{"id":26909,"date":"2025-02-04T13:00:58","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T13:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=26909"},"modified":"2025-05-08T13:57:46","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T13:57:46","slug":"team-neo-names-matt-dolan-ceo-succeeding-bill-koehler","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/news\/team-neo-names-matt-dolan-ceo-succeeding-bill-koehler\/","title":{"rendered":"Team NEO Names Matt Dolan CEO, Succeeding Bill Koehler"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dolan\u2019s decades of experience in advocacy, fundraising, private business, and the public sector will propel Northeast Ohio\u2019s growth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Team NEO Board of Directors appointed Matt Dolan to be the next CEO as of February 4, 2025, following a rigorous and thorough search process. Dolan takes over as CEO of the organization from Bill Koehler, who is stepping down after nearly a decade of transformative leadership. This transition marks a pivotal moment for Team NEO as it continues to champion economic growth and innovation across the 14-county Northeast Ohio region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA lifelong resident of Northeast Ohio, accomplished attorney, successful businessman, a collaborative leader, Matt has spent the last decade advocating for Northeast Ohio\u2019s economic interests in both the State House and Senate, while fostering relationships that span both the public and private sectors throughout the region and the state,\u201d said Kim Riley, Chair of the Team NEO Board of Directors. \u201cTogether with Team NEO\u2019s exceptional economic development team, we have confidence that Matt will leverage his unique experience to build on the momentum we\u2019ve created and continue to advance economic growth and prosperity for the companies, people, and communities of Northeast Ohio.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dolan served in the Ohio House from 2005-2010 and in the State Senate from 2017-2024. As Finance Committee Chair in both chambers, Matt oversaw billions of dollars of budgets and helped create the economic development tools that JobsOhio and Team NEO use to attract new businesses to the region, help existing companies grow, and create jobs. Dolan is a former Chief Assistant Prosecutor for Geauga County and Assistant Attorney General for the State of Ohio. He is currently a partner at the law firm Thrasher, Dinsmore &amp; Dolan and is Vice President of 7th Avenue Properties, where he managed several area businesses as well as real estate properties. His family is fully invested in growing the Northeast Ohio region as long-time owners of the Guardians and other local business interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI am honored and excited to become CEO of Team NEO, an organization I respect for the work it does to advance economic development throughout our 14-county Northeast Ohio Region,\u201d said Dolan. \u201cBuilding on the strong foundation established by Bill Koehler, I look forward to working with our outstanding team, as well as area business leaders, policymakers, and community stakeholders as we create a strong, unified voice for the region to advocate for investment and growth driving business expansion, job creation, and innovation for all Northeast Ohio and our residents.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Leading Team NEO has been an incredible honor, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to work alongside our talented staff, dedicated board, committed partners across the region and JobsOhio,&#8221; Koehler said. &#8220;Together, we have made meaningful strides in creating economic vibrancy and strengthening Northeast Ohio\u2019s economic development network. I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished, and I have full confidence that under Matt\u2019s leadership, Team NEO will continue to reach new heights. I look forward to supporting him through this transition and seeing the organization\u2019s impact grow even further.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to Koehler\u2019s stewardship, Team NEO is recognized as a catalytic and unifying force, bringing together diverse organizations, associations, and institutions to advance industry, foster innovation, develop sites, cultivate talent, champion equitable prosperity, and promote the region. Under Bill Koehler\u2019s nearly ten years of leadership, Team NEO has emerged as a unifying force for economic development, completing 892 projects and driving 30-40% of Ohio\u2019s annual economic development outcomes, including:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>56,120 new jobs created<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>More than $2.5 billion in new annual payroll<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>147,048 jobs retained<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>$15.06 billion in capital investment secured<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Bill Koehler announced that he was ready to \u201cpass the torch\u201d of leadership for Team NEO in August 2024. Team NEO\u2019s Board of Directors formed a committee to lead the CEO search, which was national in scope. Waverly Partners, a nationally recognized economic development executive search firm headquartered in Cleveland, worked with the search committee to recruit more than 200 qualified candidates for consideration.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Our decision to hire Matt Dolan reflects our confidence in his ability to strengthen relationships, drive investment to support our work in economic development, and build on the strong foundation Team NEO has established,&#8221; said Don Taylor, Chair of the Team NEO Board of Directors\u2019 Governance Committee and leader of the Search Committee. &#8220;We look forward to Matt expanding Team NEO\u2019s leadership role in the region and strengthening relationships across the state, further advancing economic growth and creating new opportunities for all of Northeast Ohio.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About Team NEO<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Team NEO is a private, nonprofit economic development organization that ignites economic vibrancy, fosters sustainable growth, and champions equitable prosperity. As a designated JobsOhio Network Partner, we collaborate across all 14 counties in the Northeast Ohio Region to create strategies to attract and retain companies, drive innovation, cultivate a skilled workforce, advance market-ready sites, and promote and engage the region. To learn how Team NEO helps make Northeast Ohio more competitive, visit northeastohioregion.com.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":26910,"template":"","categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26909","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/26909","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\/26909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28670,"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/26909\/revisions\/28670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}