^It was posted in "The Official *I Love Cleveland* Thread"

Whew! I thought they'd never get around to doing this… :lol:

 

Painesville Council names T & T Bakery's Italian loaf the city's official bread

 

http://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20140722/painesville-council-names-t-t-bakerys-italian-loaf-the-citys-official-bread

 

The story never gets stale.

 

John Terriaco moved to the United States from Italy in 1955 with his family. After he and his father worked in nurseries and factories they decided they wanted their own piece of the pie.

 

In 1971 John and his wife, Evelina, learned how to bake bread and started selling it out of the abandoned gas station he bought near where his current Painesville business at 252 E. Erie St. still bakes about 600 loaves of bread a day.

 

At the regular council meeting Monday, July 21, Painesville Council passed a proclamation institutionalizing T & T Bakery’s Italian loaf as the official bread of Painesville.

Huge for NEO:

 

Cleveland to launch new economic-development website aimed at site selectors, businesses

 

By Michelle Jarboe McFee, The Plain Dealer 

on July 24, 2014 at 8:45 AM, updated July 24, 2014 at 9:57 AM

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- When a group of real estate site selectors toured Cleveland last year, one of them didn't realize the city edged up to a lake. Another asked where all the pollution was, recalled Tracey Nichols, the city's economic-development director.

 

Those responses reinforced the idea that what's happening on the ground - in business, workforce training and development - isn't necessarily visible beyond Cleveland's borders. Corporate leaders and the people who guide their real estate decisions see the city as old, with a patina of rust and considerable competition from other Midwest markets, including Columbus and Chicago.

 

A new website won't necessarily fix those perception problems. But Nichols and her staff hope that a business-specific online presence and a new tagline - "Built by industry. Inspired by innovation." - will give executives and their advisors a better first impression of a city they might otherwise overlook.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/07/cleveland_to_launch_new_econom.html

Cleveland high on the list: http://www.agc.org/galleries/default-file/Metro%20empl%201406%20june14%20rank.pdf

 

 

CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYMENT INCREASES IN 215 OUT OF 339 METRO AREAS BETWEEN JUNE 2013 & JUNE 2014 AS 26 AREAS EXCEED PREVIOUS HIGHS FOR THE MONTH

the Year

 

Construction employment expanded in 215 metro areas, declined in 80 and was stagnant in 44 between June 2013 and June 2014, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials noted that uncertainty about a range of federal infrastructure and

Date: July 30, 2014

 

 

Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas and Monroe, Mich. Top Growth List; Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Md. And Cheyenne, Wyo. Experience the Largest Actual and Percentage Declines for construction programs could weigh on future growth for the sector.

 

"Contractors have been expanding their work force in about two-thirds of the country for several months in a row," said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. "Some metro areas are adding workers at a strong clip, but the gains remain modest and sporadic in many localities."

 

http://www.agc.org/cs/news_media/press_room/press_release?pressrelease.id=1608

 

Wow, Cleveland ranked 13th in percentage growth (15%), but seventh in the nation with 5,300 new construction jobs added in the past year! Only the very largest cities beat out Cleveland (except Baton Rouge which probably gained from petroleum industry construction).

I counted only six cities with more new construction jobs. This article says eight. Oh well.......

 

Greater Cleveland among national leaders in creating new construction jobs

By Alison Grant, The Plain Dealer

on July 30, 2014 at 12:14 PM, updated July 30, 2014 at 1:04 PM

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Northeast Ohio added more new construction jobs in the past year than 330 out out 339 metro areas, with employment in the local construction industry hitting a seven-year high.

 

But the possibility of a slowdown in federal highway funding could cost the area hundreds of construction jobs.

 

....The Cleveland metro area added 5,300 new construction jobs between June 2013 and June 2014, a 15 percent increase. Out of 339 metro areas, only 8 added more construction jobs.

 

....The job growth is due in large part to new road and bridge projects like the Inner Belt Bridge replacement, which includes the recently completed demolition of the 1950s-era span over the Cuyahoga River. However, the association's numbers also add in non-infrastructure construction work such as home building.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/07/greater_cleveland_among_nation.html

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wells-fargo-report-cleveland-manufacturing-jobs-regain-footing-2014-08-05

 

PRESS RELEASE

Aug. 5, 2014, 10:01 a.m. EDT

Wells Fargo Report: Cleveland Manufacturing Jobs Regain Footing

Region’s economic picture brighter as companies expand, relocate to Northeast Ohio

 

CLEVELAND, Aug 05, 2014 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Thanks to the expansion of many area companies and the relocation of other businesses to Northeast Ohio, Cleveland ’s employment outlook is improving, according to a new economic report released this week by Wells Fargo WFC -0.02%  . Certain sectors, in particular, are showing promise. Manufacturing is “regaining its footing,” and Northeast Ohio is poised to “benefit from growth in the region’s energy exploration business,” said Mark Vitner, managing director and senior economist for Wells Fargo.

