Tom Waltermire said he and his staff have worked for eight years to draw in roughly 100 companies from the U.S. and abroad, to expand their operations in Ohio. But their efforts failed to please the Regional Competitiveness Council, which recently said there would be 400,000 more jobs today had Northeast Ohio kept up with the rest of the nation.
Speaking on 90.3’s The Sound of Ideas program today, Waltermire had an “exit interview” of sorts. He talked of needing stronger growth and development of Ohio’s existing companies, to thrive and compete.
“We’ve got to do a better job of helping our companies be more inventive so they are generating more new products, because new products are the lifeblood of growth," said Waltermire. "You can’t keep making the same old thing.”
Meanwhile, Team NEO will still go on. Only now it’ll be the result of merging with NorTech, a regional economic development organization.
The Regional Competitiveness Council ultimately wants to increase job creation by 50 percent. Shale and biomed are seen as promising industries for the region.