Thank You, Anita Campbell!

Thank you for making me think. Thank you for helping me express my real feelings as they relate to Cleveland!

Anita Campbell’s blog, Small Business Trends, is a widely read small business blog, with an average Alexa rank in the 38,000-45,000 range.It is also a local blog. Anita asks, in her latest post,
"What keeps you awake at night, Entrepreneurs?"
Well, being a Cleveland entrepreneur, this was an easy question for me to answer……..

This is how I answered:
Hi Anita,
What keeps me awake at night is something that is close to you….
The future of Cleveland, Ohio…
There is always some positive stuff to talk about, like the really
smart local technology people that ARE staying here, and trying to keep
the tech part of our area up and running, and are adding new innovative
things to web 2.0 etc.
On the other end, we have old school politicking still going on, and
nothing is really changing in downtown Cleveland. So, in summation,
what keeps me awake at night is our local scene, and what is in our
region’s future?Or are we just..well..done?

I feel much better. But I probably wasn’t blunt enough. I am a little frightened. I keep showing up, and talking positive about Cleveland, trying not to read the Plain Dealer, but instead reading mostly positive blogs like George Nemeth’s Brewed Fresh Daily.

I go to more and more pro-Cleveland events. I pay attention when talented people that can really get things done like Michael DeAloia, sit down with me, and get me energized with the cool tech stuff going on downtown.
I try. I really try.

My own little consulting business can even do some good around here. My firm helps local residents with their dreams of business ownership, and can actually help our economy in little ways. I have the ability to bring in new businesses, and with those new little businesses, new jobs.

But something is really missing. It is vision. Who in our region has a vision of what could be? Who in our region has the power to make that vision a reality? There are some real baby steps that take place.
Then there are those other steps. The ones that go a little sideways, or even backwards. Example:
"Well if the only way to keep the Flats project going is to have part of the area be a Blue Light Adult Entertainment Strip, then let’s just do it." Huh?
My first thought after I heard that was "that should bring in the huge revenue numbers that we need. And a nice classy crowd, too". Might as well have Casino’s!

Does anyone else in Cleveland, and our surrounding area feel anything is "missing."
Anyone else losing sleep?As much as I want to believe that things really are getting better here, I just can’t. Being positive doesn’t make things positive. Action makes things positive.
Where is our leader.And who is he, or she?
Comments would be appreciated. And crucial.   

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