JumpStart received one of its highest honors this past Friday when we learned that we had won the 2009 Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Excellence in Urban or Suburban Economic Development Award. I am most proud of the quote in Secretary Locke' press release about the award that states: "JumpStart, Inc. represents the best and brightest in 21st century economic development.” This award, along with a $2.575M award from the Ohio Third Frontier Project, has helped JumpStart create real momentum for our progams in Ohio and have raised the profile of the organization on a national and international basis.
However, just as I share with our organization's team and stakeholders on a regular basis, the economic outcomes of our programs need to be realized and communicated everyday as accelerating new firms in Northeast Ohio is a difficult, long-term strategy -- not a quick fix to our economic challenges. This is especially true when a community is trying to create a new industry, one company at a time.
One of the stories I share with people is that it took Benjamin Franklin Goodrich 18 years of product development, post his move to Akron from New Jersey, in order to exceed $1M in annual revenue! Despite this timeline, ultimately Goodrich and the industry he helped to found in Akron ultimately created over 70,000 jobs located in Summit county by 1960.
JumpStart's greatest challenge now is how to continue to assist, invest and accelerate in such firms that take quite some time to make an economic impact when we are living in one of the greatest recessions in our country's history. The good news is the JumpStart is a great example of a robust public/private partnership with over 80 different supporters and funders. The challenging news is that almost all of these suppporters are having tremendus financial challenges which is leading us to think through how JumpStart can be as innovative as possible in order to maintain or even increase our momentum despite these challenges.
If you have any ideas as we consider these issues, please engage with us and share your thoughts and ideas.
Ray Leach is CEO of JumpStart and brings his energy and leadership experiences from founding five high growth entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial endeavors in the last 20 years. Ray is a Sloan Fellow and earned an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He also earned a BA in Finance from the University of Akron.