Northeast Ohio Regional Economic Development Fund Announces Nearly $2 Million in Grants

The Cleveland-based Fund for Our Economic Future has announced nearly $2 million in grants to advance regional strategies and initiatives aimed at strengthening Northeast Ohio's economy.
Awarded under Phase 4 of the fund's strategic plan, which runs through 2015, the grants will support efforts to enhance the region's economic competitiveness, promote good jobs and vibrant communities, and provide equitable access to opportunity for the people of Northeast Ohio.
Grants announced by the fund include an award of $640,000 to WorkAdvance, an effort involving several organizations to demonstrate the long-term value of an innovative approach to helping lower-skilled workers advance along career paths in health care and manufacturing; $550,000 to NorTech to coordinate the expansion of promising technology-based industries such as advanced energy, flexible electronic materials, and water technologies; $400,000 to the Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network (MAGNET) to continue expanding its Partnership for Regional Innovation Services program, a nationally recognized collaboration of universities and research institutions working to help small to mid-sized manufacturers innovate new products; and $300,000 to Team NEO to continue coordinating, with a variety of stakeholders, the region's business attraction strategy.
"The fund's grants are aligned with efforts by private sector funders to support these strategies and build a more competitive region," said Fund for Our Economic Future president Brad Whitehead. "Over the next three years, we look forward to working even more closely with our private sector partners to support existing and new strategies that will result in good jobs, higher incomes, and increased opportunity for the people of Northeast Ohio."
“Fund for Our Economic Future Awards Nearly $2 Million in Grants to Support Five Regional Strategies.” Fund for Our Economic Future Press Release 6/11/13. Primary Subject: Community Improvement/Development
Location(s): Cleveland, Northeast Ohio, Ohio FC019367