Budish to meet business leaders 100 encounters set for his 1st 100 days

Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish.

(Lynn Ischay, The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish, during his first state-of-the-county address Wednesday night, is expected to announce plans for the county to open three high-tech workshops in county libraries to help would-be business owners.

The workshops, which county officials are calling "library innovation centers," will be opened in Cuyahoga County Public Library branches in Parma, Garfield Heights and Mayfield Heights. The workshops will provide public access to 3D printers and other machinery, as well as the high-speed internet access and software needed to use them.

Budish administration officials, speaking with Northeast Ohio Media Group in advance of Budish's speech, did not offer a timetable for opening the centers, or a possible cost.

The Budish administration hopes the centers will give would-be entrepreneurs experience using the machines, and put them on the path toward opening a new business. The three centers will be modeled after the "think[box]" workshop at Case Western Reserve University that opened in 2012.

By holding a state-of-the-county address, Budish continues a tradition established by former Executive Ed FitzGerald, whom Budish replaced in January. Budish's speech is hosted by the City Club of Cleveland, and is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. It will be held in the auditorium of the Parma-Snow branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library, 2121 Snow Rd.

Budish also is expected to make other policy announcements, which would be among the first of his administration, and otherwise lay out three top priorities for his office.

The priorities Budish is expected to discuss are:



Job growth and opportunity



Budish is expected to describe the county's duty to support businesses in creating jobs and grow the local economy. This will include encouraging opportunities for residents to get training and education to help them qualify for jobs, as well as pursuing quality of life issues to help attract and retain a qualified workforce.

Fairness

Budish is expected to describe this as addressing economic, racial and health disparities that exist between residents of rich and poor communities throughout the county. This could involve issues including infant mortality, pre-kindergarten education and access to business loans.

"Government that gets results"

Budish is expected to discuss focusing on improving the county's customer service. This will include trying to help residents with issues, even if they don't directly involve the county government.

As for the innovation centers, Budish administration officials said that groups including Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, NASA and Bizdom, the accelerator for startup businesses founded by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, have pledged to support the initiative by providing mentoring and other resources.

If the workshops are successful, the county will explore opening new centers in other library branches, officials said.