Team NEO announced today that Jay Foran, the organization\u2019s Sr. Vice President of Industry and Innovation<\/a>, plans to retire effective April 30, 2022. Steve Fritsch<\/a>, currently Vice President of Marketing and Engagement for Team NEO will take over as Vice President, Industry Advancement and Engagement. New hire Mark Owens<\/a> has joined the team as Vice President, Marketing and Communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want to thank Jay for his contributions, his leadership and the undeniable mark he has made on our organization and economic development in the Northeast Ohio Region,\u201d said Team NEO CEO Bill Koehler<\/a>. \u201cAs we move forward, we are well-positioned to build on the foundation Jay has laid and continue to help build economic vibrancy across the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n During Jay\u2019s tenure as Sr. Vice President, he played a critical role in advancing smart manufacturing adoption through commercialization roadmaps for smart manufacturing and additive manufacturing. He has played a leadership role in shaping an aligned and coordinated state-regional-local business retention and expansion calling program that has helped identify growth opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe impact of Jay\u2019s leadership will endure long after his retirement. As a key member of the business development team, Jay and his teams have won projects with companies such as Nestl\u00e9, Home Goods, AMS, Ambaflex, Borgers, and many more \u2013 when an economic development project is won in Northeast Ohio, the people in the Region know that \u2018Jay Foran did that deal,\u201d said J.P. Nauseef, JobsOhio president and CEO<\/a>. \u201cHis work earned him the designation as one of America\u2019s Top 50 Economic Development Professionals by Consultant Connect in 2015.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Steve Fritsch, who has led marketing, communications, and engagement for Team NEO since October 2018, will take over the Industry and Innovation leadership position effective May 1, expanding the role to retain responsibility for network engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSteve has the vision and relationships with local partners throughout the region to help forge stronger network alignment, build business growth and bolster technology adoption,\u201d stated Peter W. Broer, Team NEO Board Chair and President and CEO of Lumitex, Inc. \u201cWe look forward to his leadership in this new role.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This transition also prompted Team NEO to hire Mark Owens to take on the revamped position of Vice President, Marketing and Communications, responsible for leading efforts to help support Team NEO\u2019s ability to achieve its goals related to promoting not only Team NEO, but also the Northeast Ohio Region as a destination for business attraction, expansion, and retention. Mark most recently was Marketing & Public Affairs Director with RelateCare, a Cleveland, Ohio- and Waterford, Ireland-based healthcare support services firm. \u201cMarketing the Northeast Ohio Region and helping to build awareness of Team NEO\u2019s efforts to advance regional economic development are critical to our success,\u201d said Bill Koehler. \u201cMark\u2019s marketing expertise and accomplishments will amplify the work that Steve initiated, particularly with the recently introduced Vibrant Economy Index, our Marketing Advisory Council, promoting our regional brand, and telling compelling stories of ways companies are leveraging Northeast Ohio\u2019s many assets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Team NEO is a private, nonprofit economic development organization accelerating business growth and job creation throughout the 18 counties of the Northeast Ohio Region. As the designated JobsOhio Network Partner, we align and amplify local economic development efforts in the region\u2019s 18-counties; we conduct research and data analysis to inform local conversations and influence solutions; we market the Northeast Ohio Region; and we work to increase access to jobs, education, and training for the region\u2019s 4.3 million people. We do this to build a more vibrant regional economy; one that is more talented, equitable, competitive, innovative, resilient, and prosperous. For more information, visit teamneo.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17118","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/17118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/17118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20306,"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/17118\/revisions\/20306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}About Team NEO<\/h3>\n\n\n\n