ie., midtown nyc just lost a firm with 1000+ jobs that is moving to nashville. deutsche bank is moving 500 jobs to jacksonville.

 

 

The FT reported the AllianceBernstein move to Nashville with some astonishment (London being similarly vulnerable). I wonder if DCA or Team NEO has approached AmTrust about moving totally to Cleveland; they are supposed to be moving about 50 people. Why not the whole crowd?  :)

 

Nice save that Covia Holdings' headquarters is ending up in Independence rather than Connecticut.

 

 

I see it as more than a save.  I think this is a nice win.  Unimin was the bigger company and when the two merge their combined revenue should be over 2 billion which means that Cuyahoga County will have added a fortune 1000 company HQ to the area.

Nice save that Covia Holdings' headquarters is ending up in Independence rather than Connecticut.

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/sites/default/files/article_images/Brickhaus-main_i.jpg

 

When was the new headquarters announced? The only articles I can find are about the name, and suggest the HQ location hasn't been decided.

 

edit: I got my answer. A follow up article was posted on Crains this afternoon.

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20180509/news/160796/soon-merge-mining-company-headed-cuyahoga-county

 

Soon-to-merge mining company headed for Cuyahoga County

 

It's looking like a multinational mining company that will include what has been Chesterland-based Fairmount Santrol (NYSE: FMSA) is moving its headquarters to Independence.

 

The Cuyahoga County Community Improvement Corp. on Wednesday, May 9, recommended a $500,000 loan that would help woo Covia Holdings Corp. to a new headquarters in 30,000 square feet in the Summit Office Park in Independence.

...

The loan is a part of a $3.4 million incentive package being put together by state, county and city officials to land the new corporate headquarters. The CCCIC is a community development nonprofit that reviews and approves the county's economic development loans and grants.

...

Let's still do this, Cleveland. And keep open the offer to incentivize urban core job growth to all comers, not just Amazon....

 

“NOACA's documents also say the city promised to "accelerate" plans to triple RTA's capacity, including increasing commuter rail lines from 37 miles to 111 miles by 2029.”

 

Here's Cleveland Amazon HQ2 location leaders didn't want you to see: Mark Naymik

http://www.cleveland.com/naymik/index.ssf/2018/05/heres_cleveland_amazon_hq2_loc.html

As one who has worked with Amazon for nearly 20 years - and knows the people, the culture and their modern, NEW campus well - this CLE offer of old buildings, no matter how well intentioned and transit-tied and near-term ready it could be, was totally out of synch with the Amazon I know. 

 

Hopefully, at least, this offer was made to stand out in the many likely competitive offers of land and new buildings, without transit.

I thought the same thing when reading it.  Like, "This is the BEST the city could come up with"? 

 

The transit angle was great to learn about, however.   

As one who has worked with Amazon for nearly 20 years - and knows the people, the culture and their modern, NEW campus well - this CLE offer of old buildings, no matter how well intentioned and transit-tied and near-term ready it could be, was totally out of synch with the Amazon I know. 

 

Hopefully, at least, this offer was made to stand out in the many likely competitive offers of land and new buildings, without transit.

 

Where else could they have offered that was truly shovel ready? We speculated earlier this year that Terminal Tower and Post Office Plaza would be the perfect first phase. And there is plenty of available surface parking for future expansion. I can't believe this was the extent of the site proposal.

 

As one who has worked with Amazon for nearly 20 years - and knows the people, the culture and their modern, NEW campus well - this CLE offer of old buildings, no matter how well intentioned and transit-tied and near-term ready it could be, was totally out of synch with the Amazon I know. 

 

Hopefully, at least, this offer was made to stand out in the many likely competitive offers of land and new buildings, without transit.

 

Where else could they have offered that was truly shovel ready? We speculated earlier this year that Terminal Tower and Post Office Plaza would be the perfect first phase. And there is plenty of available surface parking for future expansion. I can't believe this was the extent of the site proposal.

 

Was this really the extent of it.  I thought the city and county haven't released their proposals.

As one who has worked with Amazon for nearly 20 years - and knows the people, the culture and their modern, NEW campus well - this CLE offer of old buildings, no matter how well intentioned and transit-tied and near-term ready it could be, was totally out of synch with the Amazon I know. 

 

Hopefully, at least, this offer was made to stand out in the many likely competitive offers of land and new buildings, without transit.

 

Where else could they have offered that was truly shovel ready? We speculated earlier this year that Terminal Tower and Post Office Plaza would be the perfect first phase. And there is plenty of available surface parking for future expansion. I can't believe this was the extent of the site proposal.

