The Clean Ohio Fund awarded the Hemisphere Corp. three million dollars recently for the cleanup of the former Diamond Shamrock industrial complex in Lake County. The project ranked first in Ohio for grant money from the Fund.

Northern Ohio Chamber Survey conducted by KSU found recently that the factors most important to the success of business were:

Reasons for encouraging children to live in northern Ohio:

There were 786 responses to the survey.

condensed from Crains

Regional Job Dispersion

During the period 1995-2005, the Mentor-Willoughby area, including Mentor-on-the-Lake and Kirtland, contained the most job openings, 1500 or more; the Painesville-Concord Twp. area, excluding Grand River, contained the second most job openings, 1000-1499; and the Madison-Perry-Leroy area and Eastlake-Willowick contained the least job openings in Lake County, fewer than 500. Adjacent communities, except the Chardon area, contained few job openings, less than 500. The downtown Cleveland area and the Medina area were robust with job openings, but otherwise the region was low in job openings for the period.

Regionally, the job opening base was shifted from historically being strong in the central inner-ring suburbs to the "outer-ring" suburbs, resulting in less commuting toward Cleveland and more toward suburban job growth. The change in the commuting pattern is indicated by the following summary:

( back to top )

County Investments in Open Space

In 2004, county voters approved $2.97 billion in new land conservation funding, nearly double any previous amount in history. County conservation funds approved represented 73 percent of all conservation funds approved in 2004, also, a record, with the next highest being 56 percent in 2001.

Since 1996, there have been 262 county conservation finance measures on ballots nationwide. Of these measures, 203 have passed, supporting investments in public open space, parks, watersheds, recreational lands and wildlife preserves. For more information, go to the Trust for Public Lands website at www.tpl.org and click on the 'Land Vote' box.

The Trust for Public Land is a national nonprofit land conservation organization which conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and other natural places, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. Since its founding in 1972, TPL has helped protect more than 2 million acres in 46 states.

County Commissioners Association

The results of the 2005 Reston, Va. based American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) national infrastructure report card reveal a nation on the brink of structural collapse.

To bring the nation's underpinnings up to a passing grade will take $1.6 trillion over the next five years, according to ASCE.

Of particular worry to local leaders are the low grades for water and wastewater, which have health implications but are short in federal funding. Dams, energy, aviation, roads, transit and schools were among those rated D.

Each category was evaluated on the basis of condition and performance, capacity vs. need, and funding vs. need.

2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure

Source: Reston, VA.-based ASCE, 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure

Underlying infrastructure woes is population growth and the demand for highway improvements, water, energy, and other utilities. Can the government keep pace or do we need to pay more? Ohio Issue 1 passage should help.

( back to top )