cultural competency within our employers directly supports the region’s efforts to
stay competitive.”
Financial Investment
Many area businesses have committed to spending dollars locally, providing a much-needed shot in the arm to area firms, many of them minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MBEs and WBEs). Last year marked the grand opening
of the Minority Business Center, operated by the Minority Business Development
Agency. One of about 30 nationwide, the center came to Cleveland with the help
of the GCP and its partners, including the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE);
JumpStart; the Northeast Ohio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; the Northern
Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council; Team NEO; and the WECO Fund. The
Commission’s Minority Business Accelerator 2. 5+ will support the efforts of the new
center. Made possible by financial support from the Fund for Our Economic Future,
Jones Day and the Cleveland Foundation, the accelerator will focus on growing the
size and scale of Black- and Latino-owned enterprises. Since its inception in 2008,
the Minority Business Accelerator 2. 5+ has brokered a total of 182 deals with Black-and Latino-owned businesses valued at $142 million and creating nearly 400 jobs.
“The Commission focuses on strengthening the regional economy by
strengthening all businesses,” says Andrew Jackson, senior vice president and
executive director of the Commission on Economic Inclusion. “MBEs hire MBEs,
and the growth of minority businesses of all sizes increases competitiveness and
attractiveness of the region.” With the help of corporate sponsors KeyBank, PNC
Bank and the Cleveland Foundation, the GCP also administers the Working Capital
Loan Fund. The fund provides collateral to Black- and Latino-owned businesses in
Northeast Ohio to help them secure lines of credit.
Greater Cleveland Partnership’s corporate members are rebuilding Cleveland’s
economy, giving special attention to neighborhoods that have been traditionally
ignored. “At Key, the most significant investment we make is in our communities,”
says Chairman and CEO Beth Mooney. “Our deep commitments to diversity and
community drive our strategy of helping to strengthen lower-income and underserved
communities.” The first of the nation’s largest banks to earn seven consecutive
“outstanding” ratings for its lending under the Community Reinvestment Act,
KeyBank takes its role as a local lender seriously. The Key Community Development
Corporation provides loans for affordable housing, businesses in low-income areas
and community services. Currently, KeyBank has more than $2.2 billion invested in
underserved communities.
“Our philanthropic efforts follow a strategic plan to provide grants in three areas
that foster economic self-sufficiency in the communities we serve,” says Margot
Copeland, chair of the KeyBank Foundation. Over the last three years, the foundation
has given more than $54 million to nonprofits nationwide to support financial
education, workforce development and workforce diversity.
University Hospitals is an active player in downtown Cleveland’s renaissance. As
an active participant in the Cleveland Foundation’s Greater University Circle initiative,
the healthcare system and its partners have invested $14.5 million in real estate,
small-business loans and housing incentives around the University Hospitals Case
Medical Center. University Hospitals also gave $1 million to the NewBridge Cleveland
Center for the Arts, a nonprofit that prepares adults for careers in healthcare. Ohio’s
Latino newspaper, La Prensa, called the center “a shimmering beacon of hope in
downtown Cleveland.”