 

 

Scranton Peninsula.

Burke

Amazon required short-term/immediately available office space of at least 500,000 square feet. That was the best, largest, most transit-proximate, contiguous office space now available downtown. Eventually Amazon planned to build up to 5 million square feet of office space, which could have been done across Superior Avenue in the Weston- and Jacobs-owned lots.

 

Amazon required short-term/immediately available office space of at least 500,000 square feet. That was the best, largest, most transit-proximate, contiguous office space now available downtown. Eventually Amazon planned to build up to 5 million square feet of office space, which could have been done across Superior Avenue in the Weston- and Jacobs-owned lots.

 

Exactly. I believe that was our speculation earlier this year. Terminal Tower and Post Office Plaza would be eclipsed by millions of sqft of new construction over the coming years. Scranton has poor connectivity with downtown and needs considerable new infrastructure. Burke isn't even remotely shovel ready -- and I would argue tearing down an airport for a massive office headquarters is shortsighted.

My personal proposal for Amazon was actually pretty similar to this. The old post office could be where the initial buildout starts, and then the former phase 2 casino site (the whole area just south of W Huron) would be available for new build. A smart design could've even been built over Canal Rd and created new connections with the riverfront. Hell, you could even throw in the Landmark Towers since Sherwin Williams is likely to move out of there at some point. This would've been one massive complex with direct connections to the major local transit hub of Cleveland, and also directly connected to a casino and a (soon-to-be) revamped shopping mall. There'd even be more room for expansion if you consider an expansion onto the Landmark Towers (corner of Huron & Ontario) and a new building on the grassy lawn across from the Q.

 

I think something like that would've stood out. Other cities probably couldn't propose such a central location with such direct access to transit and other amenities because most other cities have much less open space in their downtowns.

The comment section gave a bit of insight into how people perceive a city they’ve never been to.

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cleveland-offered-120-million-freebies-151239399.html?bcmt=1&messageId=57e9cb8a-43ba-417a-9f86-8d78db44b1f2&guccounter=1

The divergence between "Employment" and "All Employees, In Thousands" is now over 80,000 people.  The BLS is starting to make less and less sense to me. 

 

March's numbers for All Employees, In Thousands shows that the region has officially rebounded from the 2008 recession.  Total preliminary employment is now at 1,053,400 for March of 2018 as compared to 1,048,300 in March of 2008.

 

 

March's numbers for Employment have been flat since 2010, with an actual decrease since then.  March 2008 Employment was at 1,015,856.  March 2018 preliminary Employment is listed as 971,460.

 

 

So which is it?  That's a difference of over 80,000 people either employed or not according to the BLS.  One listing is positive since the drop-off, the other negative. But an 80,000 person spread between the two just doesn't make sense. 

The divergence between "Employment" and "All Employees, In Thousands" is now over 80,000 people.  The BLS is starting to make less and less sense to me. 

 

March's numbers for All Employees, In Thousands shows that the region has officially rebounded from the 2008 recession.  Total preliminary employment is now at 1,053,400 for March of 2018 as compared to 1,048,300 in March of 2008.

 

 

March's numbers for Employment have been flat since 2010, with an actual decrease since then.  March 2008 Employment was at 1,015,856.  March 2018 preliminary Employment is listed as 971,460.

 

 

So which is it?  That's a difference of over 80,000 people either employed or not according to the BLS.  One listing is positive since the drop-off, the other negative. But an 80,000 person spread between the two just doesn't make sense. 

 

I've been saying this since 2012, but it took a Trump Presidency to get everyone to notice it lol

The comment section gave a bit of insight into how people perceive a city they’ve never been to.

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cleveland-offered-120-million-freebies-151239399.html?bcmt=1&messageId=57e9cb8a-43ba-417a-9f86-8d78db44b1f2&guccounter=1

 

 

interesting. it was mostly ripping amazon, not cle. and lots of positive remarks. nice to see that actually.

The divergence between "Employment" and "All Employees, In Thousands" is now over 80,000 people.  The BLS is starting to make less and less sense to me. 

 

The numbers come from two different surveys - Current Employment Statistics and Current Population Survey - sourced differently. 

 

The CPS is manually collected based on personal interviews and is becoming increasingly difficult (and therefore less reliable in some ways) to collect in urban areas - nobody's home, nobody returns calls, people are actively uncooperative or afraid to answer the door, etc. The CES comes from employers and computer generated reports - it is probably more correct for total employment. The CPS, while less accurate at this particular data element, is much better for analyzing unemployment.

I didn't even know this existed....

