GCP, metro chamber partners receive $2 million JobsOhio grant

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Funds will support business development, retention and expansion projects

Cleveland, Ohio—The Greater Cleveland Partnership and four metro chamber partners at the Greater Akron Chamber, Stark Development Board, Team Lorain County and the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber are the recipients of a $2 million JobsOhio grant. The grant will be utilized to build much-needed capacity in the organizations’ respective business development retention and expansion programs. The award was announced today by Team NEO in its new role as the Northeast Ohio JobsOhio Network Partner.

“This unprecedented award will enable the GCP and our metro chamber partners to build significant capacity to support business retention and expansion in Northeast Ohio,” said GCP President and CEO Joe Roman.

The metro chambers will use $500,000 to create a shared-service platform that will allow all of the local economic development organizations to have access to certain services and amenities that will drive job retention and creation. This includes dedicated resources to both MAGNET and BioEnterprise for their outreach activities.

Of the remaining $1.5 million, the GCP will receive 40 percent of the grant award—$600,000. The award is based on the number of businesses in Northeast Ohio that are located in the GCP subregion of Lake, Geauga and Cuyahoga counties. The funds will be utilized to hire additional staff and/or contractors to assist the GCP Business Development team, Lake County Port Authority and Geauga Growth Partnership.

Further, the GCP will, in partnership with Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald and his team, utilize $100,000 of the funds to advance the Cuyahoga County anti-poaching agreement and creation of a business model of responsiveness.

-end-

As an association of business members, the Greater Cleveland Partnership mobilizes private-sector leadership, expertise and resources to create jobs and leverage investment to improve the economic vitality of the region. http://www.gcpartnership.com

Back to News