Poaching

[Bill Call]

It's no secret that Northeast Ohio is an economically stagnant region. Most of our "economic development plans" are just taxpayer funded schemes to move people and jobs from one side of town to the other. Keeping major employers requires taxpayer subsidies; Sherman Williams will be receiving as much as $200 million to keep its headquarters in Cleveland. We won't be getting a new national company in Cleveland at any price.

So what is a City to do? How do we keep jobs? How do we get new jobs?

One answer is to actively recruit business from neighboring communities. There are the big examples; moving American Greetings from Brooklyn to Westlake, moving Lakewood Hospital from Lakewood to Avon. Sometimes cities succeed in keeping what they have. Attempts to move the Social Security office out of Lakewood was thwarted at the last minute. Secret plans to move the Beck Center to Crocker Park were exposed. Small but important victories. Those victories were made possible by the hard work of the City of Lakewood.

Even small companies are under pressure to relocate.

I know that Crocker Park and the Ohio City Incorporated are actively recruiting even very small storefront operations. Is Lakewood a target? I see that Avalon Exchange is moving to Ohio City. I have heard that 16 bit is moving to Ohio City as well.

To what extent are those decisions pure business decisions and to what extent are they made as the result of poaching?

Does Lakewood need its own Department of Poaching and Development?

The price of prosperity is eternal vigilance.