Local business leaders hope a Cleveland Orchestra performance in Switzerland will help attract new business to the region.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Orchestra attracts music lovers. Local business leaders hope it can draw some international business to Northeast Ohio.
The orchestra and Team NEO, the region's business-attraction group, will host 20 European business executives on Saturday for a performance in Lucerne, Switzerland.
The 20 represent companies and industry associations across Europe, mostly manufacturing with a mix of solar power and biomedical interests.
They're invited to a reception before the performance and will visit with Austrian-born Franz Welser-Most, the orchestra director. A dinner is planned afterward, as well as a meeting Sunday.
The orchestra is on a two-week tour of summer music festivals in Europe. Team NEO is on a two-year quest to attract international investment to the region, launched with a $1 million grant from the Cleveland Foundation.
The goal over two years is to land three or four deals with companies that commit to a minimum $1 million investment here and would generate at least 20 jobs over three years, Team NEO officials said.
"Many of these companies we've already had contact with," Team NEO Chief Executive Tom Waltermire said while traveling in Europe on Thursday. "The orchestra is an attraction. People really want to see them. We'll show our guests a good time and take the opportunity to talk more deeply about their business and this region."
Waltermire and Team NEO officials were visiting Denmark, Germany and Switzerland this week.
