Seizing Cuyahoga’s Opportunities: Op-Ed

Cuyahoga County Executive Candidate Matt Dolan

By Cuyahoga County Executive Candidate Matt Dolan

Opportunity. The reason families boarded ships to come to America; risk takers moved west across the country; African-Americans moved north after the Civil War and even the reason Bill Gates left school before his Harvard education was complete.

It is by seizing our opportunities that we have been able to create independence, work, wealth and a future.

Cuyahoga County has the opportunity to reinvent its government. But more importantly, we have a chance to showcase the opportunities that our County holds for individuals. People who want to create, build, invest, serve and take risks need to know that Cuyahoga County can help them capitalize on this opportunity to achieve their goals.

The relationship between the public and private sectors is badly damaged and must be restored. However, the focus must be more than financial. While the influence of private dollars is paramount, the creativity and intellect of the private sector is equally necessary for a vibrant future in Cuyahoga County.

No one group of people is more concerned about finding their own opportunities to succeed nor has more of an impact on future opportunities of our region than young people. We must make Cuyahoga County a welcoming environment where young entrepreneurs, college and graduate students and young professionals can interact with our government. Cuyahoga County's young professionals working with today's leaders can improve our region by bringing a fresh perspective to our old problems: transportation, social service delivery, urban planning and a lack of jobs. 

Organizations like the Cleveland Leadership Center and the 20/30 Club have made great strides, but a government that appreciates the value of our youth will foster investment in our community for generations to come. A successful government must create strong partnership with these organizations as well as with our colleges and universities. Programs such as Kent State University's Urban Design Collaborative and partnerships like the one that exists with Cleveland State University's Levin College of Urban Affairs must be nurtured and further developed. My administration will work with programs like these to provide internship opportunities for their students. We will put these bright minds to work.

I am determined to seize our County's new opportunities to make them work for business and our young people.

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Volume 3, Issue 10, Posted 1:58 PM, 09.02.2010