Beth Mooney, the new chair of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, ranks downtown Cleveland and city schools among her top priorities. Watch video
Beth Mooney, the president of KeyCorp and the new chair of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, in her office on the 56th floor of the Key Tower on Wednesday, June 25, 2014. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As the new chair of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, KeyCorp President Beth Mooney is the business leader many now look to in Northeast Ohio for guidance on the way forward.
The GCP, the state's largest chamber of commerce, formulates the agenda of the business community. Its size--nearly 15,000 members--and consensus-reaching ability makes it one of the most influential groups in Ohio.
Mooney, a Michigan native who says she loves Cleveland, will guide the partnership over the next two years and put her own stamp upon its legacy. Recently, we sat down with the 59-year-old banker in her offices high atop the Key Tower on Public Square. She expressed her views on critical issues facing the region and her priorities for the partnership, which she described as an organization essential to the region's progress.
"You have to get your business and civic leadership lined up behind issues and opportunities," she said.
Some long-time goals of the GCP burn bright in Mooney's mind. Others are fading. Here are a few positions Mooney makes clear:
What's good for downtown is good for the region.
The coming $30 million makeover of Public Square, coinciding with lakefront redevelopment, symbolizes Cleveland's new era and her view of public investment. Support the heart, she says, and the body will flourish.
"Where do you put your priorities? Study after study shows, there is no great city that doesn't have a strong city center. And so the core has to be healthy. The core has to be vibrant because that helps lift the region. If it's not, it drags the whole city down," she said.
"I think we're at this inflection point where so much is coming together in downtown Cleveland. I think it's an incredibly exciting time. Plus, we're now making downtown a hip and cool and exciting place to be. If you look at really great cities, people not only want to work downtown, they want to live downtown, they want to play downtown. I think we're bringing it all together."
Attracting a national political convention would be fantastic.
While the GCP board likes to move methodically, some opportunities arise unexpectedly, like Cleveland's sudden chances of landing the Republican or Democratic national convention in 2016. Mooney is working with a handful of business leaders to raise the tens of millions of dollars required to win a convention. She says the price is worth it.
"This is just flat out good for Cleveland and good for our region," especially after all the investment downtown, she said.
"We have a great city. A gem. We have this great convention center. We've done all this work. I think we all agree that an opportunity to showcase this city, with either party, would be a great opportunity for us to really show the country what a wonderful city Cleveland, Ohio is."
Cleveland must be true to its schools
Among the top priorities of the GCP are the Cleveland public schools and a transformation plan championed by Mooney's predecessor at the GCP, Sherwin-Williams' Chief Executive Chris Connor. Mooney plans to follow his lead.
Quality suburban schools are not enough, she said. Good urban schools mean not only a better workforce but a stronger regional economy and a more equitable society.
"I don't know how you don't care about the schools if you care about the economic vitality of the region," she said. "We've shown leadership. We cracked the code. We were able to pull off the Cleveland Plan.
"A lot of eyes are on us now. Will this work? Will this public-charter alliance work? Will the support of the business community be enough?"
It better be, she said.
"For an area to be truly successful, it has to be successful for all of its citizens," she said. "We would like to see a rising tide."
Immigrants still matter, but not so much
Despite a robust downtown, Cleveland's population continues to slide, largely due to a lack of immigrants. City and county officials have yet to endorse immigrant welcome strategies adopted by other Rust Belt cities. Mooney is not likely to push them.
Attracting immigrants makes good economic sense, Mooney said.
"I think that many cities that do that have seen the benefits of welcoming immigrants," she said.
But immigrants will find their way here naturally as the city improves without them, Mooney said. Meanwhile, the current political climate makes immigration a sensitive issue.
Under Connor, the GCP endorsed an immigration reform plan passed by the U.S. Senate. It would make it easier for cities like Cleveland to attract and keep high-skill immigrants. But the partnership has been largely silent since the bill stalled in a U.S. House of Representatives led by Ohio's John Boehner.
"When do you lead, when do you follow, how do you influence?" Mooney asked. "I think very definitely the Greater Cleveland Partnership has acknowledged that immigration reform is part of economic vitality and economic inclusion."
And that may be it for awhile.
"It's really a lot of public policy in lawmakers hands now," she said. "That is important. But it's not our ball to carry."
The battle for the hub is over. The fight for the airport is not.
One of the GCPs most strident campaigns in recent years, United for Cleveland's Hub, collapsed in February when United Airlines decreed it was closing its hub, slashing flights and taking hundreds of jobs from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
Hub status is not likely to return, Mooney said. The GCP is now focused on helping the city attract more airlines and more flights. It also intends to study the needs of the business community and try to "fill gaps" in connections.
"If you look at other cities, once a hub leaves, they become a multi-carrier airport," Mooney said. "I think more flights from more carriers is what we're looking at now."
The Opportunity Corridor is well named
A boulevard connecting I-490 to University Circle will do more than speed west-side commuters to the Cleveland Clinic, Mooney said. She believes businesses and developers will line its path with investment, bringing new vitality to depopulated neighborhoods.
"Part of the vision there is the economic revitalization that would go on around the new access," she said. "You create reasons for businesses and developers to take advantage of that traffic and that flow. So to me, it's not just a road. I see an economic catalyst."
Cleveland enjoys strengths it can build upon
As it shakes off the Great Recession, Greater Cleveland's $200 billion economy is growing in new directions, into biosciences and entrepreneurship. Downtown shimmers with new restaurants and apartments. The waterfront beckons.
Mooney sees a region arcing toward something better.
"If you look at the sheer size of the economy in Northeast Ohio, we're huge. I mean, we're the largest economy in the state. Even when you compare us with other states, this is a huge economic engine here."
To leverage that strength, it's wise to support for industries and skills for which we're well known--like medicine and advanced manufacturing, Mooney said.
"That I feel will pay benefits and bring more jobs and more companies to Northeast Ohio," she said. "We have an amazingly strong economy here, and then you add to it low energy costs, access to the lakefront, transportation, great logistics. We've got so many advantages. We just need to continue to believe that and build on it."
Disbelief, and maybe modesty, hold us back, Mooney believes.
"The Cleveland collective 'aw shucks' attitude, I see some of that turning," she said. "Everybody's getting the spring back in their step. That's why I think it's an exciting time to be here."
Robert L. Smith covers economic development for The Plain Dealer. Follow him on Twitter @rlsmithpd.