More than 400 votes were cast in the first few hours of voting for EfficientGovNow, the government collaboration program sponsored by the Fund for Our Economic Future.

The Fund and other partners in Advance Northeast Ohio believe that efficient, effective local government is key to building a more vibrant economic future for our region. To help accelerate the pace of government reform, the Fund is awarding a total of $300,000 in grants to the region's most promising collaboration projects. The public will determine which three of nine finalists will receive the grant money. The main place to vote is on the EfficientGovNow web site. If you want to see governments collaborate and deliver services more efficiently and effectively, please vote today.

The partners in Advance Northeast Ohio believe that strong core cities are essential to a vibrant economic future. While the challenges facing our region's core cities are well documented, the opportunities for growth and progress are there as well. Five of the nation's 100 fastest inner city companies call Northeast Ohio home, according to a new ranking from BusinessWeek. Three are in Cleveland and two are in Akron. Personally, I'm trying to figure out how Turning Technologies, in downtown Youngstown -- which I visited yesterday -- didn't make the list. The companies that did make the list are:

• No. 69 Talan Products of Cleveland, a metal stamping, extrusion and fabrication business;
• No. 80 WhiteSpace Creative of Akron, a marketing, public relations and interactive communications firm;
• No. 91 Voss Industries of Cleveland, which makes specialty metal products; and
• No. 98 Tenable Protective Services of Cleveland, which provides security and event-control services.

WhiteSpace Creative has done some of the amazing creative work used by Carin Rockind and the folks at Team NEO to promote Northeast Ohio as a destination for global growth companies. See the previous post for how that work is paying off with hundreds of new jobs in the region.

While it's not yet a done deal, Team NEO has been working with its partners at the state and in the region to attract a global company to the region. The company, called Xchanging, performs a variety of out-sourced business services for its clients. You can read more about it in Tom Breckenridge's story from the Plain Dealer here.

Here's the key quote from the story:
"It's obviously a very exciting project for us and the region," said Tom Waltermire, head of Team NEO, the region's business-attraction group. "They are a top-flight company."

Xchanging is just one of the companies that Team NEO is trying to lure here, and hopefully they'll soon make the move official and add several hundred jobs to Northeast Ohio. Team NEO and its Cleveland Plus marketing campaign are examples of how the region is making progress to a more vibrant economic future.

The Burton D Morgan Foundation of Hudson continues to foster the entrepreneurial spirit of Northeast Ohio to advance the region.

Last week the Morgan Foundation awarded more than $900,000 in grants to Northeast Ohio organizations and institutions. Grants announced include $300,000 to partners in Advance Northeast Ohio:

• $200,000 awarded to BioEnterprise to continue their work developing bioscience businesses and internship programs
• $100, 000 to Case Western Reserve University to subsidize employment and expenses for Liaison for Student Innovation and Entrepreneurial Projects.
  

Click here to see the full list of grants, including $120,000 to expand the E City entrepreneurial education program into Summit county.

The Burton D Morgan Foundation, a member of the Fund for Our Economic Future, works to strengthen the free enterprise system by investing in organizations and institutions that foster the entrepreneurial spirit.

As recently reported, Northeast Ohio is responsible for attracting $14.4 million in health care venture capital investment during the first quarter of 2009. That trend is continuing into the secong quarter as capital continues to be raised for innovative biomedical companies supported by our partners:

OrthoHelix Surgical Designs of Akron, a grantee of Advance Northeast Ohio partner BioEnterprise, has raised $2 million to increase its advertising and sell its surgical plates, screws, washers and other tools and devices for hand and foot reconstructive surgery in more states.

According to MedCity News, investors have an option to invest another $3 million by Oct. 1, according to the company’s recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The $2 million was added to a $7.3 million round raised in May 2008 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its Modular Foot System: a collection of almost 100 plates, screws and surgical instruments for hand, wrist, foot and ankle surgeries.

Since 2005, OrthoHelix has raised a total of at least $24 million.

OrthoHelix  was started in 2003 by Dr. David Kay, an orthopedic surgeon and managing director of the Crystal Clinic in Bath Township.

About 40 percent of land in Northeast Ohio is used for agriculture. This makes the growth and development of the agriculture industry essential to Advancing Northeast Ohio.

To further explore ways to expand the agricultural industry in the region, a new research study is being conducted by the Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center (OARDC) and partially funded by the Fund for Our Economic Future.

The OARDC, which is based in Wooster, will work with agricultural interests from across Northeast Ohio to identify opportunities to grow the region’s 2,200 farms and $8.2 billion agricultural industry. Much of the region’s agricultural output is limited to commodity products, and every year more agricultural land is lost to residential and commercial development. Expanding the region’s specialty agriculture production – ranging from locally grown foods to renewable energy crops – would result in higher incomes and job growth, and would also preserve the region’s natural assets.

The OARDC anticipates completing its work within one year and the Fund would then consider proposals to support recommendations that emerge from the work.