RubberBuzz || Akron Unleashed: Finally, a Link

8.28.2005

Finally, a Link

This is the third time that RubberBuzz has been mentioned in The BJ, but this time we finally got a direct link. Before they just wrote out the name on Ohio.com, but this time it's an honest-to-god link. I can feel the power.

Our latest mention in The BJ puts us and Rebecca Ryan in the same article yet again. This time Davie G. quotes me from an e-mail conversation we'd been having about the so-called "Gen-X Expert."

Even one of Ryan's most persistent critics, a young man named Joe (he didn't give his last name) who launched his own Web site last year (www.rubberbuzz.com), acknowledged Thursday that Ryan has created new connections.

"Even though I'd love to dump a big bowl of Jell-O on her head, I have to admit that if it wasn't for her, a lot of us Akron lovers wouldn't have found each other," Joe wrote.

Before everyone thinks I'm going soft, let me explain. If the future recipient of a giant bowl of Jell-O hadn't come to town, I might not have met the RCCC people, the owners of Revival, the owner of Square Records and Lisa Hofmann from HSNA. These are amazing Akron-positive people who have come into my life because we all give a damn about our city.

The rest of Capital G's article goes on to talk about the retiring Baby-Boomers and the coming shift in American demographics. He also talks about some of the great point of Akron that Rebecca Ryan never harped on, a big one being the cost of living.

This goes right along with an interesting conversation I've gotten into with a Gen-Xer who had to leave Akron 15-ish years ago to find a job, his name is also Joe so this might get a bit confusing. One thing he brought up was housing costs. Akron is very affordable when it come to real estate and yet that was never mentioned.

Joe is what Rebecca Ryan would refer to a potential "boomeranger," someone who left town who has potential to move back; he brings up valid points that I'm sure other potential "boomerangers" can relate to. Here are some of my favorites:

- Akron needs to create a business garden environment. Jobs retain people - so make it easy to do business. Subsidize local business loans/consulting services so existing companies can grow.

- As above, the city needs to help get capital investment into the town. All city business folks should be out chasing VC [venture capital].

It all comes back to jobs. In Rebecca Ryan's final report, she made the assumption that jobs would just appear as the economy improved, but what would set Akron apart to attract new business? We need incentives like other cities; we can just be stagnant. Otherwise I fear E-mail Joe's prediction might come true--

So, a boomerang person would have lots of fun showing up in his/her hometown - only to find that unemployment is really, really overrated, even if you do have a nice Canal Lock to visit...

The BJ :: Discussions about `cool' not ending

(joe :: Finally, a Link)

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