Northeast Ohio outpaces nation in several industries

By Don Shilling

The region’s scientific and legal industries are growing faster than the national average.

An economic-development group is preparing to brag about the increasing impact of professional, scientific and technical industries in Northeast Ohio.

Team Northeast Ohio, which promotes a 16-county area, is releasing a report today that shows the gross regional product of those industries grew by 79 percent from 1993 to 2008. GRP is the total value of goods and services produced in the region.

The 79 percent works out to growth of about 5 percent a year, which is significant, said Jacob Duritsky, Team NEO research manager.

During the same period, Northeast Ohio’s total GRP was growing by less than 2 percent a year, meaning the professional, scientific and technical industries are growing faster than the region as whole, he said.

That’s a message that Team NEO wants others to hear.

The report, which is part of the group’s quarterly economic review, will be sent to about 2,000 site-selection consultants to combat stereotypes that Northeast Ohio is a dying Rust Belt region, said Nina Holliday, Team NEO marketing director.

She said that showing data to such consultants is important because they are bombarded with marketing brochures from all around the country.

The report highlights the growth rates of specific industries.

For example, Northeast Ohio has performed well in the scientific and legal industries, which both had growth above national averages.

The growth in GRP for the scientific industry was 169 percent in Northeast Ohio and 73 percent nationwide.

The growth in GRP in the legal industry was 76 percent in the region and 41 percent nationwide.

Employment in the professional, scientific and technical industries also has grown. From 1993 to 2008, these industries accounted for 21,000 of the 99,500 new jobs that were added in the region.

The jobs in the professional, scientific and technical industries tend to pay higher-than-average wages, Duritsky said.

Overall, these industries employed about 86,800 of the region’s 19 million jobs last year.

The fastest growth came in computer-systems-design workers. That sector had 14,000 jobs, which was 129 percent more than in 1993.

Team NEO’s report said the total GRP for the region fell by 5.5 percent last year as the recession took hold. Moody’s SFlbEconomy.com is expecting a 0.7 percent decrease this year.

shilling@vindy.com