Greater Cleveland Partnership highlights internships and a private 'Ascend' platform to keep graduates in the region

Biju Shah, president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, described initiatives the organization uses to retain and recruit young professionals, focusing on internship pipelines and curated employer–student platforms.

Shah said the region aims to make living and working in Cleveland attractive to 20‑somethings by coupling work experience with social connection. He described "Summer in the Land," an internship engagement program that gathered interns to explore the city and build peer networks; Shah said this summer involved about 1,800 interns from roughly 210 institutions and about 470 companies, which he said increased interns' likelihood of accepting local job offers.

To connect students and smaller local employers, Shah said the region adapted a private, opt‑in platform modeled on Indiana's Ascend Indiana so students and employers can better match; he described the platform as a curated alternative to mass-market tools. On that point, Shah offered a blunt evaluation of the dominant national service: "Handshake is crap," he said, arguing that an opt‑in model lets employers target students who express real interest in the region.

Shah also described winter career expos and collaboration with local colleges (Cleveland State, Case Western Reserve) to reach students who study outside the region and to promote both summer and permanent job opportunities. He framed these efforts as pragmatic responses to a talent gap: businesses are growing faster than the regional population, and targeted recruitment and engagement are necessary to sustain growth.

Shah closed by saying these talent initiatives complement Cleveland's innovation and place investments, creating the conditions for employers to hire and retain graduates.

No votes or formal policy actions were recorded at the session.