ADVERTISING SECTION
By Emily Haile
Avon, Ohio, resident Al “Bubba” Baker was able to expand his barbecue business last year thanks to a new investment program designed to grow business in Northeast Ohio. A $50,000 microloan from the Economic and Community Development Institutea partner of the Greater Cleveland Partnershipenabled the entrepreneur to patent his Bubba’s-Q baby-back ribs and get them onto the shelves at fine food stores. “We had a great idea but we needed startup money,” Baker told The Plain Dealer. “We could not have done this otherwise.”
Baker’s story illustrates one way the Greater Cleveland Partnership is helping minority-owned business enterprises (MBEs) and women-owned business enterprises (WBEs) take advantage of the region’s economic growth. Strategic investments and a booming manufacturing industry have combined to help Northeastern Ohio become one of the top six industrial markets in North America. In 2012, the region saw the creation of 36,383 jobs, $1.7 billion in payroll and $1.8 billion in capital investment, according to a report by local economic development organization Cleveland Plus.
