CLEVELAND — The White House announced the creation of a workforce hub in Columbus Tuesday, building off several recent business successes in Ohio's capital city.
That success in Columbus is prompting some to ask, what about Cleveland?
With all the city of Cleveland has to offer with its healthcare, education and parks, city officials admit it has struggled to bring in new business, often losing out on opportunities to central Ohio.
“Businesses are going to where it’s easy to do business, where there may be green fields in the suburbs,” said Jeff Epstein, Cleveland’s integrated development chief.
All you have to do is look to Columbus to see where Amazon, Google and Intel are expanding business operations.
In a Cleveland City Council Development, Planning and Sustainability Committee meeting Tuesday, officials said a big factor getting in the way of business opportunities here is the lack of “shovel-ready land.” Committee members lamented the city’s crumbling buildings and overgrown spaces that remain vacant.
According to Ward 10 Councilman Anthony Hairston, it’s not for a lack of interest.
“We get a lot of emails in City Hall asking, ‘Hey, do you have 20 acres? Do you have 40 acres? Do you have 10 acres that are clean, that are ready to go, that we can refer and potentially draft a business to come and occupy?'” he said. “But oftentimes, the case is, 'No. We don’t.'"
That’s the issue that brought Epstein to Tuesday’s meeting, where he presented a proposal that would create a site-readiness fund. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb outlined the concept during his recent "State of the City" address.
“We have lost jobs and lost population in the city of Cleveland over the last 30 years and this is an effort to reverse that. To create opportunity that will attract more residents that will strengthen our neighborhoods, that will remove blight,” Epstein said. “This, we think, is one of the most critical investments we can make as a government, thinking strategically about the future of our economy, the future of our neighborhoods and the future of our residents.”
The fund would include $50 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars combined with what he hopes would be another $50 million from county and state partners.
“We believe we can compete with anyone in the world for businesses. We just need to put this piece in place in terms of getting sites ready so there’s a place for businesses to land,” Epstein said.
Hairston said they were looking at land across the city, including areas that have abandoned, crumbling buildings that need to be demolished.
“We recognize it’s an issue and we are putting our best foot forward to engage with partners to ensure that we are ready when that time comes,” Hairston said.
The proposal for the site-readiness fund is still in its beginning stages. The full council still needs to look at it before there is a vote.
You can watch Tuesday's Cleveland City Council Development, Planning and Sustainability Committee meeting below: