DATE: March 16, 2005

Annual Meeting: How Cool is Greater Akron?
Hilton Akron/Fairlawn, 3180 W. Market St., Fairlawn
5:30 - 8:30 PM
Speaker: Rebecca Ryan, Founder, Next Generation Consulting, Inc.
Non-member Cost: $55.00 Member Cost: $55.00

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Ideastream's 03.06.05 Ideas program took an interesting look at economic development issues and opportunities in Akron, and how the city seeks to raise it's "cool" factor. They featured Elizabeth Sheeler, who returned home to Akron from Boston to work with the Akron Art Museum and ArtCetera because she feels she can have a bigger impact in her smaller home town than in a big city  she has started an after work arts party and networking scene in Akron - part of making the scene cooler there. The objective is to make Akron desirable to Gen-Xers  and the need is serious. Rebecca Ryan, an economic development consultant from Madison, WI, based Next Generation Consulting, has been hired to lead the Akron community to focus on their Gen-X quality of life  she notes only 4% of NEOs 18-24 have loyalty to this region vs. 25% nationwide, and only 35% of NEO residents in general feel there is good opportunity here for the young, vs. 69% nationwide. Gen-Xers are needed to replace Baby Boomers as they retire from the workforce, and Gen-Xers are the innovators needed to fuel the future of the economy, so not satisfying the Gen-Xers is very foolish.

REALNEO is a free open source social network established to
support dialogue and inclusion among all people interested in Northeast Ohio, at all levels. Visitors are
welcome to create an account and add content. Volunteers developing these social networking capabilities host this
oriantation on how to use these virtual tools for collaboration -
please join us all at the Peter B. Lewis building as we focus on
collaboration

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Dan Cuffaro, CIA IDSA Industrial Design Chair - for this last presentation in the "Young Artists Series", Dan speaks on "Innovations in Art and Design". Dan
explains he graduated from CIA in 1991 and, after working here until1994
(including for Greenlee-Hess), he spent 10 years in Boston, where he worked
up the Industrial Design industry to design director - his job then
included hiring young designers. In 2003 he was hired back to Cleveland as CIA
ID Chair, and he is redesigning the program to prepare students to thrive in
the design world he knows from the inside and out, in NEO and beyond.

Ed Morrison opens the session explaining how his research has identified
telework as an important process and lifestyle shift that will have an impact
on our economy here, as it has impact world-wide. He shows several recent
expert based articles showing how the business world, government and academe
have gravitated around aspects of this issue.

The RAMTEC session had a remarkable attendance of leaders in education, workforce
and economic development and all aspects of manufacturing, drawn from many
counties throughout NEO - full house. REI Executive Director Ed Morrison
introduces the context of this session from his historical perspective
working with GE and in manufacturing, and observing manufacturing in NEO decline in many
ways - challenges are many - some manufacturers don't employ optimal practices
- lean manufacturing - basic common sense in regards to management. Some
manufacturers don't invest in product development - automation solutions - are
operating in isolation from each other - this decreases competitive strength opportunities.

Community
Partnership for Arts and Culture and COSE Present:
The Artist as an Entrepreneur Institute

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Community
Partnership for Arts and Culture and COSE Present:
The Artist as an Entrepreneur Institute

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"Prelude to the
New Energy Debate in Northeast Ohio"

From TransTech and the New Energy
Roundtable (NER)

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Forum to unveil $28M plan to push automation

From Crain's - By DAVID BENNETT - Northeast Ohio's manufacturing sector has been hit hard by the one-two punch of the economic downturn and ever-growing foreign competition, but it's looking to launch a $28 million counteroffensive.

A group of NEO civic entrepreneurs are launching a new economic development initiative called RAMTEC - Regional Automated Manufacturing Technology and Education Center - initial supporting documentations is posting in this book, and the initiative is under support at http://ramtec-org.bryght.net

"Telework:
Building New Technology Applications for Northeast Ohio"

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Let's bring
manufacturing back through robotics and automation! Join us for a public forum
to design next steps for a new educational and training center for Northeast
Ohio.

