Lake Erie West Meeting Notes 28-Apr-2008

Present: Jerry Jakes, Jim Hartung, Mark Jacobs, Dennis Jenkins, Martin Nagy, Karen Baker Zepf, Fred Harrington and Dan Johnson. Dan chaired the meeting.

Notes:

• Jerry opened the meeting with a brief discussion of why we were there and distributed a large number of past stories, press releases, and LEW documents.
• Jim Hartung followed with a brief statement about the value of LEW as a tool for capturing the values and assets of our region. He described the key element of "place branding" as differentiation and what differentiates our Northwest Ohio/Southeast Michigan region, i.e., Lake Erie West
• Reference to LEW website; it is not current and needs to be brought up to date.
• Jerry mentioned the importance of Models such as Research Triangle Park.
• The importance of Lake Erie seaports described by Jim and the “Ten Principles” of the Lake Erie Seaport Association.
• Mark talked about the use of the LEW “logo” on the mastheads of their publications and the importance of getting people to use it more. He talked about getting "local people" more engaged with LEW.
• It was suggested that we have an “inferiority complex” in this region and the importance of being “positive” rather than talking about all the negatives. Some of the positives include the work ethic of the mid-western workforce, the mid-western values, etc.
• Jerry mentioned the potential of Bio-tech, Alternative energy, and the Auto industry and the economic strengths they bring to the region.
• Fred described past “false starts” that failed because of “lack of money.” He emphasized that it “takes money” to make these things succeed. We need to be willing to “invest” in our region and so far we have not really done that.
• We discussed the rich history of the region going back to the time when this was also the “cross roads for Native Americans” and the importance of the historic sites in the region that could be used in marketing LEW.
• Karen mentioned the more recent history of Toledo and the important role our region has played in the nation’s economy. We were the “Silicon Valley” of the 40s, 50s, and 60s.
• The need for celebrations of our past was discussed and mention was made of the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.
• We discussed the need to engage others who have a passion for regional development and noted that future meetings should include these folks. Brian McMahon, Tony Reams, Alan Brass, Dennis Hicks and others were mentioned.
• Jim asked if there had ever been an “inventory” of historic points and wondered if we might want to do something like that.
• Karen talked about our “roots” and “getting back to our roots” as a region. She talked about the importance of “being positive.”
• We agreed that we need at least a two-hour meeting in the next 30 days to continue this discussion. We want the next meeting to get more specific as to “actions” and the creation of an “action plan” that Jerry can take to his board for adoption.
• Dan talked about looking at the composition of the Board and Advisory Group to make sure we have the right people there. We noted the importance of getting young professionals more engaged in the Board and LEW activities.
• Dan offered to have Penny Thiessen help schedule the next meeting.

There was a strong sense that we were building momentum but that we had to develop a more effective strategy for the near future to capture the benefit of our past progress.

Meeting adjourned at 9:00 a.m.