NOTES: 12:00 – 12:45 Panel Discussion - Moderator: Ed Morrison

12:00 – 12:45 Panel Discussion - 45 minutes
Moderator: Ed Morrison

 

During lunch Ed Morrison led a panel discussion where he read to the panel questions/issued by the break-out groups for their feedback 

 

Panelists and affiliations (see full profiles here [1]):

CONNIE ATKINS, Executive Director, Consortium of African American Organizations (CAAO)
http://www.caao.net/ [2]

STEVE CENCULA, Partner, FORM
http://www.theformgroup.com 

DAN DAHL, Executive Director, EJ Thomas Hall and the Akron Civic Theatre
http://destinationdowntownakron.com/ [3]

BILL DOTY, Doty & Miller Architects
http://www.dotyandmiller.com/ [4]

ERNEST JOHNSON, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, Economic Development Administrator
http://www.cmha.net/ [5]

DAVID MOSS, Creative Director, EDR Media
http://www.edr.com/ [6]

LAURA ORKIN, President, Beachwood Chamber of Commerce and Chief Operations Officer, Envision Radio Networks, Inc.
http://www.envisionradio.com/ [7]

EILEEN PARMELEE, Principal, Chagrin Falls Middle School
http://www.chagrin-falls.k12.oh.us/cfms/cfms.htm [8]

JASON J. THERRIEN, President, Thunder-Tech
http://www.thundertech.com/ [9]

Q. How to develop sustainable economics for urban/inner city areas

• Block grants - support Community Development Corporations - all levels of education
• Build a curriculum for the CDCs - help them each and to work together
• Grow Green Food - grow local (food travels 1,500 miles to table)

Q. How to get all people to realize they are creative and get them involved in "Creative enterprise"

• Take mystique away from creative process - get people out of their box - teach process of innovation (Cencula - is working on redesign of extended learning for CIA - that will help)
• Let people take risks outside usual models and job functions - make work creative process
• Need creatives and non-creatives to synergize - cross pollenate - REI brought in creatives from CIA and it has energized the look and feel there (has it made a difference beyond?)
• Redesign "box" - minimum fear of failure - no bad ideas (supportive environment)
• Give creative projects - outcome oriented

Q. How do you nurture an environment for lifelong learning

• Promote school-to-work programs at early age - get student involved in internships
• Need to invest in education at the societal level - great concern this is underfunded by the region - especially in the urban areas
• Detroit Superior kids are learning about green schools

Q. How do you include Inner City kids and adults in the Economic Development dialogue?

• Networking - take it to the communities
• CDCs, churches, African American professional groups

Q. How to change image of NEO to reflect positive?

• Unified voice (TeamNEO model)
• Communicate it is more than just Cleveland - build regional voice and synergy
• Publicize nationally and globally - at community and individual company/cluster/success levels
• CAAO Website has attracted outside attntion and led some people to move here - use the Internet
• Marketing 101

Q. How do we tell the positive story better - spread word to improve regional economy?

• Make the message about people - entrepreneurs, success stories - humanize
• Work grass-roots - get the local mindset right - kill the spirit snipers
• Don't only look forward - look back
• Get mainstream media to do a better job showing successes and use other media better - e.g. Internet

Q. How do we market our clusters better?

• Universities