The White House announced the creation of a workforce hub in Columbus Tuesday, building off several recent business successes in Ohio's capital city.

That success in Columbus is prompting some to ask, what about Cleveland?

With all the city of Cleveland has to offer with its healthcare, education and parks, city officials admit it has struggled to bring in new business, often losing out on opportunities to central Ohio.

“Businesses are going to where it’s easy to do business, where there may be green fields in the suburbs,” said Jeff Epstein, Cleveland’s integrated development chief.

All you have to do is look to Columbus to see where Amazon, Google and Intel are expanding business operations.

In a Cleveland City Council Development, Planning and Sustainability Committee meeting Tuesday, officials said a big factor getting in the way of business opportunities here is the lack of “shovel-ready land.” Committee members lamented the city’s crumbling buildings and overgrown spaces that remain vacant.

According to Ward 10 Councilman Anthony Hairston, it’s not for a lack of interest.

“We get a lot of emails in City Hall asking, ‘Hey, do you have 20 acres? Do you have 40 acres? Do you have 10 acres that are clean, that are ready to go, that we can refer and potentially draft a business to come and occupy?'” he said. “But oftentimes, the case is, 'No. We don’t.'"

Matt Rascon reports: https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/loc... --

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