Dear Aerozone Friends –
As we approach the halfway mark of 2024, we are starting to reflect on the efforts of so many of our incredible local, state, and federal partners. Here are some of our lessons learned:
(1) Work with urgency and help businesses unlock their economic potential:
The majority of our Aerozone businesses are privately held mid-size companies and are well-poised for growth. Sometimes all that is missing is a catalytic nudge, perhaps in the form of an investment, impactful program, etc. We, as public servants, must create more effective pathways and systems that remove unnecessary hurdles for the business. Lucky for us, between our local municipalities, and our county, state, and federal partners, we have access to tremendous resources that make our region incredibly competitive for business investment.
Over the last 4 years, thanks to the many incredible members of Aerozone Alliance, we have seen approximately 1,400+ jobs retained and attracted, $46MM in payroll generated, $78MM in fixed local investments, and close to $1MM in annual local taxes secured.
(2) We have to think like a high impact services company:
When helping businesses, we must think more like a services company with distinct ‘impactful packaged solutions.’ Based on what we have seen, the public solutions, whether it is growth financial incentives, workforce programs, etc., must demonstrate the following characteristics:
- Address a pervasive and a specific business problem.
- The solution value proposition must be clear and precise.
- The solution must have clear and transparent qualification criteria.
- The pathway/timeline (hurdles and headaches) must be accurate and predictable.
This year, in coordination with our partners, we refined and scaled several great ‘solutions:’ Aerozone Job Fairs, the Baldwin Wallace University Student Capstone Project, and the RTA/ConnectWorks Last Mile Transit. Each of these solutions was designed to address a critical, pervasive pain point for our businesses.
(3) Industry Working Groups:
The other critical step we took this year is to stand up several public/private partnership leadership cohorts to help us decipher deeply complicated regional challenges. Each group is centered on a few key themes:
- Developing a common language and understanding of the current state of our region (challenges and opportunities) and the future, ‘brighter’ aspiration.
- Breaking down the siloed frustrations and focusing on productive and collaborative problem solving.
- Rapidly translating ‘big ideas and conversations’ into pragmatic tests/pilots that can generate and maintain enthusiasm.
Examples of our cohorts include:
- Aerozone Land Use Working Group: Accomplishment: Mapped the critical land assets and is now working on pursuing a federal grant to develop a cohesive economic plan for the region.
- Aerozone Airport/Aviation Business Advisory Group: Accomplishment: Conducted interviews and gathered preliminary recommendations. Working on strategic business expansion opportunities at the Cleveland Hopkins Airport.
- Aerozone Technical Workforce Working Group: Accomplishment: Convened a cohort of businesses and students and are working on a talent connection strategy.
- NASA Glenn Advocacy Group: Accomplishment: In coordination with Greater Cleveland Partnership, created a cohort of regional aerospace experts who helped design the NASA Glenn Advocacy federal funding priorities.
- Aerozone Energy Innovation District Working Group: Early planning phase.
(4) Storytelling:
Thanks to the guidance of our key stakeholders, we are making broad scale community engagement a priority. After all, community engagement is in many ways the oxygen that is needed to help generate wide-scale momentum and enthusiasm. This year, we have launched several elements that we believe will advance our efforts on this front:
- Creation of our website
- Creation of our annual report
- Our video series
As always, we welcome the guidance of partners like you so that we can ensure that our efforts align with the opportunities that you see. Please continue to share your feedback and guidance with us, and contact us at any time to see how we can work together.
Thank you,
