How do you define a vibrant economy?

A vibrant economy is one that has a talented, diverse workforce; is prosperous, resilient, innovative, and competitive; and has equitable opportunities and outcomes for all.

The 6 pillars of a vibrant economy.

The Vibrant Economy Index will measure our economy through this framework. Each element contains a series of metrics that, when looked at collectively, will help demonstrate how our economy is performing and whether we are making progress toward the aspirational goal of creating a vibrant economy.

Talented

A vibrant economy has a growing, diverse population with equitable opportunities for education,
training, filling good-paying, in-demand jobs in our region.

Equitable

A vibrant economy reduces
disparities in educational attainment, access to in-demand jobs, and economic outcomes for all.

Innovative

A vibrant economy has businesses with a high adoption rate of new technologies and an environment that encourages start-ups.

Resilient

A vibrant economy is forward-looking, helps address the core needs of businesses as they grow and innovate; and helps companies to understand why a market is a good, predictable, and safe place for long-term investment.

Competitive

A vibrant economy outperforms comparable regions and markets in gross domestic product, total employment, per capita income, and labor force participation.

Prosperous

A vibrant economy is prosperous when it creates equitable opportunities for more people to work, earn good wages and thrive. It also offers an environment that supports business startups, business growth and strengthens communities.

What

The Vibrant Economy Index (VEI) is a tool that provides a detailed, nuanced, and accurate measure of the Northeast Ohio Region’s economy, community strength and individual prosperity across all demographics. The VEI also tracks the same measures in 12 markets across the United States.

Over time, the VEI will help us as a region evaluate our economic development strategies, strengthen our competitiveness, and celebrate progress that is happening because of greater alignment.

How

The VEI goes beyond commonly used high-level data that measure the strength of the economy—employment, GRP, per capita income, and labor force participation—to include data like unemployment by race and gender, educational attainment, poverty, cost of living, broadband access, access to alternative fuel stations, and many others. This expansive set of data helps measure the economic and social wellbeing of individuals, across all races and gender, and the economic health of our communities.

The VEI will help the entire economic development ecosystem in the Northeast Ohio Region— including Team NEO, companies, the public sector, higher education, other economic development organizations, and nonprofits—prioritize solutions to address the disparities that create inequitable economic growth. Over time, the VEI will help us as a region evaluate our economic development strategies, strengthen our competitiveness, and celebrate progress that is happening because of greater alignment.

Why

Over the past two decades, Northeast Ohio’s economy has undergone tremendous change. We have seen some economic growth, experienced significant job loss, diversified our economy, and weathered difficult recessions. Many of our residents continue to face systemic barriers to careers with family-sustaining wages and opportunities to thrive.

Team NEO, along with its partners, recognized these challenges and have developed the Vibrant Economy Index (VEI) as a tool to help address them. Traditionally, we’ve measured our economy with broad data to quantify overall growth and rank economic performance. Measuring our economy only at the macro level can mask specific challenges to economic growth and outcomes that are not equitable across all races and genders.

The VEI’s more encompassing set of data creates a more balanced view of the opportunities and challenges facing our businesses, communities, and individuals as our region seeks to grow a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive economy.

Who

The VEI will track economic performance in the 18-county region of Northeast Ohio, as well as 12 metropolitan areas that fall into one of three categories: Aspirational, Competitive, and Nearby. Aspirational markets are widely recognized as top markets in the United States. Competitive markets are those that the Northeast Ohio Region frequently competes with for business attraction and expansion. Nearby markets are markets in Ohio and neighboring states that are frequently used for comparative purposes.

With what regions do we compare our economic indicators data?

We can measure success in three ways.

Economic development network

The VEI is embraced and supported by the economic development network in Northeast Ohio as an effective means of evaluating our economy.

Support policies & drive investments

The VEI is leveraged to support policies and drive investments that positively impact economic and social outcomes in Northeast Ohio.

Equitable outcomes

The various data points in the VEI move in the right direction over time, creating a vibrant economy with equitable outcomes.

The VEI serves three primary purposes.

Measure

The VEI will provide a more comprehensive measurement of our economic performance as a region and how competitive we are with a set of key metro areas across the United States.

Regional Advocacy

The VEI will strengthen regional advocacy efforts that inform policies and invest- ment decisions to improve outcomes as a regional economy and for individual participants in our economy, across all races and genders.

Promote

The VEI is a tool to promote the work that Team NEO, in collaboration with its partners, is doing to drive equitable economic growth throughout the region.