 

U.S. Bank to lay off 260 from Bedford mortgage office

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2018/05/us_bank_to_lay_off_260_from_be.html

New plan could bring banking into Cleveland post offices by summer

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/e-team/banking-into-cleveland-post-offices-by-summer

^We had a postal savings plan from 1910 to 1967. It was very popular in the 20s and 30s with small savers. Then the banks decided to compete and Pres. Johnson shut it down. 

I didn't even know this existed....

 

U.S. Bank to lay off 260 from Bedford mortgage office

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2018/05/us_bank_to_lay_off_260_from_be.html

 

Yeah the building is tucked away in the railroad "valley" by Rockside, almost in Maple Heights.  I wouldn't have known about if my cousin didn't work there awhile and I work in Bedford.

When I studied in the Netherlands, I did most of my banking at the post office.  I don't know what the actual set up was, though- if there was a private bank that was partnered in, of if I was going direct through the post office.  Pretty sure I paid my rent there, too.

"Postal banking" is fairly common in other countries and there's some interest in in Washington reviving it here in the US: https://slate.com/business/2018/04/kirsten-gillibrands-ambitious-postal-banking-bill.html

Plug and Play head invites local corporations to his business accelerator

 

The co-founder and CEO of what has been called "the world's largest startup accelerator" is inviting Cleveland's old-line businesses to join in his 21st century way of building businesses.

 

"I believe if you bring the large corporations together with entrepreneurs it can create value for everyone," he said in his keynote remarks. "We're going to build great innovations together."

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20180516/news/161866/plug-and-play-head-invites-local-corporations-his-business-accelerator

Industrial projects have yet to reach peak in NEO

 

The volume of industrial building projects in Northeast Ohio is continuing to climb and, incredibly, experts expect it to continue growing. Real estate brokers are reaching back in memory — far back — to find a period that's as active as this one.

 

"My analogy is 1999 or so," said George Stevens, a vice president focused on the industrial market in CBRE's Cleveland office. "There's going to be a run in our market the next several months like we haven't seen in years."

 

Ray Fogg Jr., president and CEO of Ray Fogg Corporate Properties in Valley View, said staffers at his family owned industrial construction, real estate development and ownership firm "have seen a surge in companies with interest and willingness to invest in bricks and mortar to expand their facilities or build new ones."

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20180527/news/163076/industrial-projects-have-yet-reach-peak-neo

Industrial projects have yet to reach peak in NEO

 

The volume of industrial building projects in Northeast Ohio is continuing to climb and, incredibly, experts expect it to continue growing. Real estate brokers are reaching back in memory — far back — to find a period that's as active as this one.

 

"My analogy is 1999 or so," said George Stevens, a vice president focused on the industrial market in CBRE's Cleveland office. "There's going to be a run in our market the next several months like we haven't seen in years."

 

Ray Fogg Jr., president and CEO of Ray Fogg Corporate Properties in Valley View, said staffers at his family owned industrial construction, real estate development and ownership firm "have seen a surge in companies with interest and willingness to invest in bricks and mortar to expand their facilities or build new ones."

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20180527/news/163076/industrial-projects-have-yet-reach-peak-neo

 

Cool, but where will they be built? On clean/green land at the urban fringe that the immobile impoverished cannot reach due to no public transportation, and the development exacerbates urban sprawl, pulling the inner-city abandonment and poverty deeper into inner-ring suburbs? Or will it be on land far from freeways and that's so polluted that few will touch it because they don't want to go through the cost and red tape of cleaning it up, only to run the risk of getting sued if a worker gets sick in 5 years? The city of Cleveland has cleaned up some land (the 65-acre Cuyahoga Valley Industrial Center off I-77, the 23-acre Midland Commerce Park at West 110th and the 5-acre Trinity Development Site) but those are too small to reverse the tide of industrial sprawl. And most of Trinity was used for the city's new animal kennel -- a failure of urban planning if there ever was one.

 

I suspect that a lot of land will open up soon along the Opportunity Corridor, and that is a good thing. It is accessible to the people who need the jobs the most, assuming they are trained for it or can access the training (both in cost and in transportation to training programs).

 

But look at the triangular area near Hayden Avenue/CSX Railroad, south of I-90/CSX, and Euclid Avenue/Norfolk Southern railroad. This is the new Forgotten Triangle which includes the cities of Cleveland, East Cleveland and Euclid. In it, you will see an incredible amount of underutilized or vacant industrialized land. This is next to some of the most impoverished neighborhoods in America. This entire area needs a massive do-over combined with an extension of the Red Line for jobs access, a re-envisioning of distributor bus routes including Laketran, and two or three truck-route roadways to/from I-90 to reduce the impact on neighborhoods from new truck traffic.

