This morning Team NEO recognized four individuals as 2020 Regional Economic Development Champions for their work in leveraging the full strength of Northeast Ohio\u2019s economic development network to advance our region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A longtime advocate for regional collaboration, Tim was recognized for his efforts to engage peer business leaders to become more active in collaboratively transforming Northeast Ohio\u2019s economic competitiveness through efforts such as the Regional Economic Competitiveness Strategy and Strengthening Stark Initiative. Tim has served on many boards, including Team NEO\u2019s board of directors since 2005, serving as chairman from 2011-2013 and again as co-chairman in 2015. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brian was honored for his leadership with the GCP Commission on Economic Inclusion, which focuses on two parallel and equally important areas: growing businesses owned by people of color and increasing workforce diversity, equity and inclusion. Brian\u2019s approach is to build high-quality and effective initiatives, conduct workshops and conferences, and offer consulting services, all designed to stimulate minority business growth and increase workforce inclusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
County Executive Shapiro and Mayor Horrigan were credited for their collaborative leadership, working with leaders at the city of Akron, Summit County, the GAR Foundation and the Greater Akron Chamber to launch Elevate Greater Akron<\/a>. This strategic plan has mobilized public, private and philanthropic organizations around common strategic initiatives focused on driving Greater Akron\u2019s economy forward. The initiatives address: Small- and middle-market business growth; economic inclusion and opportunity; talent and skill development; downtown and job hub development; innovation and high potential start-ups; and ways the community connects and leverages resources that support business growth and success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur Regional Economic Development Champions have contributed significant leadership influence over extended periods of time in search of collaborative strategies pointed toward economic growth and prosperity in our region,\u201d stated Team NEO\u2019s CEO Bill Koehler<\/a>. \u201cAs strong advocates for their respective communities and Northeast Ohio overall, they provide inspiration to all of us as we strive to promote economic vibrancy \u2013 even while we face some of the greatest challenges of our careers.\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 Northeast Ohio. As the designated JobsOhio Network Partner, we align and amplify local economic development efforts in Northeast Ohio\u2019s 18-county region; we conduct research and data analysis to inform local conversations and influence solutions; we market Northeast Ohio as a region; and we work to increase access to jobs, education and training for the region\u2019s 4.3 million people. For more information, visit teamneo.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9183","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/9183","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\/9183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20258,"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/9183\/revisions\/20258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northeastohioregion.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}About Team NEO<\/h3>\n\n\n\n