Cleveland's esteemed research university will contribute faculty expertise and research resources to the effort to innovate 10,000 jobs. Watch video
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A new innovation hub is designed to enhance the region's expertise in specialty metals, a strength of many Midwest manufacturers, like Voss Industries of Cleveland.CLEVELAND, Ohio--The unveiling of plans for two Midwest manufacturing institutes ran electric through labs at Case Western Reserve University, where materials scientists and engineers expect to play a key role in the effort to create good-paying factory jobs.
On Tuesday, President Obama announced that the Defense Department would invest $140 million into a pair of manufacturing innovation hubs--one in Chicago and another outside of Detroit--each designed to foster innovation by pooling industry and university expertise.
Of most interest to Northeast Ohio is the Detroit hub, which will focus on the design and production of lightweight metals for the next generation of cars, ships and airplanes.
The president talked about 10,00 new jobs in five years, mostly in Ohio and Michigan.
James McGuffin-Cawley, chair of the department of materials science and engineering at CWRU, says the arithmetic sounds right.
The two states already excel at specialty metals, McGuffin-Cawley said, and the innovation institute should strengthen the region's game. He expects to see exports rise and for reshoring to accelerate as Midwest manufacturing becomes more competitive globally.
"This is just a huge effort" that should set a new course for advanced manufacturing, he said. "That is my expectation and my hope."
The hubs are part of a larger manufacturing innovation network modeled after Germany's and championed by U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown. The prototype opened last year in Youngstown, an additive manufacturing incubator called America Makes. There, CWRU's School of Engineering is partnering with Lincoln Electric to develop a three-dimensional manufacturing process for titanium.
McGuffin-Cawley expects CWRU to play key roles at the American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute, as the Detroit hub is being called. It will be led by the Edison Welding Institute in Columbus, Ohio State University and the University of Michigan.
CWRU has been asked to contribute faculty expertise and its uncommon research resources. The university's Metals Processing Laboratory bristles with the kind of equipment that melts, shapes and tests metals, including a 350-ton metal squeeze caster and furnaces that melt magnesium.
McGuffin-Cawley said he and his colleagues are enthused by the project because of its scope and potential. He has long argued that manufacturing feeds the creativity and innovations needed to stoke an economy.
In Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, about 200,000 people are employed forging high-strength steel, fabricating aluminum and doing other work with specialty metals, he said. Adding 10,000 jobs would mean growing that workforce by about 5 percent, which he considers feasible.
"The metals industry here is world class," he said. "It's a great historical strength and it remains strong, even as healthcare has risen to the top. But it could use re-invigoration and I think this is going to do it."
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Local Dutch immigrants like the late Arnie de la Porte championed overseas container shipping from the Port of Cleveland.On April 9, or thereabouts, Cleveland's ship will come in
On or soon after April 9, downtown Cleveland will behold a sight never before seen in a Great Lakes city. A container ship from Europe will sail into Cleveland Harbor. The massive vessel will herald a new era of cargo shipping between Cleveland and northern Europe.
Last fall, the Port of Cleveland reached an agreement with the Spliethoff Group of Amsterdam, the Netherland's largest shipper, to introduce container shipping to the Great Lakes. The Dutch shipping giant agreed to skipper regular cargo runs between Cleveland and Europe via the St. Lawrence Seaway, which opens for a new season March 28.
Now the arrival of the first ship is in sight.
"Probably right on April 9 or soon after," said David Gutheil, the director of maritime and logistics at the port. "We won't know the exact date until the ship leaves Antwerp (Belgium)."
The Dutch ship will likely be stacked with containerized cargo of steel and machinery imports, he said. The port is now booking exports for the return voyage. Gutheil said interest from local shippers has been good.
The Port is hoping its Cleveland-Europe Express competes with East Coast ports for Midwest exports, in part, by saving shippers the train ride to the coast.
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Todd Adams says local companies need to begin to consider immigrants in their talent mix. Workshop will help Cleveland companies add high-skill immigrants to the staff
As they size up a global economy, area businesses are trying to assemble the resources they need to compete--including international talent.
That means having some understanding of the process for sponsoring immigrant workers, as well as insight into what foreign-born professionals are looking for in an American job.
The new demands call for a new, more holistic approach to diversity and talent attraction, says Todd Adams, the founder of a consulting firm that specializes in communication with diverse audiences.
Adams, who holds the title of Chief of Sustainability and Innovation at Visibility Marketing in Beachwood, is teaming up with Cleveland immigration lawyer Richard Herman to offer a new kind of diversity workshop, one that sees immigrants as part of the inclusion effort.
"Smart Companies: Winning with H-1Bs, Diversity and New Talent Strategies" is sponsored by the Ohio chapter of TiE, the International Entrepreneurs. It runs from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 3, at the Embassy Suites on Rockside Road in Independence. A multicultural happy hour will follow.
The free workshop is timed to precede a key date in workforce management. On April 1, the federal government will begin to accept applications for H-1B visas, the temporary work visas for high-skilled immigrants. The annual allotment of the specialty visas is typically exhausted quickly, sometimes in a single day, so employers are encouraged to be ready on April 1.
The workshop will attempt to demystify the visa process by offering the basics of sponsoring immigrant workers, organizers say. It will also offer tips for attracting those employees to Cleveland and for integrating them into the office and into the community.
"That becomes very important," Adams said. "You're really competing for talent. And once you get that talent, you have to make sure people feel welcome."
That can be accomplished with some simple innovations, like organizing staff lunches or cultural events, Adams said. More challenging will be fostering an office environment sensitive to cultural diversity.
"The landscape is changing," Adams said. "Human capital is critical. There's a need to create more of an ecosystem--a sustainable diversity and inclusion model. And that model should include immigrants."
To register for the workshop, call or email Connie Cook at the Herman Legal Group: 216-696-6170; connie@asklawyer.com.
Cleveland Whiskey to thank city for its quicker liquor
When it celebrates its first anniversary next month, Cleveland Whiskey intends to send out a big "Thank You" to the city that inspired its label.
Tom Lix, the 61-year-old founder of the downtown distillery, said he doubts he could have realized his dream in many other cities.
"I was surprised at the reception they gave to a very early stage company," says Lix, an experienced entrepreneur from Boston.
Cleveland Whiskey uses Lix's patented, fast-maturing whiskey process to age and bottle bourbon. The finished product has impressed many a connoisseur at blind tastings. It's also winning over consumers as it rattles the venerable bourbon industry.
The startup sold a little more than 50,00 bottles in its first year of business. It's now expanding from Ohio into other Midwest markets.
Lix credits his early success, in part, to the region's support system for entrepreneurs. His noisy distillery commands space in an incubator run by MAGNET. He received business advice from JumpStart and a $25,000 startup grant from the Lorain County Community College Innovation Fund.
Now he employs 12 people as he cheerleads for his new home.
"I think Cleveland is on the verge of becoming a great city once again and I'm here to stay," he said.
On March 17, Lix will say thanks from a float in the Cleveland St. Patrick's Day Parade. Afterward, he's inviting the public to a birthday party at McCarthy's on the West Bank of the Flats. The party will feature music by the Cleveland Celtic rock band, Craic, as well as samples of the newest whiskey in town.
Robert L. Smith covers economic development for The Plain Dealer. Follow him on Twitter @rlsmithpd