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Gnarly! Freshly bowled Lakewood Skatepark reopens on 70-degree day Published: Mar. 14, 2025 By Cory Shaffer, cleveland.com LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- Ams, thrashers and, yes, even posers who’ve been waiting all winter to drop-in at the redesigned Lakewood Skatepark finally got their chance on Friday. ... The park, built in 2005, closed following Labor Day last year to undergo the long-awaited second phase of its construction, which included adding a bowl, a second grinding rail and a “taco” -- a small, rounded quarter pipe that resembles the shell of its crunchy namesake. The city last year hired California Skateparks to design and build the skatepark’s $550,000 makeover. The company has designed skateparks and courses across the world, including for the last two Summer Olympics in Paris and Tokyo. https://www.cleveland.com/lakewood/2025/03/gnarly-freshly-bowled-lakewood-skatepark-reopens-on-70-degree-day.html

Well that was quick; Akron business partners to buy historic Quaker Square, plan to reopen hotel and renovate complex by Arielle Kass March 13, 2025 The University of Akron will sell Quaker Square for $800,000 to three local business partners who plan to reopen the hotel, where rooms are built into round, Quaker Oats grain silos, and renovate the rest of the complex, which has been largely empty for years. Kyle Craven, the vice president of Akron-based Craven Construction, said he is planning to purchase Quaker Square along with partners Steve Dimengo and Joe Scaccio. Dimengo is a tax attorney and the managing partner of Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC, a business law firm. Scaccio is the president and owner of Akron-based J-RS Cos. and previously made an offer to buy the PNC Center at 1 Cascade Plaza. ... Adding a hotel adjacent to the John S. Knight Center has been a priority for years, said Kyle Kutuchief, the program director in Akron for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. https://signalakron.org/akron-business-partners-to-buy-historic-quaker-square-complex-plan-to-reopen-hotel-and-renovate-complex-kyle-craven-steve-dimengo-joe-scaccio/

Moving agency departments out of DC was something discussed under Biden and he should have done it. It is a good policy assuming it is done responsibly with an appropriate transition period either allowing current employees the opportunity to move to the new HQ city or replace employees through natural attrition. To be clear I do not trust the Trump administration to carry out this policy responsibly. But moving agencies out of DC could spread government investments more evenly throughout the country and revitalize certain post-industrial cities like Cleveland or move the Departments closer to their actual operating areas like if the Department of the Interior was moved to Utah or Nevada. It would obviously need to be a gradual transition, but if Biden had done this it likely would have resulted in more immediate investments to areas that have felt left behind that Trump was able to attract. It would also make it harder for Trump/Elon to do what they are doing now. Right now the government jobs being cut are in the Maryland/Virginia area that is Blue. If these cuts were felt more widely you would theoretically get more push back from Representatives and Senators. But I don't actually think this would cause this crop of Republican Representatives or Senators to stand up to Trump.

Quaker Square complex to be sold by University of Akron, if state approves agreement by Arielle Kass March 12, 2025 The University of Akron has a signed agreement to sell Quaker Square, the oats mill-turned-hotel and shopping center that was most recently used to house students. ... Quaker Square’s property listing, which says it is under contract, lists six buildings that are connected by a galleria and a separate conference center. All told, the complex — built in 1900 and converted to hotel/retail use in 1981 — is 411,000 square feet, the listing says, with a 65-room hotel. Kimberly Beckett, president of the Downtown Akron Partnership, said using the property as a hotel could help the John S. Knight Center book more conventions by having an adjacent property where people could spend the night. https://signalakron.org/quaker-square-complex-in-process-of-being-sold-by-university-of-akron-if-state-approves/

