-stage investments funds, and it has strengthened the region’s entrepreneurial climate.
2009 News:
- U.S. Department of Commerce recognized JumpStart for its excellence in stimulating economic development.
- JumpStart is hosting a conference to promote and foster minority entrepreneurship in December.
- Companies that have received investments from JumpStart include Checkpoint Surgical, iGuiders, and Catacel.
Mission:
Support, educate and champion manufacturing in Northern Ohio.
Fund Support: $3.1 million
Performance: Based on federal reviews of its operations, MAGNET generates more than $150 million in economic impact on an annual basis by assisting with new product innovation, plant expansions and productivity initiatives. It is working with BioEnterprise to assist more of the region’s manufacturers to serve the growing medical manufacturing sector. And in 2009 it launched a program to assist automotive manufacturers to diversify into growing markets and an Eco-Smart manufacturing program aimed to help manufacturers with environmental, conservation, and safety concerns.
2009 News:
-
From June 2009-August 2009 tenants in the MAGNET Innovation Center generated roughly $1.7M in sales, $240,000 in outside investment, and 12 new jobs
-
Daniel E. Berry became the new president and CEO of MAGNET in October 2009 to shape its strategy to help manufacturing companies meet current challenges and identify opportunities for growth
-
Cleantech company Vadxx Energy became the newest tennant of the MAGNET Innovation Center
Mission: Increase the capacity of existing minority-owned enterprises and create new business opportunities so that they can significantly boost sales and employment.
Fund Support: $2 million
Performance: Since launching in January 2008, the accelerator has assisted 20 minority-owned companies to secure large contracts that have resulted in significant increase in sales and employment. These companies have added more than 30 employees. The total value of the new contracts landed with the help of the accelerator exceeds $55 million.
2009 News:
-
Raymond Jackson Enterprises of Akron secured a $450,000 construction contract to work on a project with the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority.
-
The MBA 2.5+ added a staff member to assist with its growing portfolio of companies that it is assisting.
Mission: Lead, link and leverage the region’s technology and innovation assets to build a globally competitive regional economy.
Fund Support: $5.9 million
Performance: Federally sponsored research spending in Northeast Ohio is growing at a rate about double the national average. High-tech employment in Northeast Ohio grew 4% from 2004-2008, compared to a 1% decline for the economy as a whole. For the first time, Northeast Ohio has a coordinated effort to secure federal support for its regional economic competitiveness efforts and NorTech is leading that effort. The state of Ohio is supporting technology-based economic development through the Third Frontier program. Since 2007, Northeast Ohio institutions and companies have received nearly $424 million in Third Frontier investments, and NorTech is playing a lead role in advocating for the renewal of the Third Frontier program.
2009 News:
- NorTech has identified more than 350 Northeast Ohio companies in the advanced energy sector and is connecting those companies to its Energy Enterprise initiative to accelerate their growth.
- NorTech hosted a series of meeting and participated in numerous programs to increase awareness and participation in Energy Enterprise.
- AlphaMicron and Kent Displays, two companies in the liquid crystal industry supported by NorTech, recently expanded operations.
Mission: Advance Northeast Ohio's economy by attracting businesses worldwide to the 16-county Cleveland Plus region.
Fund Support: $5.8 million
Performance: Northeast Ohio is recognized by national site selectors as an attractive destination for growing companies. Site selectors assist companies to identify expansion locations and Team NEO directly markets the region to this key audience. Team NEO is also supported by the region’s chambers of commerce. By supporting this collaboration within the region’s business community Team NEO has helped reduce intra-regional competition and elevate the region’s reputation as an attractive destination for business investment. Since 2007, Team NEO has helped attract about 30 companies with more than $130 million in payroll and 3,000 jobs.
2009 Projected Outcomes:
- Through the first 10 months of 2009 Team NEO helped attract 7 companies with 800 employees and an estimated annual payroll of $20.5 million.
- Team NEO is working with Xchanging, a global business services firm, that is finalizing its plans to bring more than 700 new jobs to Northeast Ohio.
- As of November 2009, Northeast Ohio was on the short list for 22 business expansion attraction deals.
- Team NEO recently added a staff member to assist in recruiting minority-owned enterprises to Northeast Ohio
The Fund also supports several other regional initiatives that are addressing the four priority areas of Advance Northeast Ohio.
Background: The Regional Talent Network (RTN) is an employer-led regional collaboration to revamp the way workers are trained and prepared for employment in the region. The region’s investment in the talent development system is about $522 million a year. Partners in the initiative include the State of Ohio, the region’s universities and community colleges, chambers of commerce and workforce development entities. This work is directly tied to the Fund’s efforts to support high-growth industries.
2009 News:
- The Regional Talent Network is in its formative stages as the region’s business community is working to align support and resources necessary to begin operations.
Background: Education Works is a regional collaboration committed to developing a community that prizes life-long learning, even for those who have already left the “education” system, and emphasizing personalized learning for all learners, such that the region may meet the diverse needs of its community more effectively. Grounded in 21st century learning principles that emphasize critical thinking, problem solving, communication, global awareness and other “soft” but imperative skills, the group began to envision a region where every individual appreciates the relevance of learning in his or her own life, and where each can aspire to be well-educated person and, with conviction, say, “That can be me.”
2009 News:
- The Education Works Leadership Council elected to pilot a few new initiatives, while committing themselves to “actively partner with the regional community to identify, promote and foster the knowledge and capabilities necessary for all people to become thriving members of a global society.”
- 12 AVI Foodsystems’ workers who work at AVI’s Hiram College food service operation volunteered to participate in the “Great Books at Work” program.
- Educators from Kent State University are engaging teams of teachers and administrators from six regional high schools to to create specific, personalized education for each student and to encourage teachers to teach educators what works best in the classroom.
Background: The Northeast Ohio Mayors & City Managers Association (NOMCMA) is leading the Regional Prosperity Initiative to develop a framework to implement regional infrastructure planning that will accelerate economic growth and ensure that the benefits of that growth would be shared among participating communities, thereby reducing inefficient intra-regional competition and limit no-growth sprawl. More information about this effort is available at www.neo-rpi.org.
2009 News:
-
The Regional Prosperity Initiative issued in September 2009 two reports updating its progress in developing consensus on a tax base sharing program and planning for land use planning.
-
The RPI proposed pooling 40% of the growth in the commercial and industrial tax base and pooling 20% of the growth in the income tax base.
Background: In March 2009 the Fund launched EfficientGovNow, a competitive grant program designed to encourage the region’s local governments to collaborate to deliver services and to increase public support for government collaboration. The collaborations that receive the grants are determined by a vote of the public. The program is, in part, an extension of research co-sponsored by the Fund in 2008 that highlighted the duplicative nature of local government in Northeast Ohio and the high cost of delivering those services.
2009 News:
-
More than 60 government collaborations sought to be included in the EfficientGovNow program. A Fund committee reduced the field to nine finalists that were voted on by the public during the month of July 2009.
-
13,483 qualified votes were cast for the finalists. The three winning projects involved 21 government entities, and their collaborations will provide a combined estimated savings of $1.8 million.
-
EfficientGovNow has received broad editorial, government and public support throughout the region. A second round of the EfficientGovNow competition is planned for the spring 2010.
|
