Berea, Ohio

BEREA, OHIO complements their academic experience. They can build roots here in Berea, while, at the same time,making themselves marketable for great jobs, once they graduate. And, again,we’re offering a service that, generally, our clients can’t access any other way.” Madzy agrees that there is an added virtue in having students from the University interact with local businesses. “Our goal is to work with the students in the University programs, get them ingrained in our business community and then, hopefully, retain them as resi- dents; take the students that are here and give them an opportuni- ty to stay,” he says. In addition to supporting lo- cal businesses already in Berea, Madzy’s office also works to at- tract new ones. “We have a strong relationship with the state as far as outside businesses that want to come to Ohio,” he re- lates. “There’s a Department of Development within the state government and leads that come to the state government are filtered down to the counties, and then down to the cities. I will frequently get emails and calls from the local division, here – the Greater Cleveland Partnership – talking about businesses that are interested in coming to the area and asking what we have available. So, I can explain about the programs that we have with Baldwin Wallace University. But additionally, we’ve also built up a relationship on the local level with commercial brokers that represent different clients who may be looking to open a second location, or get ware- house space to supplement their manufacturing space, or get space closer to their existing cus- tomers. So, any opportunities we get to go to a brokers’ event, we always seize that opportunity to explain to them what we have to offer here in Berea.” “Matt and his team are so pro-active when it comes to communicating with current busi- nesses that are based here and reaching out to businesses that might want to move here,” says Marshall. “He holds quarterly Business Devel- opment Seminars to help businesses reach their goals, or tackle a specific issue. They show that Berea is an attractive place to set up busi- ness and that once you’re here, there are a lot of ongoing programs that can help you sustain the business, as well.” Another one of Madzy’s initiatives concerns the redevelopment of an industrial area in the northern end of the city. “It’s about 30 acres that had been an ‘Automile,” he explains. “It’s close to Cleveland/Hopkins International Air- port and there’s a large exhibition hall, the I-X Center. The automobile dealerships have moved closer to the Interstate, so the city has been able to buy properties in the area and we’re beginning the process of marketing that out to different developers. That’s going to be our next, large economic growth area. The plan is to continue to work with businesses, to build additional buildings, or to expand to additional properties – leveraging the assets that are here and being innovative and proactive.”