Akron announces new effort to bolster the city's entrepreneurs and small businesses Ideastream Public Media | By Sean Fitzgerald Published March 10, 2025 Entrepreneurs in Akron will soon have new resources to tap for help in financially propelling their small businesses. The city announced Monday it 's received a $90,000 grant from the Cities for Financial Empowerment fund, a national nonprofit which works to support financial empowerment efforts by local governments. Akron is one of seven municipalities selected to participate in a new round of the fund's Small Business Boost Initiative. Funding will go to support new efforts by the Akron Financial Empowerment Center, a service provided by United Way of Summit and Medina Counties, which offers a range of financial counseling services. "Our small businesses are the heart of our community," said Akron Mayor Shammas Malik. "We want to help entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses as well as manage their own personal financial journeys. We saw success with the Small Business Boost pilot program and are looking forward to continuing that growth.” https://www.ideastream.org/economy/2025-03-10/akron-announces-new-effort-to-bolster-the-citys-entrepreneurs-and-small-businesses

University of Akron awarded $660K for polymer research Published: Mar. 11, 2025 By Sabrina Eaton, cleveland.com WASHINGTON, D. C. - The National Science Foundation has awarded the University of Akron $660,421 to fund a program that examines semicrystalline polymers, a type of plastic used in everything from grocery bags to high-performance fibers, U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes announced. The polymers get their unique strength from the way their molecular structures form and reorganize during processing. The “Crystallization and Reorganization Pathway of Semicrystalline Polymers” project will explore how semicrystalline polymers crystallize and change at the molecular level, paving the way for the development of new and improved materials. The research overseen by Professor Toshi Miyoshi of the University of Akron School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering will run from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2029. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/03/university-of-akron-awarded-660k-for-polymer-research.html

Dan Deagan to Open an Arcade Bar at Former Deagan's Kitchen Spot in Lakewood By Douglas Trattner on Fri, Mar 7, 2025 After closing Deagan’s Kitchen in 2023, Dan Deagan sold the business to a group of partners, who opened Solstice later that year. That business closed a year later and Deagan, at the time, was too busy to focus much attention on the space. “At the time the building became available, I had just opened Wine Dive, was opening Wolf & Co. and I didn’t have time to do anything else,” Deagan says. “But now that those places are up and running, I can concentrate on this.” “This” is a new business that Deagan and partner Andrea Tsiros are opening in the former Deagan’s space (14810 Detroit Ave.) in Lakewood. The as-yet-unnamed venture will be a lively bar filled with classic and modern arcade games, pinball machines, Skee-Ball, billiards and tabletop games like air hockey and foosball. Expect leagues to form around various games. https://www.clevescene.com/food-drink/dan-deagan-to-open-an-arcade-bar-at-former-deagans-kitchen-spot-in-lakewood-46194629

Akron’s Innerbelt project at risk of losing $10 million in federal funds by Arielle Kass March 7, 2025 A $10 million federal grant to help redevelop a decommissioned portion of Akron’s Innerbelt is at risk of being recalled. The money, awarded in January from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, is meant to help the city implement its redevelopment ideas for the Innerbelt, which former Mayor Dan Horrigan said caused “lasting harm” to a once-vibrant Black community. Friday, a spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, who championed the grant, said the DOT confirmed that any projects that did not have a grant agreement in place prior to 2025 were subject to review. The Reconnecting Communities grant was announced Jan. 8. No further information about the review process was available. https://signalakron.org/akrons-innerbelt-project-at-risk-of-losing-10-million-in-federal-funds/

RTA likely to eliminate some higher fares, add tap and pay technology Published: Mar. 06, 2025 By Rich Exner, cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio - Farebox begone. You’ll soon likely be able to just tap your way onto RTA buses and trains with your credit card or smartphone. Adding tap and pay technology is just one of a series of fare changes that unanimously cleared RTA board’s committee as a whole this week with a recommendation for approval when the proposals are taken up during a regular board meeting. The plan also calls eliminating two higher and lesser used fares and capping what registered riders pay to no more than the cost of an all-day, seven-day or monthly card. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/03/rta-likely-to-eliminate-some-higher-fares-add-tap-and-pay-technology.html