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The State of NanoBusiness in the U.S. Today

For more information, visit

http://nanobusiness.org/

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You might not think of a public library as the "in" place to be, but some teenagers do! The Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago reports on ideas being developed for new roles that public libraries can play in developing our youth. Here's what they say: "With growing numbers of teenagers visiting libraries to socialize, do homework, and use computers as well as the Internet, libraries have found themselves pressed to address the needs of this group. Although nearly a fourth of library patrons are teenagers, libraries traditionally have devoted less of their space, personnel, and financial resources to services for teens than to any other age group. An evaluation of the Public Libraries as Partners in Youth Development, a nine site demonstration project funded by the Wallace Foundation, suggests that communities should take a closer look at the role that public libraries can play in strengthening the skills of teenagers, building the capacity of libraries as institutions, and connecting libraries more closely to communities. The study suggests that library-based youth programs, especially in low- income communities, can teach teens specific job skills at the same time that they make libraries more visible assets in the community." Click to read New on the Shelf: Teens in the Library

If you are interested in developing the brainpower of our next generation of northeast Ohio residents and workers, please come read about the Northeast Ohio Breastfeeding Education and Advocacy Network!

I happened to catch the NOVA program "A Daring Flight" onÂ
Louis Blériot developing the first airplane to cross the English Channel, which in fact revolutionized the airplane industry at its beginning. Lessons Louis learned from Dayton's Wilbur Wright made this possible, and over the years following his Wright "schooling" Louis gained nearly every flight record in existence, with a plane that exceeded the Wright Brothers' accomplishments, becoming the most popular airplane in the world at that time. Understanding that transformation in time, place and industry offers many lessons for NEO now, in our transition.

Case's Weatherhead School of Management Center for Regional Economic Issues (REI) and other community leaders support an initiative to distribute used computers and ease access to free or low cost Internet access for area residents in financial hardship. The first community being supported through this vision is East Cleveland, where REI drives ECHO - "Extending Community Home Online" - as part of an East Cleveland 2010 community redevelopment initiative. This effort is not in social service for the poor of East Cleveland but a critical initiative for economic development for this entire NEO region.

The Center for Regional Economic Issues promotes the understanding economic development begins with the unborn child, and many area community leaders realize effective early childhood development improves the economy. Two recent benefits of this enlightenment are a community of interest called NEOchildhood, pursuing a wide range of childhood development related opportunities for Northeast Ohio, and NEOBEAN, creating the Northeast Ohio Breastfeeding Education and Advocacy Network - all for parents, family, employers, policymakers, educators, researchers, caregivers and ultimately children. Good work!.Â

HIPAA & BEYOND: Business Opportunities at the Intersection of Privacy, Technology, & Healthcare

NEOSA & BioEnterprise
Thursday, February 17, 2005, 5:30pm to 7:30pm

FREE (everyone welcome)Venue: HealthSpace

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Participants at the 02.14.05 session 2 of the forum on The Economics of Early Childhood Development were asked to connect the dots from early childhood development to regional economic development. The goal of this interactive session was to broaden the discussion on early care in three ways... visit the NEO Childhood COIL for a wealth of insight on this initiative and next steps!

A two-part forum on: The Economics of Early Childhood Development - see NEO Childhood for support site and services

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Below is a story about a company in LA that's doing exactly what companies and all medical service providers must do here - using open source VistA medical information management standards to transform healthcare. This is THE realization of the $125 million vision President Bush recently promoted here, and the understanding the Cleveland Clinic has embraced, and the certainty all other healthcare providers in NEO must recognize. Bottom line, if NEO's 100s of hospitals, clinics and medical centers and 1,000s of doctors get up to speed NOW, and collaborate, and turn their attention to excellence outside the operating room, and work strategically with enlightened IT professionals to embrace VistA region-wide, for the 4.4 million patients here, NEO will overnight become the global center of excellence in healthcare and the multi-billion-dollar medical information systems industry - for now, leadership, success, jobs and wealth go to some up-starts and VCs in LA. Read more...

The 02.08.04 Tuesday@REI continues an important collaboration exploring unique value in Northeast Ohio child development - today expanding focus to "Intergenerational Learning", which leverages the value of all ages learning together. Here we see notes on presentations and discussions featuring: