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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS z MARCH 28 - APRIL 3, 2016 z PAGE A-3
‘62.4 Report’ is serving as more than just words BY DAN SHINGLER dshingler@crain.com @DanShingler
Reports and studies – they come and they go. Some think tank comes to town, issues a report about the state of things and, after causing a few excruciating meetings, their work heads off to a dusty shelf or forgotten hard drive. The recent the “62.4 Report: Profile on Urban Health and Competitiveness in Akron, Ohio” by the Columbus-based Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) and commissioned by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation might be different. Some of the folks hoping to further improve the city hope that the report is. “I carry the ‘62.4 Report’ in my bag both as a resource and a reminder of the work we have in front of us,” said Nicole Mullet, an active civic leader in Akron and executive director of the city’s ArtsNow nonprofit. And she said that in midMarch, a full month after the report was released. True, even Mullet admits that’s a little “nerdy, even for me.” But the report, named for the size of Akron in square miles, is being quoted by voices of influence around town. Akron’s new mayor, Dan Horrigan, cited it when he helped unveil a new Summit County workforce initiative, Conexus – which even addresses some of the very things discussed in the ‘62.4 Report.’ The CliffsNotes version of the re-
port reads something like this: The last time anyone really looked, in 2008, Akron was doing fairly well at rebounding from the loss of its major industry – rubber and tire production. That was when the Brookings Institution held the town out as an example of an old industrial city on the rebound. Since then, however, Akron has been stalled a bit. It has lost population, seen vacant homes and has not attracted large numbers of young professionals. This is what the GOPC found when working on its report between September 2015 and January – though, to be fair, much of the data available to researchers was from 2013. The point is, it found some problems and it didn’t sugarcoat them. Things had taken a turn for the worse since 2008, when the Great Recession hit Akron’s working-class population especially hard. “We were surprised at just how different a picture it was,” said GOPC deputy director Alison Goebel. “We knew that Akron wasn’t quite punching above its weight class the way it was previously, but we didn’t expect to find the downturn to the extent that we did.”
‘Poised for greatness’ Not that all is lost. The report also cited Akron’s great potential – strong community support, engaged new young people stepping into active roles and a vibrant arts scene – on top of the city’s usual assets as a transportation hub, center of the polymer industry and home to the
University of Akron. “Because of that great base, Akron is well positioned to bounce back higher and faster than other communities might be. That was one of the conclusions we came to – Akron is still poised for greatness,” Goebel said. To help Akron get that bounce, the report had some recommendations – based on case studies of other so-called industrial “legacy” cities that have been particularly springy as of late. Recommendations include things like continuing to focus on downtown development, neighborhood housing and providing training to unskilled residents so that they can work in growing industries, such as health care. There are already indications that city leaders are on the same page – page 20 of the report, that is. The Conexus program is an effort to get local residents into training programs like “coding boot camps,” which prepare people to work in information technology. Conexus also will make local students aware of which educational paths line up with the best local job opportunities. And there are indications others are paying attention to the report as well. “We want to make sure that we internalize the message that’s being sent,” said Suzie Graham, president of the Downtown Akron Partnership. Graham, whose very job description pretty much includes advocating for city living and fighting sprawl, agrees with the report’s authors that Akron should keep the foot on the
gas in terms of continuing to develop its core downtown, which has made a significant comeback from its bleak days of decades past.
“I think it’s a great time for us to start thinking differently, and I would love to see the (report’s) city-first approach take hold.” — Suzie Graham, president Downtown Akron Partnership.
“I think it’s a great time for us to start thinking differently, and I would love to see the (report’s) cityfirst approach take hold,” Graham said.
Graham also supports another recommendation of the report: working harder to attract and keep young people in the city. That’s a great way for the city to leverage the downtown location of the University of Akron, which attracts most of its students from suburban areas – students who are increasingly looking to live in an urban environment after they graduate. Mullet agreed, and she’s particularly jazzed up about recommendations in the report about nurturing and engaging more young leaders in the city through efforts like Akron’s Torchbearers leadership development program. Mullet said she and her peers are also turning to the GOPC report, along with the Akron Blue Ribbon Task Force report that also came out in February, in their strategic thinking. “The recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Task Force reflect the findings in the ‘62.4 Report.’ “I believe that many of us are using information gained from both publications as tools to better inform our work in the urban core,” Mullet said. And both Mullet and Graham might reflect one of the most important assets in Akron’s urban leadership – optimism. While neither took issue with the recent report’s criticism, they also agreed with its reasons for optimism. “Just because you get ranked somewhere today doesn’t mean that’s where you have to sit tomorrow,” Graham said.
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pating schools will decide on one company — possibly two — that will receive actual investments.
Students run the show Hampu, who is also active with the Akron ARCHAngels investment group, is an old hand at the investment game compared to the students – but he says he tries hard to stay mostly out of their investment debates so that they can make the decisions themselves. He does provide guidance, but the students seem to have no trouble asking questions that are both intelligent and probing. At a recent meeting, which students allowed a reporter to observe, the questions came fast and furious – and sounded a lot like the questions most professional venture capitalists would ask. The students were considering an investment in an Akron company that makes spun fibers and is seeking to imitate the strength and characteristics of thread spun by spiders to make a new commercially available material. “What have they done to protect their intellectual property?” asked one student. “They’ve raised some money already … How quickly are they going through it?” asked another. A third asked the question that keeps many more experienced ven-
ture capitalists awake at night: “Shouldn’t we be investing based on whether we’re going to get paid back?” Hampu smiled through it all, patiently answering questions when asked. The company seemed to impress most of the student investors after presenting to them in person previously. Of course, Hampu and the students hope that if they do make the investment, it will pay off. But even if they lose the entire $250,000 in the coming years, it seems likely they will have gotten an education worth at least that much.
Entrepreneurs in the making “Now I can sit on the other side of the table and see – what are investors looking for?” said University of Akron MBA student and Buffalo native Vishal Chaurasia. And that might be the real point of the entire project. Many of the students, including Chaurasia, are not so much angling to work for venture capital firms, but aiming to be entrepreneurs who pitch to venture capitalists themselves. Chaurasia, for example, has his undergraduate degree in polymer mechanical engineering from UA. He plans to use his two degrees, along with his knowledge of venture capital, to one day become
UA student Jamie Parker is a member of Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund team and an entrepreneur. (Dan Shingler) an entrepreneur. “I want to get things into the marketplace where they can improve people’s lives,” he said. “But I enjoy the whole thrill ride of entrepreneurship – it gives me a rush, I won’t lie!” Jamie Parker has a similar attitude. He’s a native of the Bronx, N.Y., and a member of NEOSVF . He’s pursuing a doctorate in integrated bio-science at UA. He has a master’s degree in biology and a bachelor’s degree in anthro-biochemistry from Lehman College in New York. Parker’s not waiting, either. He’s promoting his own clothing line under the brand “Me O’Clock” and designing a smartphone app on the
side. By participating in NEOSVF, Parker is learning a lot of things he would have never learned in a classroom, he said. “Absolutely I’m learning a ton, and it’s connecting me to some great people … I’ve had a lot of great conversations that have helped build me up on things I didn’t really know much about,” Parker said. That includes not only Hampu and some of the CEOs of companies that present to the students, but also people like Jon Paul, president of Akronbased Prime Marketing Pros. Paul said he’s used to working with new businesses – it’s a big part of what his firm does – but he loves what he sees
in students like Parker, whom he mentors. “There are some incredible ideas going on in that group,” Paul said, citing things like a device that can produce clean water for field hospitals and doctors, as well as smartphone apps like Parker’s. Paul, for one, is not surprised when he hears that a student wants to become an entrepreneur. “That’s how they think,” Paul said. “People now say that in order to be successful, you’ve got to have your 9to-5 job, and also your 5-to-9 job – and that’s what they’re doing.” And that might be the biggest reason that NEOSVF has received support, both monetary and otherwise. Economic developers know that for the region to thrive, it will not only need smart students trained in business and technology, but also a new crop of entrepreneurs. In fact, supporting new entrepreneurs is a chief mission of the Morgan Foundation. That’s because just a few successful entrepreneurs could have a lasting effect on many other students looking for companies to work for right here in Northeast Ohio. It could also leave future students an even bigger venture fund to manage, so they can learn even more about investing money and how to secure it as capital for themselves.