Officials from the Regional Growth Partnership cited continued regional collaboration among the group’s accomplishments in 2011 and goals for 2011 at its annual meeting held May 16 at UT’s Dana Conference Center.

“Most important is the spirit of cooperation among all the economic partners working together on growth and development for the region,” Dave Waterman, chairman of RGP’s board of directors, said at the meeting.

RGP’s role is the facilitator for collaboration among the economic partners of the region that includes cities, counties, the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce, Northwest Ohio Regional Economic Development Association known as NORED, other organizations and educational institutions.

Waterman cited the hiring of Dean Monske as its new president and CEO as “the overwhelming choice from a pool of highly qualified candidates and a passionate advocate for Northwest Ohio.”

“It’s not all about RGP. It’s a true celebration of real collaboration for economic development where everyone is working together on the same page,” Monske said. “Northwest Ohio has been a leader in regionalism on local, state, federal and even global levels.”

“The biggest change is that we’re going to be laser focused on being more proactive in promoting our region on all those levels. The new direction of RGP will focus on attraction of business and jobs for Northwest Ohio,” Monske said.

The economic partners are working with COACT, a local business development organization to work on building relationships with businesses. It is also working with a media consultant in New York to gain more national and international media coverage for the region.

RGP was expecting an article about how Northwest Ohio is attracting international investments to be published in the New York Times this week. The article was based on interviews with Monske, Prephan and other local officials.

Monske and Toledo Mayor Mike Bell are leading a local delegation of 14 people scheduled to leave May 18 on a return trip to China. It’s a follow-up to the trip made in September, said Scott Prephan, a business advisor with North Pacific Connections, who is working with the City of Toledo and RGP.

Prephan said the delegation will be participating in three formal meetings with 30 to 50 CEOs of businesses in China making presentations on the advantages of investing in Northwest Ohio. Monske announced the group plans to open an office in Shenzhen, a business center located outside Hong Kong.

Shenzhen has grown from a population of 50,000 to more than 14 million (larger than State of Ohio) during the past 20 years, according to Prephan. He connected the Toledo delegation with Simon Guo, a business partner in China who was their initial contact with investors there.

“We know there is some skepticism about working with China. We are building relationships with business people there who are looking to expand and grow in U.S. markets,” Monske said.

China and America are mutually dependent economic giants but they need a design of partnership, according to Henry Kissinger in his new book, “On China” released this week by Penguin Press. Monske referred to Kissinger’s comment in his address at the annual meeting.

Monske, Prephan and Guo were invited to participate in a business forum earlier this year in Fujairah, only one of the seven United Arab Emirates located on the Gulf of Oman. Monske represented the region as deputy mayor for the City of Toledo at the conference attended by 400 CEOs from around the world.

They made presentations about how the Northwest Ohio region is attracting international investments. It was another opportunity to promote Northwest Ohio to business people looking to invest in the U.S., Monske said.

He reported that the hosts of the conference in Fujairah paid for their trip.

Tags: Dave Waterman, Dean Monske, Regional Growth Partnership, Scott Prephan

This entry was posted on Monday, May 16th, 2011 at 5:08 pm and is filed under Community, Economy.
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The expected joint venture for the new Rocket Ventures LLC between the Regional Growth Partnership and UT Innovation Enterprises was confirmed at the RGP annual meeting May 16.

RGP Chairman Dave Waterman and Rick Stansley, representing the UT board of trustees, confirmed the joint venture that is expected to be finalized and formally announced by June 1.

Stansley described the joint venture as an expansion of the collaboration and increasing the commercialization of marketable ideas for economic development in Northwest Ohio.

“The purpose and services of the two organizations are very similar and they are doing a lot of the same work helping companies commercialize technology,” Stansley said.

“We’ve talked about joining our assets for quite some time and it just makes sense to pull all these things together at this time,” said Dan Slifko of Rocket Ventures.

