Team NEO, Cleveland Clinic Foundation announce business partnership

BYLINE: Brandon C. Baker, The News-Herald, Willoughby, Ohio

Aug. 28--In the same vein as recent projects like the regional conglomerate "Cleveland +," Team NEO and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation have announced a partnership aimed at bringing awareness and business to Northeast Ohio.

Officials from both sides said the initiative would present the region as a biotechnological hub to potential biological science and medical companies looking to branch out into new territories.

The plan falls in line with the development of Cleveland's Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center, a consortium of development corporations, universities and medical centers established to market cardiovascular products.

In December, the state awarded $60 million to Cleveland Clinic to collaborate with the likes of University Hospitals Case Medical Center and the Ohio State University for the GCIC.

"The point of the partnership and the center is to help grow the economy," said Thomas A. Waltermire, chief executive officer of Team NEO. "That's why the state provided $60 million -- to lead to economic growth, innovation, new developments.

"Those developments would turn into businesses and we can get more companies here operating in (the medical) field," he said.

To solidify the partnership, Tom Sudow, executive director of the Beachwood Chamber of Commerce, will become Team NEO's vice president of attraction on Sept. 4. On that front, Waltermire said the initiative is unique because Team NEO used a share of the state funds to bring in a new employee for the first time in the organization's four-year history.

"We're going to feed off the innovation coming out of CCF," he said. "We'll combine that with our expertise in working with individual companies."

Overall, the GCIC is a $250 million project. Included in that cost is the GCIC Accelerator, a 60,000-square-foot building to open across from CCF research and clinical operations in Cleveland, officials said. Scheduled to open within two years, it will house selected GCIC member companies.

According to the GCIC's Web site, cardiovascular medicine, products and innovations are worth focusing on because of the market's estimated $420 billion worth. The GCIC plans to transform concepts into products through spin-off companies, technology licenses and equity partnerships.

"The GCIC represents a new era of collaboration and an important catalyst for invigorating our region," said Christopher Coburn, CCF Innovations executive director, in a news release.

"By establishing an internationally recognized center that unites the most advanced research, clinical care and talent, and leading medical breakthroughs, the GCIC will change our region's economic landscape."

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