8527-11 Anti Poaching agreement w/ County

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CUYAHOGA COUNTY BUSINESS ATTRACTION AND ANTI-POACHING PROTOCOL Purpose The communities of Cuyahoga County wish to enter a new era of regional collaboration to promote economic development. To that end, they hope to work closely with the county to make their communities and the region more attractive to business. While these communities want to encourage businesses to locate within their boundaries, they prefer not to do so at the expense of their neighbors. Inevitably, some businesses, for their own reasons, will choose to explore re-location from one community in Cuyahoga County to another. In such instances, a balance should be struck to allow the first community the opportunity to retain the business and the second community or communities the opportunity to attract it. However, if a business has not expressed an interest in re-locating, most believe that communities should not actively pursue or "poach" that company to encourage it to move from its current location. The purpose of this Business Attraction and Anti-Poaching Protocol is to: (1) facilitate interactions between the county and the communities to promote economic development; (2) establish acounty- based "one-stop shop' for businesses considering location or expansion in Cuyahoga County; (3) express the commitment of the participating communities that they will not actively pursue the re-location of a business that has not indicated that it is considering a move from its current location in another participating community; and (4) in instances where a business is exploring a possible move, establish procedures to balance the interests of the business' home community and other participating communities. Principles and Protocols In the interest of promoting the economic well-being and growth of our communities, Cuyahoga County, and Northeast Ohio, we, the undersigned, agree to the following economic development actions, principles and protocols (the "Agreement"): 1. Business Retention and Expansion Advisory Council Established: The undersigned agree to participate in Cuyahoga County's Business Retention and Expansion Advisory Council (BREAC), a virtual organization that facilitates the distribution of leads from economic development organizations and site selectors to participating communities. BREAC is also a source for accessing County economic development resources and programs. Membership in BREAC is limited to those communities that enter into this Agreement (the "participating communities') and is the County's first step towards establishing a "one-stop shop' for businesses considering location or expansion in Cuyahoga County. In furtherance of that effort, the participating communities further agree to: Exhibit A