Learning to Share

Our region's economy is stronger when communities work together to plan for economic growth and then share the benefits of that growth with each other.

Painesville and Concord Township in Lake County are collaborating and sharing to try and maximize the benefit and minimize the harm caused by a hospital moving from one community to the other.

The Plain Dealer details the partnership between the two communities in a story here.

Concord Township Trustee Chris Galloway, who initiated the talks, said the plan provides revenue for both communities that would otherwise be unavailable.

The township needs dollars for development, police, fire, and other services, he said, and Painesville would recoup some of the income tax revenues it will lose once the hospital moves.

The partnership is called a Joint Economic Development District or JEDD. Akron has used JEDDS to partners with communities in Summit County, and perhaps such collaborative efforts is one reason Akron's economy is out-performing other areas of Northeast Ohio. (You can learn more about the performance of the region's economy by reading the Dashboard of Economic Indicators.)

Forming individual JEDDs can be very time-consuming and politically challenging. A broader regional approach to increased cooperation among communities to support economic development is being led by the Northeast Ohio Mayors & City Managers Association. You can learn more about that effort at RevenueStudy.org.