On Facilitating Regional Economic Development with Advance Northeast Ohio

I thought I'd share some reflections after just spending Cinco de Mayo facilitating dialogues around regional economic development in Akron, Ohio.  I, like so many other colleagues who have participated in various phases of the Voices and Choices process had my fair share of reservations and issues with various aspects of the two-year, multi-million dollar investment and experience.  While I found great value in working hard to facilitate regional dialogues with a healthy mix of participants representing diverse demographics, I learned firsthand how difficult it is to drive meaningful outcomes from such activity.  I, like so many others, was very candid about the many difficulties endured and faced during the process - perhaps the most prolific of which was a failure to have the mechanisms in place to capture the heightened energy and activation of the masses in an effective and timely manner to drive meaningful and positive outcomes.  A candid conversation I had today with Advance Northeast Ohio's [1] communications director, Chris Thompson, completely validated my feelings, as he was in complete agreement on this point.  I laud Chris for such candor and really appreciated his astute comments. 

 Some recent developments however, have been cause for sufficient motivation to keep my interest and faciltate my desire to renew and drive outcomes with regional leaders.  Perhaps the most potent motivator keeping me involved, engaged, and willing to facilitate today's meeting of City Mayors, Nonprofit leaders, and Urban Planners on the topic of Government Efficiency and Collaboration was the prolific evidence of corrections to strategy and next steps moving forward.  There has been a distinct shift in focus on achieving significant regional outcomes through an approach that marries previously-driven top-down efforts with the critical grassroots strategies I personally feel more alignment with.  This was most clearly punctuated by Director of Regional Partnership Laura Steinbrink's Powerpoint presentation opening the day's events.  The themes presented were those of of an economist I have long been a fan of, Ed Morrison.  I think there has long been a philospophic and strategic rift between the primarily top-down approaches attempted previously by the Fund for our Economic Future (and GCP) and the principles of Open Source Economic Development laid down so neatly over the years by Ed Morrison.  Laura paid Ed and I-Open a nice homage [2] and specifically honored their forward thinking strategic vision in making this presentation.

I look at this new and apparent alignment very positively.  The shared-services faciliation of NEOSO, technology advisories from NorTech, Startup funding from JumpStart, effective wooing of new enterprise to NEO by TeamNEO and bioscience support from BioEnterprise represent a synergistic economic development engine that has produced tangible economic results.  The missing piece that is heartening to see now, however, is a shift of focus to meaningful grassroots collaboration and helping to support such networking and connection in the civic space.  This model looks to follow the pioneering approach laid down initially by the great folks at REI - (and now), I-Open [3].   Its also a model I think REALNEO has helped facilitate quite nicely in the blogosphere.

Connecting in an intimate setting at Akron University today with mayors, city managers, nonprofit and business leaders and academics was exciting and a portent of good things to come.  I enjoyed guiding our leadership 'class' through some meaningful dialogue and contribution around the core strategic pieces to drive meaningful and effective collaboration in a landscape micromanaged by over 800 disparate governances in NEO alone, spanning state, regional, county, municipal, and township levels.  It was illuminating to hear firsthand the specific challenges facing these many leaders in areas covering land use and zoning, school funding, shared revenue and service models, tax implications, and state legislature and the core disconnects with Columbus that remain one of the most significant impediments to progress.  On the hyperlocal level, I learned a great deal about the obstacles various entities on the township level have posed and how integral it will be to integrate this level of provincial participation in meaningful negotiations. 

It was also great to see fellow RealNEO community member and friend Mike Shafarenko, (now Fund Coordinator for the Fund for our Economic Future) helping to drive the day's deliberations.   Been a while, Mike!

In closing, I hope this evidently meaningful merger between top-down and bottom-up approaches continues to evolve and the effort to NOT force relationships but simply support and encourage concerted public-private partnerships becomes the norm.  As Chris Thompson candidly put it, "Advance Northeast Ohio has no organizational structure" - the model aimed for is one which empowers everyone to drive success on equal footing.

This model and philosophy of driving development through equitable and sustainable approaches is, of course, right up my alley [4].

We shall see how meaningful these renewed efforts can be, as plans are underway for a new set of grassroots-connection support systems driven by a distinct acknowledgement that racial and economic inclusion must be given high priority throughout the process.  Its a process that doesn't speak to handholding or commanding but rather a presentation of a diverse set of smart options from which particpants can choose and a provision of necessary support systems to help ensure success.  These are certainly intriguing prospects.