Business View Magazine | February 2019

154 And some of these green features are much more sustainable than concrete, and they upped the ante on quality of life issues.” While working to complete its sewer project, James Hardy,Assistant to the Mayor/Chief of Staff, talks about some of the other planned and ongoing projects in Akron and how the city has taken a new path on the road to economic sustainability.“We’re working on sustainability from two fronts,”he be- gins.“There’s infrastructure sustainability–the $1.4 billion consent decree combined sewer overflow project that we’re undertaking-and the work we’re doing to realign our economic development to be more sustainable, going forward.” “Much like a lot of cities in the U.S., our Chamber of Commerce, our city, and our county, have been fo- cused for the last 25 years, primarily, on job attrac- tion and investment attraction,with some success, to be sure,”he continues.“Akron came to promi- nence through the rubber industry-making tires. A good section of our economy is still related to the auto industry. Goodyear Global Headquarters is here; we have Bridgestone Americas Center for Re- search and Technology here, and a lot of companies that deal with the automotive industry, tool and die companies,manufacturers, and advanced materials, like polymers.Then we have an incredible amount of middle market firms in the Akron metro area that run the gamut in terms of their industry focus–still tied to the manufacturing base and the auto indus- try. So,we still have a good portion of that.We also have universities and hospitals; ‘heads and meds’ are still a key driver of our local economy. “But, as our economy has changed, and continues to change,we have to change with it.And so,with