 

“Employment growth remains exceptionally modest today but appears to be taking a turn for the better,” Vitner said in his analysis of Cleveland’s economy. “The nearly simultaneous announcements that Cleveland will host the 2016 Republican National Convention and that LeBron James will rejoin the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA team has lifted the spirits of the area and helped focus attention on the positive attributes of Northeast Ohio.”

 

To add to the good news, hiring in Cleveland factories has moderated more recently but is still up 1.1 percent over the past year. Manufacturing accounted for nearly half of all job gains during the first two years of the recovery, reflecting improvements in the region’s automotive and steel industries, Vitner said. More growth for Cleveland is on the way due to companies expanding and relocating to the area. Statistics from Team Northeast Ohio, a site selection consultancy group mentioned in Wells Fargo’s economic report, show a record of 16 new or expanding operations located in Northeast Ohio last year.

 

Many industries that faced serious setbacks during the recession are rebounding, including the financial services industry. Wells Fargo avoided the pitfalls and sizable layoffs faced recently by some in the financial industry, and instead grew its Cleveland Commercial Banking office to 19 professionals over the past 10 years and relocated to the Flat East Bank waterfront development at 950 Main Ave., where its lease extends until 2026.

 

In the Ohio market, Wells Fargo, whose Commercial Banking office in Cleveland recently marked its 10-year anniversary, has grown more than 60 percent in revenue and profit over the past five years, according to Jason Sutton, who heads Wells Fargo’s Commercial Bank office in Cleveland. That growth includes a 115 percent increase in loans to Ohio midsized companies, making Cleveland one of the larger Wells Fargo Commercial Banking offices in the country, he said.

 

“We’re committed to continuing to provide an array of financial services to the middle market businesses that are powering Cleveland’s economic recovery,” Sutton said. “This is an exciting time for Cleveland, for Wells Fargo, and for our middle market customers.”

 

Wells Fargo opened its Cleveland Commercial Banking office in June 2004 with just one banker, Don Hayes, who has since led the expansion to four additional Northeast Ohio locations and 41 total team members.

 

The key to Wells Fargo’s continued growth, said Sutton, has been the collaboration among business lines, such as Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, Wells Fargo Capital Finance, Wells Fargo Securities, and private banking, among others.

 

Strong relationships with local mid-market customers, such as Fairmount Minerals Ltd., based in Chesterland, Ohio, illustrate the economic impact of Wells Fargo’s expansion. Fairmount Minerals is one of the largest producers of industrial sand in North America and was the first middle-market customer to come aboard when Hayes opened the Cleveland Commercial Banking office. Since, Fairmount Minerals has continued to prosper, expand, and cement its position in the nation’s growing sand market.

 

“We greatly value the long-term relationship that we have established with Wells Fargo, beginning with the opening of its Cleveland Office in 2004,” said Jenniffer Deckard, president and chief executive officer of Fairmount Minerals. “Wells Fargo has been a key financial partner to us in carrying out multiple capital strategies in support of our substantial growth initiatives over the past 10 years. As importantly, Wells Fargo has been a steadfast partner to Fairmount Minerals in our support of our Cleveland and Geauga County communities. We congratulate their success and thank them for the partnership.”

 

A copy of the Wells Fargo economic outlook report for Cleveland is available at wellsfargo.com (see Economic Commentary, State Reports ) or by contacting Sutton at (216) 344-6955 or [email protected] .

One negative report, which is followed by a positive report, which is followed by.....

 

ACE Report: Cleveland-Akron area lost 7,242 jobs in July

By JAY MILLER

Originally Published: August 15, 2014 8:15 AM  Modified: August 15, 2014 10:57 AM

 

The Cleveland-Akron area lost 7,242 jobs last month, a 0.62% decline from June, according to the first Ahola Crain’s Employment Report, or ACE Report.

 

Cleveland Heights economist Jack Kleinhenz, who developed the economic model, said the decline did not surprise him, because he has seen a drop in construction spending and a slower pace of hiring by large goods-producing firms.

 

The one-month decline runs counter to the national trend, but Kleinhenz said by email that looking at longer-term trends “suggests that the pace of employment (for the full year 2014) should be picking up over the first half of 2014.”

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20140815/FREE/140819860

Assorted biz news.......

 

Bravo Wellness secures $22 million investment

Originally Published: August 12, 2014 7:00 AM  Modified: August 13, 2014 2:40 PM

Cleveland-based Bravo Wellness has secured a $22 million investment that its leaders say will help it get even bigger.

The investment from ABS Capital Partners, a venture capital firm with offices in Baltimore and San Francisco, will allow the company to add more staff, more service offerings and perhaps enable it to take on more office space at its headquarters on Cleveland’s southwest side near the airport, according to Bravo Wellness chairman and CEO Jim Pshock.

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20140812/FREE/140819963/bravo-wellness-secures-22-million-investment

 

Atrium of Westlake to become home of two tech-oriented companies

Originally Published: July 25, 2014 9:10 AM  Modified: July 31, 2014 8:21 AM

The Atrium of Westlake office building will become the destination for new offices of two technology-oriented companies following the multitenant office building’s purchase by an investor group led by Joe Whang, a venture capitalist and software company executive.

Through BR Properties Atrium LLC, Whang’s group on July 10 paid $4.6 million for the four-story building at 30400 Detroit Ave., according to Cuyahoga County land records. County documents show BR assumed a loan the seller had on the structure. The seller of the 61,000-square-foot office building dating from 1979 was a Miami Beach-based investor group, Westlake Atrium LLC, which had owned it since 2007.

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20140725/FREE/140729869/atrium-of-westlake-to-become-home-of-two-tech-oriented-companies

 

Oracle buying TOA Technologies of Beachwood, region's most successful tech startup

on July 31, 2014 at 10:54 AM, updated July 31, 2014 at 11:46 AM

BEACHWOOD, Ohio--Software giant Oracle, which is based in California, has reached an agreement to buy TOA Technologies of Beachwood, Northeast Ohio's most successful tech startup, the two companies announced Thursday.

TOA, which has been expanding steadily, employs about 500 people globally and nearly 100 in its headquarters office on Richmond Road. Oracle employs more than 120,000 people and will fold TOA and its products into its operations.

The announcement did not say what would happen to TOA employees or to the company's Cleveland area offices.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/07/oracle_buying_toa_technologies.html

Man, I love Richey Piiparinen.  Dude deserves a statue or something.

 

Cleveland's young adult workforce ranks among the brightest in America, study finds

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio--An encouraging demographic trend has accelerated for Greater Cleveland, which is attracting highly skilled young professionals in eye-opening numbers.

 

According to a study being released today, the area ranks 8th in the nation for the skill level of its young adult workforce, ahead of such "new economy cities" as Chicago, Seattle, Austin and Denver.

 

About 16 percent of area workers between the ages of 25 and 34 held an advanced college degree in 2013, the study found, up from 14 percent in 2009.

 

"That's a nice jump," said Richey Piiparinen, director of the Center for Population Dynamics at Cleveland State University, which conducted the study.

 

He attributes the brain gain to the allure of the region's life sciences industry and its advanced manufacturing, as well as immigration, and said the trend bodes well for Cleveland's transition to a smart economy.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/08/clevelands_young_professionals.html#incart_m-rpt-1

 

 

 

America's Top Young Adult Workforces: A Rust Belt Rebirth?

 

Figure 1 displays the results. The nation's largest 40 regions were ranked. The top ten highest-skilled metros are filled with the regular suspects, including Washington, D.C., Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. However, there are a few surprises, particularly Pittsburgh and Cleveland, which rank as having the 3rd and 8th most highly-skilled young adult workforces in the nation, respectively.

 

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1968788/thumbs/o-URBAN-PROGRESS-GRAPH-570.jpg

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richey-piiparinen/americas-top-young-adult-_b_5683298.html?utm_hp_ref=business&ir=Business

On the subject of Oracle, they recently entered a purchase agreement to buy Micros, Inc to the tune of $5.3 billion. Micros has a division in Solon with over 200 employees that work on retail (and related) software. The deal should close in September.

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-23/oracle-buys-micros-for-4-6-billion-to-add-hotel-software.html

 

 

Ah, Micros.  The biggest POS of all the POS systems out their.

Ah, Micros.  The biggest POS of all the POS systems out their.

 

Nah, that would be Squirrel!

With a boost from FlashStarts, 12 new companies join the Cleveland economy

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio--Optimism and sophistication pervaded Monday's "demo day" for FlashStarts, a downtown business accelerator that introduced 12 new companies to intrigue and applause.

 

More than 300 people crowded into the elegant Allen Theater in Playhouse Square for the evening showcase, 57 accredited investors among them.

 

The moneylenders included Robert Hatta, a partner at Drive Capital, who called the event a milestone in Cleveland entrepreneurship.

 

"This was, in my opinion, the best demo day yet by any accelerator in Cleveland," said Hatta, who helps run a $250 million venture capital fund in Columbus. "They built a really, really diverse set of companies."

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/08/with_a_boost_from_flashstarts.html#incart_river

Cleveland welcomes growing field of server farms

 

CLEVELAND — Northeast Ohio is hardly ready to usurp Silicon Valley as a high-tech mecca, but a growing number of data centers are choosing to locate in and around Cleveland to take advantage of cheap power, an abundance of fiber-optic cable and one of the safest environments in the country for storing digital information....

 

...It’s ironic that a Rust Belt city like Cleveland, once a manufacturing giant brought to its knees by disruptive technologies and business models, is so well-suited to the Internet age. The superhighways of the 19th and early 20th centuries — rail lines — have proven to be the ideal conduit for routing fiber-optic cable, much like the telegraph lines of old.

 

“It’s an infrastructure legacy,” said Kevin Goodman, managing director and a partner in BlueBridge Networks, which has a downtown data center near Playhouse Square and a larger facility in suburban Mayfield Heights.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/cleveland-welcomes-growing-field-of-server-farms/2014/08/31/d8a2c1a2-311d-11e4-9f4d-24103cb8b742_story.html

Why Cleveland's Manufacturing Sector is Growing (via @IndustryWeek): http://t.co/jF1p5Psuuz  #usmfg

 

FlashStarts, a downtown startup accelerator, introduces a dozen new startups for Cleveland http://t.co/PTCGBilpm5 #ThisIsCLE

I guess we can take the BLS estimates with a grain of salt... BUT... the BLS states that Cleveland's employment numbers are the highest they've been since December of 2008.

               

                Labor Force      Employment      Unemployment    Unemployment Rate

 

2014 Jul 1084063(P) 1006411(P) 77652(P)             7.2(P)

 

2008 Dec 1072421         994316         78105             7.3

 

Granted, we're still a few thousand jobs off from before the recession, but it seems as though we're finally headed in the right direction. 

 

2007 Jul 1127579         1055629         71950               6.4

 

 

Cleveland Becomes Cleantech Leader But Ohio Backtracks on Renewable Energy

Hundreds of companies are working toward clean energy solutions as governor freezes statewide targets for renewables.

By Amy Nordrum, InsideClimate News Sep 11, 2014

 

As the state of Ohio freezes climate policy, the city of Cleveland and its surrounding area are taking a different approach. Northeast Ohio is charging ahead with plans to build green industries that could jumpstart the economy and reduce pollution at the same time.

 

In the past decade, 500 companies have been built in northeast Ohio on the promise of green technology, each handpicked by civic leaders to match the strengths of the region. Meanwhile, politicians–including the governor–are knocking back statewide renewable energy targets that benefited many of those companies, such as wind and solar farm operators. The conflict could stall—or even stifle—further development of businesses trying to create climate-friendly technologies and a new clean energy economy.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20140911/cleveland-becomes-cleantech-leader-ohio-backtracks-renewable-energy

Getting pretty sick of these stories. When will we start seeing positive economic news that doesn't involve apartments?

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/09/university_hospitals_will_move.html#incart_river

 

University Hospitals will move 600 employees to Highland Hills, pay $12 million for office building

HIGHLAND HILLS, Ohio -- University Hospitals plans to buy a Highland Hills office building and move 600 administrative employees to the East Side suburb by spring.

 

The hospital system announced Monday that it has inked a deal to acquire One Harvard Crossing, a 130,000-square-foot building at 20800 Harvard Road. The near-vacant building, part of a well-known Northeast Ohio real estate portfolio that changed hands last year, will sell for $12 million.

 

The sale is scheduled to close Sept. 30.

 

Consolidating back-of-house employees -- people who don't work with patients -- into large buildings outside of the healthcare provider's main Cleveland campus is nothing new for UH. In 2006, the health system bought the former OfficeMax headquarters in Shaker Heights and moved its legal department, human resources and other office workers to Warrensville Center Road.

 

<snip>

^Don't lose sight of the forest by just staring at the trees the PD has highlighted for you

Cool

 

Progressive Insurance hiring 324 in Greater Cleveland as part of 1,000 jobs being added nationwide

on September 16, 2014 at 1:35 PM, updated September 16, 2014 at 1:53 PM

 

MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio -- Progressive Insurance announced Tuesday that it is hiring nearly 1,000 people nationwide -- including 324 in Greater Cleveland -- by the end of 2014. Jobs are in IT, analyst, call center, claims and corporate.

 

Progressive, which ranks No. 5 among large employers on The Plain Dealer's 100 Top Workplaces in Northeast Ohio, said the jobs include paid training, as well as medical, dental, vision and other insurance benefits, as well as access to compressed work weeks, onsite fitness centers and yoga classes.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/09/progressive_insurance_hiring_3.html#incart_river

^Don't lose sight of the forest by just staring at the trees the PD has highlighted for you

 

My comment was more for the employees leaving Cleveland, not necessarily an indictment of the health and stability of UH or the region as a whole.

 

Cool

 

Progressive Insurance hiring 324 in Greater Cleveland as part of 1,000 jobs being added nationwide

 

Also good news. Progressive seems to be doing well. Thanks, Flo.

^Don't lose sight of the forest by just staring at the trees the PD has highlighted for you

 

My comment was more for the employees leaving Cleveland, not necessarily an indictment of the health and stability of UH or the region as a whole.

 

So was mine.

So was mine.

 

Then by all means, enlighten me. I must have missed the press coverage for company X moving Y jobs into Cleveland of similar scale as Key or UH. Not all growth can be organic.

By all means, I don't know that you will find "company X moving Y jobs into Cleveland of similar scale as Key or UH."  You are more likely to find companies A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, and Z either growing or moving into the core, offsetting the loses excepted from those two.  Again, the forest, not the trees.  I'm not going to dig through all of the threads to locate all of those examples, but we have seen them.

So was mine.

 

Then by all means, enlighten me. I must have missed the press coverage for company X moving Y jobs into Cleveland of similar scale as Key or UH. Not all growth can be organic.

 

Here's one of many:

 

Millennia Companies to buy Garfield Building for apartments, plans downtown Cleveland HQ move

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/04/millennia_companies_to_buy_gar.html

Getting pretty sick of these stories. When will we start seeing positive economic news that doesn't involve apartments?

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/09/university_hospitals_will_move.html#incart_river

 

University Hospitals will move 600 employees to Highland Hills, pay $12 million for office building

HIGHLAND HILLS, Ohio -- University Hospitals plans to buy a Highland Hills office building and move 600 administrative employees to the East Side suburb by spring.

 

The hospital system announced Monday that it has inked a deal to acquire One Harvard Crossing, a 130,000-square-foot building at 20800 Harvard Road. The near-vacant building, part of a well-known Northeast Ohio real estate portfolio that changed hands last year, will sell for $12 million.

 

The sale is scheduled to close Sept. 30.

 

Consolidating back-of-house employees -- people who don't work with patients -- into large buildings outside of the healthcare provider's main Cleveland campus is nothing new for UH. In 2006, the health system bought the former OfficeMax headquarters in Shaker Heights and moved its legal department, human resources and other office workers to Warrensville Center Road.

 

<snip>

 

Two miles from Ahuja.  This makes sense for them.

Mendo's point was very clear out of the gate.  Instead of offsetting jobs lost to the suburbs by people moving jobs into the city, he would rather see a net gain.  No need to "nit-pick" his post.  He has a valid point.   

^I must've missed that very clear point out of the gate.

 

"Getting pretty sick of these stories. When will we start seeing positive economic news that doesn't involve apartments?"

 

On second read, I'm still missing it.  He's commenting on an article which is reporting on jobs moving from the City to the burbs.  I assumed (incorrectly somehow apparently) that he was lamenting such a move.  If all he wanted to see was a net gain, that would've been much easier.  Just look at the metro's GDP growth which was just posted in another thread.

 

Here's your net gain - http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,29622.0.html

 

 

^Not sure I follow- he's lamenting a presumed net loss of jobs from the city, no?  Whether he's right or wrong on that score*, not sure how the regional GDP is the kind of good news that's responsive to that concern.

 

*The longish term trend for employment downtown has been pretty brutal, and even Cuyahoga County has significantly less employment now than in 2000, but who knows what the last couple years has brought to the city as a whole.  The best local data (LEHD series) is only current through 2011 for customizable geographies.

By all means, I don't know that you will find "company X moving Y jobs into Cleveland of similar scale as Key or UH."  You are more likely to find companies A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, and Z either growing or moving into the core, offsetting the loses excepted from those two.  Again, the forest, not the trees.  I'm not going to dig through all of the threads to locate all of those examples, but we have seen them.

 

I don't have information on the bit players growing or relocating into the city, other than the handful that have been reported by the PD or DCA quarterly updates. The largest, and most recent announcement being Millenia and it's 200 employees, but that is not yet official. Certainly not 2,500 people worth as with Key, Eaton, Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospitals.

 

What's wrong with not wanting our major employers to move people out of the city? Even if some others are arguably picking up the slack?

 

^I must've missed that very clear point out of the gate.

 

"Getting pretty sick of these stories. When will we start seeing positive economic news that doesn't involve apartments?"

 

On second read, I'm still missing it.  He's commenting on an article which is reporting on jobs moving from the City to the burbs.  I assumed (incorrectly somehow apparently) that he was lamenting such a move.  If all he wanted to see was a net gain, that would've been much easier.  Just look at the metro's GDP growth which was just posted in another thread.

 

Here's your net gain - http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,29622.0.html

 

What does GDP of the metro have to do with employment in Cleveland, which by the way trails the rest of the metro?

Mendo's comment to the announcement, at least how I took it, was that there has been no positive economic news in the City outside of apartments.  If he meant no big ticket positive economic news, such as a large corporate HQ relocating to the City, nobody can argue with that.  But the lack of any big ticket item, doesn't mean that there has been an utter lack of positive economic news outside of apartments.  A positively changing economic trajectory is apparent, even if that trajectory might still be pointed slightly downward (which I don't know that it is).  The growth in the biotech industries and rebound of local manufacturing is positive economic news.  The boost in convention business, not to mention the RNC, is positive economic news.  Hell, the return of LeBron is positive economic news.  Just like his buddy Jay-Z, he's not a businessman, he's a business... man.  And, of course, the demand for apartment consistently outpacing development, creating massive spillover benefits for the City, is positive economic news.  I certainly don't in any way claim this is a 'boomtown', but the big picture (metro GDP being one of the better indicators) doesn't look too bleak.

Well- ill take it a different direction. Better to move these jobs than eliminate them like a lot of large health systems are nationally

Well- ill take it a different direction. Better to move these jobs than eliminate them like a lot of large health systems are nationally

The other question is, what's going in where those people were?  I doubt very much it's going to be left vacant.  Not at UH.

Don't worry. The healthcare billing reckoning will arrive sooner or later, and those suburban office buildings will start to hollow out yet again.

Cool

 

Progressive Insurance hiring 324 in Greater Cleveland as part of 1,000 jobs being added nationwide

on September 16, 2014 at 1:35 PM, updated September 16, 2014 at 1:53 PM

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/09/progressive_insurance_hiring_3.html#incart_river

 

325 actually....my friend is quitting!

Cool

 

Progressive Insurance hiring 324 in Greater Cleveland as part of 1,000 jobs being added nationwide

on September 16, 2014 at 1:35 PM, updated September 16, 2014 at 1:53 PM

 

MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio -- Progressive Insurance announced Tuesday that it is hiring nearly 1,000 people nationwide -- including 324 in Greater Cleveland -- by the end of 2014. Jobs are in IT, analyst, call center, claims and corporate.

 

Progressive, which ranks No. 5 among large employers on The Plain Dealer's 100 Top Workplaces in Northeast Ohio, said the jobs include paid training, as well as medical, dental, vision and other insurance benefits, as well as access to compressed work weeks, onsite fitness centers and yoga classes.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/09/progressive_insurance_hiring_3.html#incart_river

 

"People countrywide are starting to learn what we already knew: Cleveland is a great place to live, work and play."

 

I'm glad people are realizing this. Now, if only Progressive would relocate their offices so that their employees could actually work in Cleveland.

Cool

 

Progressive Insurance hiring 324 in Greater Cleveland as part of 1,000 jobs being added nationwide

on September 16, 2014 at 1:35 PM, updated September 16, 2014 at 1:53 PM

 

MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio -- Progressive Insurance announced Tuesday that it is hiring nearly 1,000 people nationwide -- including 324 in Greater Cleveland -- by the end of 2014. Jobs are in IT, analyst, call center, claims and corporate.

 

Progressive, which ranks No. 5 among large employers on The Plain Dealer's 100 Top Workplaces in Northeast Ohio, said the jobs include paid training, as well as medical, dental, vision and other insurance benefits, as well as access to compressed work weeks, onsite fitness centers and yoga classes.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/09/progressive_insurance_hiring_3.html#incart_river

 

"People countrywide are starting to learn what we already knew: Cleveland is a great place to live, work and play."

 

I'm glad people are realizing this. Now, if only Progressive would relocate their offices so that their employees could actually work in Cleveland.

 

One of the primary reasons Peter Lewis never did this was the vast majority of employees there strongly oppose it. 

 

Should they follow the wishes of existing workers, or hypothetical new ones?

Cool

 

Progressive Insurance hiring 324 in Greater Cleveland as part of 1,000 jobs being added nationwide

on September 16, 2014 at 1:35 PM, updated September 16, 2014 at 1:53 PM

 

MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio -- Progressive Insurance announced Tuesday that it is hiring nearly 1,000 people nationwide -- including 324 in Greater Cleveland -- by the end of 2014. Jobs are in IT, analyst, call center, claims and corporate.

 

Progressive, which ranks No. 5 among large employers on The Plain Dealer's 100 Top Workplaces in Northeast Ohio, said the jobs include paid training, as well as medical, dental, vision and other insurance benefits, as well as access to compressed work weeks, onsite fitness centers and yoga classes.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/09/progressive_insurance_hiring_3.html#incart_river

 

"People countrywide are starting to learn what we already knew: Cleveland is a great place to live, work and play."

 

I'm glad people are realizing this. Now, if only Progressive would relocate their offices so that their employees could actually work in Cleveland.

 

One of the primary reasons Peter Lewis never did this was the vast majority of employees there strongly oppose it. 

 

Should they follow the wishes of existing workers, or hypothetical new ones?

 

That is assuming their current workforce is comprised of the exact same individuals, with the exact same thoughts and opinions, as 25 years ago.

Hi folks. The move itself is news and I understand the general direction of the conversation as it related to ingress and/or egress of people within city limits, but let's move on so it doesn't devolve into further bickering. Thank you.

ACE Report shows Cleveland-Akron area gained 5,109 jobs in August

By JAY MILLER

Originally Published: September 26, 2014 4:30 AM  Modified: September 26, 2014 9:24 AM

 

Job growth returned to Northeast Ohio in August, with the Cleveland-Akron metropolitan area showing a month-to-month gain of 5,109 jobs in the private nonfarm sector, a 0.44% increase from July, according to the Ahola Crain’s Employment Report.

 

For July, the data showed a loss of 7,242 jobs, despite continuing modest levels of growth in employment nationally.

 

The ACE Report also shows a 1.25% increase in jobs in August compared with August 2013, a gain of 14,520 positions.

 

“It’s not surprising that we’re looking at gains in August,” said Jack Kleinhenz, the Cleveland Heights economist who created the ACE model. “We’re trending upward.”

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20140926/FREE/140929884

Brawny Cleveland ranks 5th nationally for the growth of its brainy workforce

 

on October 06, 2014 at 7:00 AM, updated October 06, 2014 at 7:05 AM

CLEVELAND, Ohio--Despite the region's historic ties to manufacturing, Greater Cleveland is advancing into the knowledge economy with surprising speed, new research indicates.

 

In recent years, the region's high skill workforce has grown at a rate that ranks 5th in the nation, in league with San Francisco, according to a study being released today by the Center for Population Dynamics at Cleveland State University.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2014/10/brawny_cleveland_ranks_5th_nat.html#incart_m-rpt-1

Interested in your thoughts about this one.

 

A FEW EDUCATED MILLENNIALS, BUT FAR MORE HUMAN MISERY: THE ECONOMY IN CLEVELAND AND OHIO

by George Zeller

 

It is tempting to be excited about what is happening in the Rust Belt: the region seems to have more energy and zest than it did ten years ago. In Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, we hear a lot of talk about a “turnaround”: the Republicans, LeBron, and educated millennials are coming here; new hip spots are opening. This poor, struggling region is coming back, right?

 

Not if you look at the numbers. Bits of good news — as  welcome as they may be — are dwarfed by a relentlessly bleak economic reality. The numbers are bad — and getting worse — and the suffering behind those numbers is more wretched.  To this human misery more attention must be paid.

 

Read more at

http://beltmag.com/economy/

HUMAN MISERY!!  duhn duhn duuuhhhnn

^^ Not the most thorough analysis of economic conditions in NEO. No data about types of jobs lost by sector, average income of jobs lost, etc. A lot of loaded vocabulary without the data to back it up.

No one ever suggested that re-structuring the local economy was going to be painless.  But, without looking too deep into it, my gut reaction is the same as ^ in that the data the article relies upon is overly simplistic. 

The piece is fine, I guess, for pointing out that the overall economic performance of the region is lagging in terms of employment, income growth, population, educational attainment, etc., but the framing seems focused on a bit of a straw man.  The "energy and zest" and "turnaround" buzz I hear, and that has been featured in Richie Piiparenen's work, is pretty specific to certain parts of the region (downtown, some core neighborhoods), and the growth of the high-education segment of the workforce.  Nothing in this "reality check" contradicts any of that. 