Industrial projects have yet to reach peak in NEO

 

The volume of industrial building projects in Northeast Ohio is continuing to climb and, incredibly, experts expect it to continue growing. Real estate brokers are reaching back in memory — far back — to find a period that's as active as this one.

 

"My analogy is 1999 or so," said George Stevens, a vice president focused on the industrial market in CBRE's Cleveland office. "There's going to be a run in our market the next several months like we haven't seen in years."

 

Ray Fogg Jr., president and CEO of Ray Fogg Corporate Properties in Valley View, said staffers at his family owned industrial construction, real estate development and ownership firm "have seen a surge in companies with interest and willingness to invest in bricks and mortar to expand their facilities or build new ones."

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20180527/news/163076/industrial-projects-have-yet-reach-peak-neo

 

Cool, but where will they be built? On clean/green land at the urban fringe that the immobile impoverished cannot reach due to no public transportation, and the development exacerbates urban sprawl, pulling the inner-city abandonment and poverty deeper into inner-ring suburbs? Or will it be on land far from freeways and that's so polluted that few will touch it because they don't want to go through the cost and red tape of cleaning it up, only to run the risk of getting sued if a worker gets sick in 5 years? The city of Cleveland has cleaned up some land (the 65-acre Cuyahoga Valley Industrial Center off I-77, the 23-acre Midland Commerce Park at West 110th and the 5-acre Trinity Development Site) but those are too small to reverse the tide of industrial sprawl. And most of Trinity was used for the city's new animal kennel -- a failure of urban planning if there ever was one.

 

I suspect that a lot of land will open up soon along the Opportunity Corridor, and that is a good thing. It is accessible to the people who need the jobs the most, assuming they are trained for it or can access the training (both in cost and in transportation to training programs).

 

But look at the triangular area near Hayden Avenue/CSX Railroad, south of I-90/CSX, and Euclid Avenue/Norfolk Southern railroad. This is the new Forgotten Triangle which includes the cities of Cleveland, East Cleveland and Euclid. In it, you will see an incredible amount of underutilized or vacant industrialized land. This is next to some of the most impoverished neighborhoods in America. This entire area needs a massive do-over combined with an extension of the Red Line for jobs access, a re-envisioning of distributor bus routes including Laketran, and two or three truck-route roadways to/from I-90 to reduce the impact on neighborhoods from new truck traffic.

 

The main roadblock here, as it has been for decades, is CERCLA.  For eight years, nothing could be done about that.  It’s way too strict and way too cumbersome, but it’s a jobs programs for environmental lawyers, consultants, labs, etc.  They are influential in the environmentalist movement, which in turn is a key part of the progressive-left coalition that got Obama elected.

 

Now….you have a President with a lot of background in urban real estate that craves a reputation for making a difference.  He has a pro business EPA boss and no need to worry about antagonizing the environmentalists because he’s already done so.

 

Many cities have this precise problem.  Cleveland could probably take the lead on a CERCLA reform movement and get other cities to join in.

 

This could include reforms to push containment over removal, but most importantly to shield new industrial companies (and their lenders) from liability.  Qualifying requirements could include a workforce that lives within an adjoining district that has an unemployment rate more than 150% the national average, and obtaining ISO 14000 certification within 3 years of manufacturing startup.

 

The real problem is we ran out of superfund.  Removal should still be prioritized over containment.  But I agree that CERCLA reform would do wonders for cities like Cleveland.

Semi-related, this story highlights an instance of Vibrant Greenspace policies doing harm to industrial businesses.  At the end it says Towpath planners tried to accommodate concerns raised by the businesses, but suggests there was only so much they could do when ramming their project through an active industrial area was the overwhelming priority.  Some of the business concerns seem more significant (truck access blocked) than others (parking reduced).

 

https://www.cleveland.com/expo/erry-2018/05/027210fffd4281/towpath_trail_extension_troubl.html#incart_m-rpt-1

^Cross-posted in the Towpath thread as well:  https://www.urbanohio.com/forum/index.php/topic,1375.msg915964

Mastip Technology Continues U.S. Expansion With New Talent and Cleveland Office

https://news.thomasnet.com/companystory/mastip-technology-continues-u-s-expansion-with-new-talent-and-cleveland-office-40011988

Semi-related, this story highlights an instance of Vibrant Greenspace policies doing harm to industrial businesses.  At the end it says Towpath planners tried to accommodate concerns raised by the businesses, but suggests there was only so much they could do when ramming their project through an active industrial area was the overwhelming priority.  Some of the business concerns seem more significant (truck access blocked) than others (parking reduced).

 

https://www.cleveland.com/expo/erry-2018/05/027210fffd4281/towpath_trail_extension_troubl.html#incart_m-rpt-1

 

Parking reduced is pretty significant for a restaurant/bar.

IBM Watson Health reportedly laying off 50-70% of its workforce.  Cleveland impacted as well:  http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20180529/NEWS/180529928

And the city provided a financial aid package for their new office building, owned by Hemingway and to be leased by IBM, just to move a few miles from downtown. Just two years ago, IBM expected to increase its local employment from 170 to 300 jobs by the end of this year....

 

https://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2016/08/incentives_for_ibm-explorys_of.html

So wait, is IBM still increasing its Cleveland presence or what?

^They are clearly having some issues if cutting half or so of all staff nationwide, so who knows what's going on internally and where they think they can best turn things around.....I would say at the moment, expansion in any location in on hold......  though if Cleveland were smart, they'd position the city to say, "save costs and consolidate locations and do so in Cleveland."  I don't have much hope for the City doing that, but maybe Bioenterprise could make that pitch if anyone knows anyone there.....

#TwoTomorrows "proves what anyone paying attention should already know - that, despite the best efforts of a lot of smart people, the scope and breadth of the region's economic unpreparedness is breathtaking."

https://articles.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2018/05/if_only_our_regions_leaders_we.amp?__twitter_impression=true

Ouch. Sad but true.

One other thing - In my opinion, it's a cop-out to always blame "leaders." Larkin would never say this in the Plain Dealer, but the reality is that leaders are a reflection of the people they are leading. Many people in this region, unfortunately, tend to be sheltered and unimaginative. Maybe this is due to decades of stagnation - all the people that aren't like that keep leaving. But there you have it.

We need more of this...more workforce development

 

Cuyahoga Community College to begin $10 million expansion of its Advanced Technology Training Center

 

The expansion, which is being paid for through the bond issue passed in November, will add 12,000 square feet to the center. Also, renovations to 14,000 square feet of the center "will allow for the full integration of the College's manufacturing and engineering departments and increased alignment of workforce programs," the release stated.

 

Approval of the bond will raise about $227.5 million for construction and improvements at the college.

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20180601/news/163626/cuyahoga-community-college-begin-10-million-expansion-its-advanced

Flexjet pilots voted to decertify the Teamsters; and the vote wasn't close.  That's pretty surprising in the almost totally unionized aviation business.

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20180601/news/163621/flexjet-pilots-oust-teamsters-only-two-years-after-joining-union

 

 

I would say maybe the complete collapse of the industrial economy and centuries of racist policy in America has much more to do with Cleveland’s economic malaise than buildings. Every city has convention centers and sports stadiums. Maybe people just have a hard accepting that economies result from mostly circumstantial and uncontrollable factors.

Dupe.

 

 

 

“We have underperformed in economic development for more than a decade...who (among the civic leadership) has been forced out of a job?"

 

ANSWER: NONE

 

https://t.co/pw7mJ7tV4Y from Crains

“We have underperformed in economic development for more than a decade...who (among the civic leadership) has been forced out of a job?"

 

ANSWER: NONE

 

https://t.co/pw7mJ7tV4Y from Crains

 

My unpopular opinion: Lansi would've done a better job.

“We have underperformed in economic development for more than a decade...who (among the civic leadership) has been forced out of a job?"

 

ANSWER: NONE

 

https://t.co/pw7mJ7tV4Y from Crains

This article is spot on and depressing....Columbus is kicking our collective butts with economic growth and development.  And the young leaders who can help change this all seem to be moving....to Cbus.

 

I think a lot of changes are needed at GCP and TeamNEO.  GCP is basically the same people as Cleveland Tomorrow who've been doing the same stuff since the 1980s.  TeamNEO is not even in the same league as Columbus 2020.

One other thing - In my opinion, it's a cop-out to always blame "leaders." Larkin would never say this in the Plain Dealer, but the reality is that leaders are a reflection of the people they are leading. Many people in this region, unfortunately, tend to be sheltered and unimaginative. Maybe this is due to decades of stagnation - all the people that aren't like that keep leaving. But there you have it.

 

Stodgy machine politics don't reward being innovative and certainly don't reward being right when the "consensus" is wrong.  Seniority in the system is paramount and by the time one is senior one's mindset has been captured by the system.  The same thing happens to big corporations, but with government it's worse because measures of success and failure are more abstract.

Which is why we need more Republicans and other competitive candidates in Cleveland government.