Cleveland Innovation District is Part of Broader Bid For Economic Reinvention
By Michelle Jarboe, Crain's
A $565 million research and education partnership unveiled last week — with the goal of creating 20,000 jobs and billions of dollars of economic impact in Cleveland over a decade — is a major milestone in a broader push to reposition the region for growth.
When the heads of three major hospitals and two universities joined Gov. Mike DeWine and other public officials Monday, Jan. 25, to announce a novel collaboration, they revealed the product of a year's worth of negotiations. That announcement also came at a unique moment, in the middle of a global pandemic that has highlighted health disparities and lent more focus to efforts to chart a new path for Greater Cleveland's long-flagging economy.
Through deals with JobsOhio, the state's private economic development corporation, the institutions are agreeing to hire, recruit and train thousands of workers; boost research spending; spur more spinoff companies; lure major employers to establish a presence in the region; and improve the neighborhoods around them through investing in people and places.