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Elected officials from Northeast Ohio are taking a very hard look at whether the region can implement a revenue sharing program that would allow communities to participate in and benefit from economic growth. Sharing tax revenue among communities may sound like a radical idea, but it really isn't. It's done in pockets in Northeast Ohio (particularly in Summit County) and its been widely adopted in one of the Midwest's most competitive region's -- the Twin Cities of Minnesota.

One of the key advocates for revenue sharing is Myron Orfield, executive director of the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota. The former state legislator is working with the Northeast Ohio Mayors and City Managers Association on its revenue sharing study. You can watch a series of videos of Myron explaining how revenue sharing could help make our region more competitive on the Regional Economic Revenue Study web site.

Watch a short video that takes you on a tour of the more than $4 billion dollars in physical development happening in the city of Cleveland. What kind of future will all of this development mean for Northeast Ohio's biggest city?

Working in conjunction with WTAM radio, MAGNET has created the WTAM Northeast Ohio Manufacturing Report.

The Reports will be a series of radio spots that will begin airing on WTAM 1100 AM in June. Listen to the first report, which features Bill Barnes of MAGNET speaking about the importance of lean manufacturing.

Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams and City Planner Hunter Morrison were among the guests on WCPN today discussing that city's efforts to plan for a smaller future.

You can access more information on the program and download the program here.

I really like the city's plans for converting abandoned properties into parks that connect with other parks and ultimately link to recreational corridors throughout the region and beyond. Making our urban cores more livable -- by making them more green -- is a strategy that I expect we'll be seeing a lot more of in the future.

Most of Ohio's large cities, including Cleveland, Canton and Youngstown, aren't experience the growth that most other urban centers across the United States are experiencing.

A new study by the Brookings Institution calls on state governments to do more to help ailing cities, particularly in the Great Lakes. On Tuesday, Brad Whitehead, president of the Fund for Our Economic Future, joined a panel on WCPN to discuss the report and the outlook for Ohio cities. You can listen to the program here. Brad noted that the state of Ohio is a valued partner in Advance Northeast Ohio and many of the recommendations of the Brookings report are aligned with our region's action plan.

Panelist Ned Hill of Cleveland State University made this important observation: "You can't have a healthy city with a sick regional economy." That's one of the many reasons that a regional economic development strategy is so important to our future.

Interestingly, the city of Akron's economic performance has improved between 1990 and 2000 (the years of the study) to keep it off the list of ailing cities. The Brookings Institution will be conducting a study later this year to examine what Akron did to improve its economy. You can read the Akron Beacon Journal's story about Akron dropping off the list here.