Candidates for Lieutenant Governor to Address NOACA Summit

If you believe what you hear and read in the news, businesses and college graduates are moving out of Ohio, particularly northeast Ohio. Attracting/retaining businesses and preventing the “brain drain” are among the key economic development issues in this year’s gubernatorial race.

Where do the candidates stand on these and other issues? Come to NOACA’s 7th Annual Summit on Friday, June 9, and hear directly from the candidates for Lieutenant Governor, Lee Fisher (D) and Representative Tom Raga (R). They will discuss their plans for economic development, as well as transportation, and air and water quality issues, especially in northeast Ohio.

In addition to the candidates, the Summit will feature keynote speaker Gordon Proctor, director of the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), who will discuss the future transportation funding and the Cleveland Innerbelt project. Other speakers include:

• Shara Davis, project director of Voices & Choices, who will reveal the concerns of more than ten thousand northeast Ohioans who participated in discussions about the future of northeast Ohio and the challenges we must overcome.
• Ed Morrison, a partner from the Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open), who will talk about open source economic development and the proposed economic development plan for Cuyahoga County.
• Paul Tait, executive director of the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, who will discuss the ties between economic development and transportation and involving private interests.