The main objectives of the new Rocket Ventures will include increased invention disclosure and patent flow, assessment of technology and commercial potential, acceleration of the time frame to sustainability, and developing a strategy for business management of the commercialization of technology.

Stansley said they want to advance a process that results in the creation of prosperity and high-value jobs with the commercialization of technology.

Rocket Ventures will continue to help companies commercialize technology, support the process from lab to launch, provide pre-seed funding and attract external investment in those tech-based businesses, according to Stansley.

“We recognize the potential of the assets of higher education,” Stansley said, indicating that Rocket Ventures will continue to work with UT, BGSU, Owens Community College and other institutions.

“UT has become very involved in economic development under the leadership of Dr. Lloyd Jacobs,” said Waterman who supported the joint venture as chairman of the RGP board of directors.

Tags: Dave Waterman, Regional Growth Partnership, Rick Stansley, Rocket Ventures, University of Toledo

This entry was posted on Monday, May 16th, 2011 at 10:58 am and is filed under Brief Case, Toledo Business Link.
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In 2005, business leaders across Northwest Ohio committed to strengthening local economic development efforts by privately funding the Regional Growth Partnership. This fund-raising campaign, spearheaded by the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce, allowed the RGP to become more competitive by supporting the region’s core manufacturing base and diversifying the economy through the creation and growth of technology-based businesses.

During that five-year period, the RGP, in collaboration with its regional economic development partners, has made an impact in attracting investment through traditional business development projects and creating new opportunities for technology-based entrepreneurs. It also has played a leading role in marketing the region on a national and international level.

Without question, the challenges have been great, not the least being a global economic recession. Progress has not happened as quickly as hoped, evidenced by an unemployment rate hovering above 10 percent for most of 2010. But the RGP continues to make inroads in advancing the regional economy and has put forth a proactive strategic plan for 2011 designed to further expand economic opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.

A look back at the first four years of a privately funded RGP finds that the organization, in conjunction with economic development partners across Northwest Ohio, helped in creating 9,000 jobs, as well as 22,000 total jobs, both direct and indirect. The RGP worked on 178 business development projects which resulted in capital investment exceeding $4.2 billion. The organization’s direct outreach program to site consultants and corporate executives averages 200-plus contacts every month to these key relocation decision makers.

Under the RGP umbrella, Rocket Ventures (an Entrepreneurial Signature Program of the Ohio Third Frontier) has been responsible for commercializing 81 new technology start-up companies over its three-year history. The pre-seed early-stage venture fund has made 25 investments (worth more than $5.5 million) in startups within Northwest Ohio. In addition, Rocket Ventures has awarded 32 Ignite Development grants (worth nearly $1.5 million) to promising tech companies. During this three-year period, RV clients have already generated more than $75 million in investments and sales revenues – a leading indicator of future success of the program.

Also on the technology side, the RGP’s Launch program has reported an economic impact exceeding $86 million, comprised of income and investment into client companies. Operating as a virtual incubation program that provides business assistance services for technology entrepreneurs, Launch has generated grant awards of $29 million for tech start-up companies and economic development initiatives.

The RGP’s technology programs have put together some of the most exciting and respected events over the past couple years, including Tech Connect, Entrepreneurial Fair and Venture Tech.

Providing support for these business and technology development programs is the RGP’s marketing arm, which focuses on promoting the region’s strengths, assets and resources on a regional, national and global scale. The highly successful editorial marketing program has generated prominent placements in top tier media outlets including Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, CNN, ABC World News and Fox Business News.

While the RGP is proud of its accomplishments, the organization will continue to set higher standards by implementing an aggressive strategic plan focused on results. With the commitment and collaboration of partners across the region, we will continue toward our goal of building a high-tech, high-performing economy.

Dave Waterman is chairman of the Regional Growth Partnership Board of Directors.

Tags: Business, Dave Waterman, Regional Growth Partnership, Transitions

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 9th, 2011 at 4:42 pm and is filed under Special Section, Toledo Business Link, Transitions.
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