JumpStart, Partners Helped Generate $1.3 Billion Economic Output Last Year

The work JumpStart Inc. and its partners did last year to help companies in Ohio and parts of New York generated $1.3 billion of economic output.

That was up from $1 billion of economic output in 2018, according to JumpStart’s economic impact reports for both years.

The entrepreneurial development organization in Cleveland is releasing its 2019 Economic and Fiscal Impact Report quietly this year out of sensitivity for the economic pain being caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Silverlode Consulting estimated the economic and fiscal impacts of JumpStart and its partners by analyzing data gathered from surveys of their client companies and organizations.

Last year JumpStart and its partners, directly and indirectly, supported about $713 million of labor income and close to 7,200 households in Ohio and New York, according to the 2019 report.

By comparison, in 2018 JumpStart and its partners, including KeyBank, which has substantial operations in Upstate and Western New York, supported about $487 million of labor income and more than 5,100 households in the two states.

Companies led by people of color and women made significant contributions to the 2019 overall economic impact:

  • Women-led companies accounted for $604 million of the total annual economic output and 5,780 of the total jobs, and
  • Companies led by people of color created more than $200 million of the total annual economic output and more than 2,500 of the total jobs, JumpStart said.

“At the highest level, this analysis shows the work of JumpStart and its partners has had an immense economic and fiscal impact on the state of Ohio,” JumpStart said in its 2019 report.

JumpStart’s work falls into three buckets:

  • Capital — investing in tech startups, and making loans and grants to small businesses.
  • Services — giving business assistance to high-potential companies, both tech startups and traditional small businesses.
  • Strategic partner work — deploying grants, managing collaborations with partner organizations and administering initiatives on behalf of private, public and philanthropic funders.

The economic development organization has invested $61.4 million in 125 companies over its 16 years.


This article originally appeared in Cleveland Business Journal on July 15, 2020.

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