For many years, economic news out of Cleveland has not been good. Once a bustling center of manufacturing, the city has been one of the hardest hit over the last half century by the exit of jobs from this location. Lower labor costs elsewhere as well as improved transportation has meant that companies who make tray packaging to vehicles have moved south or west in order to run their operations. The city has seen an overall decrease in population as a result, unlike any other major city in the United States.

The fact that many of these manufacturers left a big mess behind does not help Cleveland's case at all. A fire right on the river a couple of decades ago was a result of big plants not using proper boiler water treatment chemicals and dumping waste into the river and lake. Pollution is still a major issue in the city, as is poverty due to the lack of jobs.

Like any responsible government, though, city hall in Cleveland has been working steadily and hard to help develop the economy of the city. They have paid attention to several different sectors, in the hopes of not only retaining business but attracting more. In some respects they have been successful. Several Fortune 500 companies have their operations in Cleveland, in former warehouses used to store industrial vehicles but which have been converted to high end office space. Rezoning is just one of the economic development initiatives taken by local government.

Another is the retention of what little manufacturing is still in place in the city. The mayor's office has set up several liaison programs which allow quick and relevant communication between the plants in the city and the municipal government. Each area of the city has its own liaison, so that a manufacturer of cable ties along Eerie can have as much access to the ears of the local authorities as can a business based in the downtown area.

In some areas, Cleveland's government has made great strides. A commitment to making the city an attractive place for tech based companies, for example, has paid off well. Cleveland is recognized worldwide by important computer company Intel because of its city wide Wi Fi networks and other strides into the digital age. These efforts have helped attract several tech companies to the area over the last decade.

Also notable are the developments taking place in the health sector. Several of the hospitals and research facilities in Cleveland are among the top in their nation in their fields. In fact, if you talk to many doctors for whom English as a second language courses were necessary, Cleveland was the first city they thought of when it came to research facilities. That's positive news, as the biomedical sector is a very lucrative one. With strides like that, it is apparent that Cleveland is making progress as far as economic development.