Seven years ago when my wife and I first began our search for a new city in which to reside, we
identified a few qualifications the city of our dreams had to meet. As business people our first qualification was the city had to be a place in which we could easily do business. In addition the city needed to have: great amenities that were easy to access; an outstanding school system; and be poised for future growth. As we quickly came to discover, the City of Green is all these things and more. Most importantly, it just feels like home to me and my family.
Navigating Green and all that it has to offer is simpler with the three (3) access points to Interstate-77 and being the home to the Canton Akron Airport (CAK). From Green we can quickly travel to Canton, Akron, Cleveland, Columbus, or even other states. Fortunately for Green, these amenities add unquantifiable value to businesses and are difficult to recreate by neighboring communities.
The City of Green is also unique in that it has a mayor and executive director with the Chamber of Commerce who have strong business backgrounds. Mayor Dick Norton and Executive Director Lori Howerton bring extensive business knowledge and experience to help our local Green businesses grow. The Mayor and Executive Director are action oriented individuals looking to advance the interest of business and professional firms in the City of Green. As chairman of the board for the Green Chamber of Commerce, I work first hand with the Executive Director and Mayor to help create, retain and strengthen partnerships that will promote a proactive business voice and sound economic development with our business community. We all have a passion to be a proactive resource for businesses investing in Green.
Coming from a crowded Cleveland suburb where everyone has a “hurry up and wait” attitude, (I can vividly remember the lines of traffic from one light to the next. They were horrific!), it is truly a breath of fresh air to live and work in The City of Green. The pace is slower and the people are more considerate. It continues to amaze me how much our businesses give back to our community. Businesses both small and large, industrial or retail, service or restaurants all support our community from an employment and philanthropic standpoint. It is exciting to work in a city that still has rural character at its heart with leadership that is proactively modernizing our city and poising it for controlled growth. I’m proud to say I work in a city that I feel will be able to compete with neighboring cities in Northeast Ohio and not be left behind. As a matter of fact, I believe The City of Green will not only compete, but be the blue print that serves many other cities throughout Ohio. So, instead of asking why I should have my business and family in Green, I think the better question is how can I not have my business in Green and be a part of something great!
