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CONTINUAL PROGRESS IN STARK COUNTY

It’s hard to believe that this issue wraps up our 10th year of producing Canton Inc. Magazine! Over the past 15 issues, we’ve featured a wide breadth of cover stories focused on regional growth, from energy and air service to downtown redevelopment and desirable destinations.

A common theme throughout all of the issues has been progress. Looking back over the past decade, we should be proud at the progress we’ve made across virtually all business sectors of our community. In 2012, our oil and gas opportunity in the Utica shale play was a brand new notion. Now, eastern Ohio is recognized a natural gas leader, with 35% of U.S. natural gas coming from Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In 2014, we featured our first story on Hall of Fame Village, before there was a new stadium, youth fields or the Constellation Center for Excellence. Now, Hall of Fame Village is gearing up for Phase 3 of construction. In 2018, our summer cover story was on three new upscale apartment complexes in downtown Canton — the Onesto, Bliss Towers and Hercules. Now, each of those complexes is thriving.

In this issue, progress continues in the health care sector. Canton/Stark County’s two largest health care providers, Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital and Aultman Health Foundation, are under new leadership. In our cover story, you’ll meet their respective new CEOs, Dr. Timothy Crone, a physician and business leader from Cleveland Clinic, and Rick Haines, a 40-year veteran of Aultman Health Foundation. Not only will you learn more about them professionally and personally, I hope you’ll take away (as I did) how fortunate we are to have two exceptional health systems here in Stark County.

This issue also features progress in other areas of our community. The Akron-Canton Airport recently welcomed Breeze Airlines, a brand-new, low-cost carrier with nonstop service to Charleston, South Carolina; New Orleans and Tampa. In the manufacturing sector, a group of manufacturers and stakeholders have come together to create the Stark County Manufacturing Workforce Development Partnership, which is focused on getting students and job seekers into manufacturing careers. And MAGNET has unveiled its Blueprint for Manufacturing in Northeast Ohio, a roadmap for making Northeast Ohio a global leader in smart manufacturing.

Despite ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic, progress in our tourism sector continues. Work at Hall of Fame Village is moving ahead, and many of our outdoor markets have returned to full capacity.

And, finally, diversity in our business community remains a top priority. The Community Moving Forward project just hit its one-year milestone, having already established programs focused on internships, mentorships, supplier diversity and increased business capital for minority businesses.

I think you’ll agree that an abundance of progress is being made here in Stark County. Thank you for reading our latest issue of Canton Inc. Magazine. Dennis P. Saunier President and CEO Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce