Smart Business Magazine, November 2020

18 Smart Business November 2020 MAGNETIC LEADERSHIP Ethan Karp Impactful partnerships What COVID 19 taught us about radical collaboration I used to toss around the concept of partnership rather haphazardly I would use the term partner like many of us used it in high school a means to an end mandated by a teacher where one person did all the work and then the group pretended they did it together to get a good grade Today COVID 19 has stripped away any pretense of partnering just for show The partnerships I have been part of during this crisis have been real They have been impactful They are built on trust and they have built more trust In short they were the very definition of powerful partnerships If 2020 had a tagline it would be either Worst year ever or Were in it together Being an optimist I would choose the latter Amidst all the terrible news we saw shining examples of how people came together to fight the pandemic How the worst of times brought out the best in us One example was working with Ohio Gov Mike DeWine Lt Governor Jon Husted the Ohio Manufacturers Association JobsOhio hospitals and many others to form the Ohio Manufacturing Alliance to Fight COVID 19 When nurses wearing garbage bags showed us that our frontline heroes desperately needed personal protective equipment PPE Ohios manufacturers stepped up to join the Alliance and make it Moving at lightning speed new supply chains were established new products were innovated with new technology and thousands of Ohio manufacturers made millions of pieces of PPE These efforts created jobs and increased economic vitality while protecting Ohio This powerful partnership actually saved lives In the midst of the pandemic unemployment hit its highest level since the Great Depression Paradoxically there are still open positions at local manufacturers Even COVID 19 couldnt wipe out our talent shortage So at the height of COVID 19 we ramped up new programs to find untapped talent Fifteen manufacturers in Cuyahoga Countys Workforce Connect Manufacturing Sector Partnership partnered with organizations like the Urban League Ohio Means Jobs Towards Employment Nordson Foundation and others to launch a new program to train formerly incarcerated individuals Almost all of them were hired into new manufacturing jobs before restaurants were able to reopen in Ohio This powerful partnership changed lives Throughout the pandemic progress continued with the new Innovation District in the MidTown neighborhood of Cleveland a partnership between MidTown Cleveland Inc community members the Cleveland Foundation MAGNET JumpStart developer Wexford and others This hub of research manufacturing technology and inclusive entrepreneurship progressed despite lockdowns shutdowns and remote work This powerful partnership will kickstart innovation These examples demonstrate that we truly are in it together In fact while the world was falling apart we learned to work together even better I call it radical collaboration And it wont stop when COVID 19 stops Weve seen what we are truly capable of when we have trust purpose shared credit passion and appreciation for the bigger picture As we rebuild thats how nonprofits can and will continue to make a difference Many of our partners are already working on new collaborations reinventing the systems that perpetuate inequities and capturing the opportunities that will propel us forward Thats why I strongly believe that as we rebound reinvent and rebuild from the chaos of the pandemic powerful partnerships will be one of the lasting positive legacies of 2020 Ethan Karp President and CEO MAGNET The Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network MAGNET is a partner of the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership Ohio MEP and has served Northeast Ohios small and medium manufacturers for over three decades ethan karp@ manufacturingsuccess org www manufacturingsuccess org