 

It's a big region- there's room for lots of trends to go on at once.  There is no single master narrative. The right data to look at depends on what question you want to ask.

Here's how I understand it through conversations with people smarter than myself:  Northeast Ohio was was heavily dependent on the manufacturing sector up until very recently.  The abundance of manufacturing employment, probably moreso than any other industry in America, has left America soil never to return in the numbers that it once had.  This is the result of macroeconomic trends - way larger than Cleveland or Ohio. 

 

In the earlier 2/3rds of the 20th century, the largest consuming markets for American goods were in the world were the United States and Western Europe - therefore, production in America made sense considering transportation costs.  With markets growing abroad - much faster than the established Western markets, it now makes more sense to locate closer to the growing consumption markets.

 

The obvious point is that labor in America is much more expensive for menial manufacturing jobs than it is overseas.  Combined with the point above, production will go where there is cheap labor.

 

The magnified negative effect of lost manufacturing jobs is due to the fact that most of these jobs were considered "base jobs" that created and exported goods to be used outside of our region.  This means that the old manufacturing jobs and industries were pulling in money from outside of northeast Ohio - this made the sector very valuable.  With this type of "base employment" comes a ton of support jobs (restaurants, hairdressers, etc.) who exist to serve the local economy.  These people do not produce "tradeable goods" but benefit from the money being pulled in from the "base jobs."  The loss of the manufacturing jobs meant money was not flowing into the local economy from abroad like it once did - the loss of the base jobs also means the loss of the support jobs.  The effects are felt over and over and over.  If the steel workers lose their jobs, so do the local bartenders and clothing salesmen.

Reading on economic base analysis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_base_analysis

 

Given all of the factors, job losses from our old industries and their support industries was inevitable.  Hell, economists have been writing about this impending issue since the 70s - we really shouldn't be surprised, as uncomfortable as it may be.  This economic restructuring is a tough pill to swallow but we have to do it and we are better off doing it sooner rather than later.  Pittsburgh faced this issue decades before Cleveland did and unemployment in the region was over 10% for 3 years in the 1980s!  I recently saw that Cleveland's manufacturing employment as a regional percentage was over 40% at its peak and is now around 14% with the national average at 12%. (I don't have a cite for this and I don't remember where I heard it)

 

The article didn't really analyze much did mention that the heaviest job losses came from the government sectors.  I don't know what to say about this other than - if the budgets don't support it than they just simply don't support it.  The clearest point of the article was that the author thinks the government should be spending more on unemployment relief.  Ok, but that's more of a political policy point than a regional employment analysis.

 

Whenever someone pulls the "Am I the only adult in the room?!" argument regarding Cleveland optimism my response is usually the same.  Ok, should we not celebrate victories, progress, and movement in the right direction?  Furthermore, its bizarre that a serious contingency don't recognize this as a restructuring process shaped by macroeconomic trends much larger than Cleveland.  I haven't heard any of these folks offer any policy prescription that is likely to have an appreciable dent in the employment statistics - it's just rhetoric.  This just doesn't make sense to me.  It's like a fat guy going to the gym and working out to lose weight and someone coming up behind him and screaming "BUT YOU'RE STILL FAT!"

 

Richie's analysis is sober as it is positive.  We have a highly skilled workforce and we are adding jobs that require degrees while shedding those that don't.  This comes with a lot of pain but I'll be damned if there's not another way.

^The loss of government jobs was largely due to decisions made down in Columbus to cut state funding for local municipalities.  Some were lost as a result of the recession, but the stimulus got us through the roughest patch by preventing mass layoffs.... mostly in the public safety field.  Just about the time those funds dried up, the State massively cut its funding and directed it to other priorities as determined by the Governor's office and General Assembly.

^The loss of government jobs was largely due to decisions made down in Columbus to cut state funding for local municipalities.  Some were lost as a result of the recession, but the stimulus got us through the roughest patch by preventing mass layoffs.... mostly in the public safety field.  Just about the time those funds dried up, the State massively cut its funding and directed it to other priorities as determined by the Governor's office and General Assembly.

 

Thanks for the explanation.  So the largest job losses in the Cleveland region came from government spending cuts decided outside of our region due to a worldwide economic crash.  That just doesn't sound like a Cleveland specific problem to me.

 

*Note: Sorry for misspellings and bad grammar in my long post - I typed it "stream of consciousness style" without proofreading.