Case’s Center for Regional Economic Issues sponsoring conference on regional networking for economic development
Event will focus on creative industries, sustainable business practices, inner city prosperity
November 10, 2004 | For more information: Jeff Bendix (216)-368-6070
 Metropolitan regions that compete successfully for jobs and educated, creative people in the 21st century will be those that build active networks among the people and organizations with the power to stimulate economic growth.
Last year the Center for Regional Economic Issues (REI) at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management launched an initiative to build networks in Northeast Ohio through its “Making Change” series. REI will provide the latest in its semi-annual updates on progress in network development at a conference titled “Making Change: Creating New Networks for Our New Economy” Monday, November 15 from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, 1515 W. Third St., Cleveland. The event is open to the public but a $25 registration fee is required.
The conference, which is jointly sponsored with the SBC Foundation, will look at three topics crucial to regional economic development: “The Value of Creative Industries,” “Sustainable Business Practices” and “Inner City Prosperity.” It is the third conference since REI began the initiative a year ago.
“We are making great progress in developing civic entrepreneurship networks throughout the region,” said Ed Morrison, executive director of REI. “It’s been very exciting to see the various organizations and individuals in the area begin to make connections among one another, and harness their knowledge and expertise for use in fostering economic development.”
Morrison added that the conference will include a seminar on open-source economic development, a concept pioneered at REI which focuses on inclusion and networking as building blocks for regional economic development.
Speakers at the conference will be:
- June Holley, president and founder of the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet), a community economic development organization in southeastern Ohio. She has co-authored more than 30 papers and two books on various aspects of economic and community networking, and was recently awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship at the University of Kentucky. She has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Ohio Magazine and Entrepreneur, among other publications, and is a 1991 inductee into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame.
- Laszlo Kozmon, a managing consultant with Novomont Partners LLC, a firm that designs, guides, and supports critical business initiatives that create and improve performance. He is also a director of an investment partnership and a venture-funded telecommunications company. He holds a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Case and an MBA from the University of Dayton.
- Valdis Krebs, a Cleveland-based management consultant and developer of InFlow, a software-based organization network analysis methodology that maps and measures knowledge exchange, information flow, communities of practice and networks between organizations. His work has been extensively covered in the national media including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Business Week and CNN, among others
- Morrison
- Jack Ricchiuto, author of Appreciative Leadership: Building Sustainable Organizations
The focus on building networks is part of a broader roadmap REI has developed to help metropolitan areas move from traditional manufacturing economies to an “innovation economy.” The map calls for a series of initiatives including strengthening intra-regional dialogue and extending it to include all aspects of the community; building a region’s brainpower by developing and attracting highly educated individuals’ connecting networks of innovators and entrepreneurs; building quality places with connected neighborhoods, vibrant mixed-use districts and a healthy environment; and creating a compelling brand identity for the region.
The “regional roadmap” REI has developed for northeast Ohio encompasses 22 counties in the state, stretching from Ashtabula County in the northeast to Crawford County in the southwest, as well as one country in western Pennsylvania.
For further information or registration contact Betsey Merkel at (216) 368-5540.
About Case Western Reserve University
Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826
and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western
Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research,
service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally
recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering,
Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.
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