Getting Akron to grow again is a stated goal of Mayor Dan Horrigan. To do that he is initiating an economic development program called BOUNCE. It’s aimed at getting people to move to Akron by stimulating entrepreneurship and business expansion through new ideas.
The concept behind BOUNCE is called the “open innovation model.” It involves stimulating and supporting new and changing businesses by creating a downtown location for entrepreneurs, executives, researchers and investors to mix freely and easily. David Zipper of the 1776 Venture Fund, a Washington DC organization focused on helping entrepreneurs, is advising the Mayor. “One leg of that population growth is innovation-based economic development. There are other legs like education and housing. But to grow the population of the city you have to have compelling jobs in companies in the private sector that are growing.”
Reorganizing Akron’s Global Business Accelerator on South Main is in the Mayor’s plan. He also is creating an Innovation Advocate position in the city‘s Economic Development Department.
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