Neither rain, nor sleet nor snow will keep Greater Ohio Policy Center from Akron on Tuesday, January 18^th.  We along with The University of Akron, the Greater Akron Chamber, Summit County and the city of Akron are partnering to present an economic forum at the John S. Knight Center to build upon Akron’s recent accomplishments and major initiatives, and develop new strategies to pave the way for continued growth. The Building Prosperity in Greater Akron Forum is one of a series of forums and meetings planned by Greater Ohio throughout the state in connection with our Restoring Prosperity: Transforming Ohio’s Communities for the Next Economy report, which was released in conjunction with the Brookings Institution last year. The report is a “blueprint” for structural changes and state policy reforms intended to bring economic vitality to the state.

Forum session topics will be:

• The “Akron Model:” Establishing a Baseline for Progress

• Clusters of Innovation (Regional and Global)

• Talent and Workforce Development

• Quality of Place and Product

• Identifying Solutions to State Policy Barriers

The keynote speaker will be Paul S. Grogan, president and chief executive officer of The Boston Foundation, who will discuss the importance of using clusters and how metric research can help guide future policy decisions. Ohio Lt. Governor Mary Taylor and Congresswoman Betty Sutton will provide remarks during the forum, while Ohio House Speaker William G. Batchelder will lead a plenary session on the General Assembly’s priorities for 2011.

For those of you that are attending we encourage you to tweet (don’t forget to use #AkronForum in your tweets!) during the presentation and offer your comments in our blog following the forum.  We need to hear your feedback to ensure that we are advocating for the right state policies to build on all the great initiatives and programs are already ongoing in the Greater Akron region.