Hope

This morning WCPN, Cleveland's public radio station, aired a report on the many responses AdvanceNortheastOhio.org received regarding why you and your fellow residents of Northeast Ohio have hope for the future.

Thank you to everyone for sharing your reasons for hope, and if you'd like to add your thoughts please feel free to comment on this post. Or you can read the original post here and join the conversation.

The reasons for Hope for Northeast Ohio keep streaming in. These ideas from you -- the residents of the region -- should inspire us all to build a brighter future for everyone.

You can read the full compilation by following the links available here.

And below are a few more e-mails that I've received recently:

Three recent local stories indicate some very positive implications for Northeast Ohio.
1. Major focused development in East Akron to build new headquarters for Goodyear, re-develop a large area, and re-use existing corporate structures. The investment should have major positive impact on Northeast Ohio. It has helped to focus local and state government involvement.
2. Akron schools just completed the first phases of a new educational program to provide an additional aid to school children to make better choices in dealing with problems and avoiding gang activity.
3. Within the last week there have been reports of a new ‘high-tech’ additive the Akron is adding to the salt-brine for snow/ice control – beet juice. It’s reported to improve melting action at low temperatures and reduce salt damage to streets and cars. Also, it is non-staining, not beet red. Seems to be a great idea, something new, simple, and effective.

I offer three suggestions, although they are not unique of novel:

Northeast Ohio

The response of Advance Northeast Ohio residents to my query regarding what gives us hope for the future has been, in a word, overwhelming. It's been a real challenge to keep up with the comments and I apologize if I haven't responded to each of you individually. But I hope you'll keep the comments going.

Below is a partial compilation of the responses I received via e-mail. I will be adding more over the weekend.

I hope you'll comment directly on this site as to what gives you hope for the future of the region, but if you'd rather contact me via e-mail, you can do so here.

We have wonderful natural and cultural resources in our region that make it a great place to live.

I am involved in my day to day work with changing the economic environment through entrepreneurship. While the work is very hard, I can feel that conditions in the region are shifting for the better. We need to keep pushing and this ship will turn!

Where there is great need, there is also opportunity and I observe there are lots of opportunities in NEO to make a difference for the future.

- Deb Hoover

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I am an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas (in the classroom, not online) so I get to talk to a lot of students about their plans after graduation.
MANY of them ARE planning to move south when they graduate.
But there ARE reasons (and ways) for them to want to stay.
1. The success of the Progressive Insurance Company proves that, with the right management, companies CAN succeed here.
2. There is a lot of family pride here, and that will keep people in the area, continuing to fight to raise the area.

I recently asked a transplant from Texas who works with growing companies that are in search of more talent what is the biggest difference between employers in the Lone Star State and Northeast Ohio. He gave me a very sobering one word answer: "Hope."

Employers everywhere are desperate for workers that are trainable and motivated. In Texas, companies are convinced that they will be able to do what is necessary to find the workers. And that, eventually, things will get better and the business will grow. In Northeast Ohio, the transplant observed, employers are frustrated by their difficulties in finding and attracting workers. So frustrated that they no longer have hope. Although the transplant sees nothing but great things in our future, many of the employers he is working with no longer have faith that things will get better.

I found this assessment distressing, but not too surprising. As a transplant to the region (17 years ago), I am very familiar with the lament of locals that things are getting worse and will only get worse. I don't share that view and wouldn't stay here if I did.

The Texas transplant challenged me, as a teller of stories about how Northeast Ohio is building a brighter future, to reinvent the narrative that is Northeast Ohio's story. This new Northeast Ohio story needs to be rust free. It needs to be a story that gives people hope for a brighter future.

So, I turn to you for a few suggestions. Give me three things that give you hope for the year ahead and future of Northeast Ohio.

Post your ideas by commenting to this post or send me an e-mail, and I'll compile them and create a master list and add to it over time. And we can all use the list to start telling our own stories that provide hope for our region's future.