Western Reserve Land Conservancy donates 87 acres for new Summit Metro Park in Copley Author: Anna Meyer Published: March 4, 2025 COPLEY, Ohio — Summit Metro Parks has announced a donation of 87 acres of land from the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, set to become the district's 17th Metro Park on Boughton Road in Copley. The land, which was once home to the historic Boughton Farm, was acquired by the Land Conservancy in late 2024. The Boughton family, who had owned the property since the 1850s, agreed to sell it to ensure it remains a green space for the community. ... The newly donated property consists of fields, wetlands, forests and streams and is expected to be restored before it opens as a Metro Park. The restoration process, funded by H2Ohio, will be led by the Land Conservancy in collaboration with the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, as well as Summit Metro Parks conservation staff. https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/summit-county/summit-metro-parks-copley-township-akron-western-reserve-land-conservancy-donates-87-acres/95-13826cd9-cf90-4609-91c6-8614dd6c7375

Protesters rally at Cuyahoga Valley National Park over mass layoffs of park workers Published: Mar. 01, 2025 By Olivia Mitchell, cleveland.com PENINSULA, Ohio - Protests took place at national parks across the country, including Cuyahoga Valley National Park, to demand the reinstatement of thousands of park workers who protesters say were wrongfully terminated by the Trump administration. Nearly 100 people stood in solidarity at the park’s visitor center park to support the abruptly fired rangers and employees. The National Park Service cut nearly 1,000 jobs on Feb. 14 as part of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s plan to reduce the federal workforce. The layoffs targeted “underperforming” probationary workers, according to termination letters from the Office of Personnel Management and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/03/protestors-rally-at-cuyahoga-valley-national-park-over-mass-layoffs-of-park-workers.html

Mayor Bibb picks bicycle, pedestrian safety staffer as Cleveland’s new planning director Published: Feb. 28, 2025 By Sean McDonnell, cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio — Mayor Justin Bibb announced Friday that he’s picked a top staffer who has focused on bicycle and pedestrian safety to be Cleveland’s next planning director. Calley Mersmann, Bibb’s senior strategist for transit and mobility since the mayor took office, is being recommended to the City Planning Commission for appointment to the director’s role, Bibb said in a news release. Mersmann has worked on initiatives like Cleveland Moves, a transportation initiative aimed at enhancing the safety and convenience of walking, biking and using public transit across the city. She also was tasked with Vision Zero, which seeks to reduce traffic deaths. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/02/mayor-bibb-picks-bicycle-pedestrian-safety-staffer-as-clevelands-new-planning-director.html

Very sad, hopefully Eddy's can rebuild and operate out of a temporary location this summer. But will likely be at least one season without a great resource for park visitors. Eddy's Bike Shop in Peninsula destroyed by fire early Friday. What we know so far Derek Kreider, Mark J. Price, Anthony Thompson Akron Beacon Journal A beloved bicycle shop in a historic Peninsula building was destroyed in a fire early Friday. Fire crews were called to Eddy's Bike Shop along Main Street just before 1 a.m., with flames fully engulfing the property, according to Beacon Journal partner News 5 Cleveland. Authorities spent multiple hours working to get the fire under control. Firefighters are still investigating the cause and origin of the fire. https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/fire/2025/02/28/eddys-bike-shop-peninsula-destroyed-by-fire/80822775007/

New charter bus network to link Cleveland to Columbus, Detroit Anna Fifelski, Crain's Detroit Business Feb 27th, 2025 Gogo Charters, a national charter bus company, is launching a bus services network that connects major Midwestern cities across six states. Midwest Charter Network is a new intercity ticketed motorcoach service that is slated to begin in summer 2025. The Gogo Charter Cleveland headquarters will be located at Cleveland Marriott Downtown Key Tower at 1360 West Mall Drive. https://www.crainscleveland.com/transportation/gogo-charters-announces-midwest-bus-network

Cuyahoga Valley National Park reinstates seasonal positions By: Maya Morita Posted Feb 26, 2025 The Cuyahoga Valley National Park's seasonal positions have been reinstated after a nearly month-long hiring freeze that began due to the Trump administration's continued efforts to reduce federal jobs. Earlier this month, layoffs began at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and four employees lost their jobs. The park said Wednesday that they are not aware of any staff being re-hired. https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/cuyahoga-valley-national-park-reinstates-seasonal-positions

Understood, we're on the same page then. I'm not sure what the messaging would look like but I've said before, Democrats should be able to hang corruption around the neck of any Republican statewide candidate with the First Energy bail out, ECOT, ect. Pair that with true economic populism that a Progressive candidate would actually try to deliver on and I think you could pull together a winning candidate. I think you also need to get local elected officials in at least the 3Cs to create a GOTV infrastructure to increase the abysmal turnout in our biggest cities. Or at least Cleveland, I believe Cincinnati and Columbus are a bit better, but it's been a minute since I've checked/compared.

Ryan got 47% of the vote against a candidate that wasn't even in the state campaigning before August and it took McConnel and the Senate Republican Election committee to kick off his campaign. Vance ran a very bad campaign and Ryan still lost. Whaley wasn't the strongest candidate either.

I'm with you on everything except hoping for a bad R candidate to allow Democrats to win. I think the floor for Ohio is much, much, much lower than I want to believe it is. It's just generally true that having two healthy parties makes for better outcomes, but as a hedge against truly terrible leadership that Vivek would provide I hope there is a traditional, moderate Republican candidate. Problem with that is, that's more or less what DeWine is but DeWine isn't a leader and lets the far Right leaders in the legislature dictate terms.

As much as I'm not a fan, Tim Ryan's name is thrown around as a viable statewide candidate.

Breeze Airways adds operations base, jobs at Ohio airport Published: Feb. 24, 2025 By Megan Becka, special to cleveland.com AKRON, Ohio – Breeze Airways on Monday announced it will add an operations base at the Akron-Canton Airport. The airline, which is known for its affordable fares, began serving the Akron-Canton Airport in June of 2021. Today, the airline offers 10 non-stop and four one-stop flights to seasonal and year-round destinations including Charleston, South Carolina; Las Vegas; Orlando; Los Angeles; and Raleigh, North Carolina. The operations base will bring more flights to the airport to better serve passengers. “We’re going to establish a new crew base here that will allow us to continue delivering our exceptional experiences to our guests and continue to invest in the area as we grow. In addition to stationing aircraft here overnight to better support our future growth, this base will bring more than 60 pilot, flight attendant and maintenance jobs to the Akron-Canton Airport and community over the next three years,” Breeze’s Chief Guest Officer Fiona Kiesel said. https://www.cleveland.com/akron/2025/02/breeze-airways-adds-operations-base-jobs-at-ohio-airport.html

Another one of Akron's 'Big 5' downtown buildings sold February 24, 2025 Dan Shingler PVC Cascade One, a “locally owned real estate development company with roots in the community for over 45 years,” announced Monday, Feb. 24, that it has purchased the PNC Center building. ... Pleasant Valley did not provide details on the transaction, including what it paid to acquire the building, but it said it worked with the Development Finance Authority (DFA) of Summit County, the county, and the City of Akron on the transaction. ... The PNC building is 23 stories tall and has about 220,000 square feet of space. For a little more than a year, it has been owned by the Summit County Land Bank and managed by the DFA. The DFA is the building’s master tenant, occupying about 10,000 square feet of space. https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/akron-pnc-center-sold-local-investor

I think I largely agree; I forget what the number is but there is a huge amount of non-profits in NEO and while we have great foundations with great leadership they are only able to fund so many non-profit projects and initiatives. The competition for these foundation grants is only going to become more competitive if/when federal funding is cut off. I would expect to see either consolidation in the non-profit world where organizations have similar missions, or some non-profits to fold. While I think a thoughtful and strategic consolidation of the region's non-profits would probably be a good thing, I think this attrition process will likely result in some critical missions and already underserved communities being further disadvantaged. I do find Ned Hill's argument that in Central Ohio Columbus is the big player and more naturally able to lead persuasive though. In NEO there aren't only politically powerful suburbs, but competing cities and counties in Elyria/Lorain, Akron/Summit, and Canton/Stark, making it that much more difficult to lead the region.

