Readers of Inside Business will find something new included with their January 2011 issue. We call it Neoconomist, and it is a magazine and Web initiative devoted to connecting Northeast Ohio’s businesses to the global economy.
And therein lies a tale. As you may recall, I announced in my last column that our editors were compiling an inventory of the region’s business and cultural assets called the World Class Asset Index so we could gain a better appreciation of what they are and what they mean to our economy.
The idea behind the index was in response to the commonly expressed feeling that in LeBron’s departure we had lost the only thing we had going for us. As you know, conversations about living here can turn negative quickly. Yet those who enjoy their jobs are the first to speak up and say what a great place Cleveland is.
We asked readers to send us their nominations for world-class assets, and they did. Not only did they send their lists for the index, they told us what we could do with it.
Before you jump to the wrong conclusion, let me tell you what they said. First, as you might expect, they liked the idea of the index because it would remind Northeast Ohioans of what we have in our own backyard. “We are our own worst enemy when it comes to appreciating what we have” was the most frequent comment.
The second most frequent comment surprised me because some version of it was included in half the responses: “We must find a way to get the word to the rest of the world about our world-class assets.” We took this suggestion to be positive. Either our readers are proud of what we have and want to brag, or they want to take what we have and sell it to the rest of the world. We win on both counts.
The more we talked about readers’ comments and what Inside Business could do to meet an obvious need, the idea of Neoconomist was born. It will tell the story of Northeast Ohio’s achievements in business, education, medicine, research and arts to the region and the world in order to increase Northeast Ohio’s international business. Neoconomist and Northeast Ohio would go global
together.
Adding to his duties as publisher and editor of Ohio magazine, Press Club of Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame inductee Richard Osborne will lead a talented team of journalists in presenting stories and research on the industries, companies, institutions and individuals driving Northeast Ohio’s economy. In addition, Neoconomist’s website will connect the businesses of the Great Lakes to the global economy, an effort that promises increased attention worldwide.
When Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign used the slogan, “It’s the economy, stupid,” who could have guessed how significant those words would become years later. We have learned the meaning of economy the hard way. Today we all understand having a job is Job No. 1, and having a job means growing a business. And growing a business today means selling products and services in a global economy.
With the information and research Neoconomist is going to provide to Northeast Ohio and the world, it is our hope that we can advance the region’s economy and at the same time turn pessimists into optimists.
Nothing would please us more than to turn 4 million people into Neoconomists.