I posted this in the regionalism thread because there is a narrow section on the intraregional competition that is holding NEO back, but there's more than enough in this article to chew on in the general business and economic thread. Gov. DeWine to Cleveland: Up your focus on economic development to compete with Central Ohio Published: Feb. 23, 2025 By Rich Exner, cleveland.com “A disproportionate amount of this development clearly is occurring in Central Ohio,” he told cleveland.com reporters and editors earlier this month, citing projections that the Columbus region could gain 1 million people in the next two decades. “That’s not what we want,” he said. “What we want is it spread out all over the state.” So why isn’t it? Land availability plays a role — Intel needed space that land-strapped Cuyahoga County couldn’t provide. But DeWine pointed to something else: Central Ohio communities are working together, strategically preparing sites and selling their region’s strengths. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/02/gov-dewine-to-cleveland-up-your-focus-on-economic-development-to-compete-with-central-ohio.html

This was an interesting article from Rich. There is the obvious economic and business implications of this article, a lot that has been discussed in this forum; namely that there isn't large parcels of developable land in Cuyahoga County to offer for these large projects. I put this article here though because there's another aspect that this article focuses on, and that's too many organizations competing with one another instead of working toward a common goal. Rich contrasts North East Ohio's approach with Central Ohio's approach, pointing out that Central Ohio has the mentality of a rising tide lifting all ships. Cleveland has some great resources and great leaders, but they're all focused on their own narrow goals, sometimes at the expense of other larger objectives. With the State Legislature poised to pass legislation to more easily eliminate villages and loosen the laws around JEDDs, this may be an opportunity for Cleveland/Cuyahoga to remove the number of independent jurisdictions and, for the jurisdictions that remain, add incentives to work cooperatively to get some of these larger projects in NEO. Gov. DeWine to Cleveland: Up your focus on economic development to compete with Central Ohio Published: Feb. 23, 2025 By Rich Exner, cleveland.com “We have too many groups trying to take claim for development,” [Mark Rantala, a consultant who formerly led the Lake County port authority,] said. “Team NEO competes with the Greater Cleveland Partnership. Then there is the city of Cleveland. Cuyahoga County. In Lake County we had the port authority. Every time I tried to engage, I fought with the Greater Cleveland Partnership about everyone stepping on each other.” ... “The longstanding big difference in Northeast Ohio versus Columbus is that there is only one big city in Columbus,” [Ned Hill, professor emeritus Ohio State University,] said. With Cleveland, Akron and a number of suburban communities competing for business along Interstates 90 and 80, Hill said “there is a level of antagonism that doesn’t exist in Central Ohio.” https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/02/gov-dewine-to-cleveland-up-your-focus-on-economic-development-to-compete-with-central-ohio.html

Yup, and have not hired needed seasonal workers for the summer rush. Cuyahoga Valley National Park hit with federal cuts by Brittany Moseley February 19, 2025 Deb Yandala, president and CEO of the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, said four full-time positions were terminated. She said the affected workers included an engineer, a biologist, a maintenance worker and someone in the planning department. They were notified Friday, and Tuesday was the last day they received pay. Yandala wasn’t aware of any part-time employees who were also let go. ... As for future layoffs, those are up in the air. Yandala also cited concerns over how the federal hiring freeze will affect seasonal positions at CVNP. The Washington Post reported that the Department of the Interior said it will exempt 5,000 seasonal positions under the hiring freeze. Yandala said there are 40 seasonal positions at CVNP that have yet to be filled. https://signalakron.org/cuyahoga-valley-national-park-hit-with-federal-cuts/