Editor’s note: Earlier this year, The Gazette conducted an informal survey of community and government leaders and asked them who they thought were the most influential people in Medina County. We narrowed the list down to 10 based on the number of votes each received, with No. 1 garnering the most. In the last two weeks, we have featured each influential person as we counted down to No. 1.

By MARIA KACIK

Staff Writer

A bronze plaque hangs in the Medina office of Jim Doutt, executive director of the Medina County Economic Development Corp.

He pointed to the plaque, which was given to him in 2006 when he was presented the award for excellence in public leadership by Leadership Medina County, and said: “That’s something I’m really proud of.”

Doutt was given the award, he explained, not only for what he and the corporation do for business, but what they do for the quality of life in Medina County.

“It’s something, I think, that captured the breadth of what we do here, of what my job is here,” he said. “It’s not just tax abatement. It’s public service. There’s a lot of things that we give back to the county and it’s nice to have that recognized.”

As executive director, Doutt’s job is to attract businesses to all areas of the county, as well as make the businesses that are already here comfortable and create room for their growth.

But Doutt explained business isn’t just business. It’s life.

“Every day when I leave this office, I want to be able to know in my heart that we did something to help the families in Medina County,” he said. “That’s the most common denominator of economic development. Because if we are helping to grow business and to secure jobs and to create jobs, then those employees of those businesses … when they go home they have to support their families. And if we can help to make their jobs more secure or create jobs that weren’t there before, we know we’ve done just that.”

Jim Doutt’s job as executive director of the Medina County Economic Development Corp. is to attract businesses to the county and keep those already here comfortable and create room for their growth. He has worked on a to-do list of “economic development cornerstones” the past few years to keep the county on track. (Andrew Dolph | Staff Photographer)

Doutt, 58, came to the economic development corporation 10 years ago by way of teaching and sales. Holding a master’s degree in history, Doutt began his career as a teacher at Tuscarawas Central Catholic in New Philadelphia. After three years teaching at the school, he became a principal.

In 1982, Doutt moved to Medina and worked for Columbia Gas in Middleburg Heights. For 16 years, he held sales, marketing and managerial positions with different branches in the company.

In 1997, Fred Huff left as executive director of the economic development corporation and the search committee named Doutt the new director.

“The funny part of it was when I took the job I remember Bob (Miller, who led the search committee) being quoted in the paper saying, ‘I think we got the right person. This could last 10 years or more,’ ” Doutt said.

He said his job as economic development director is to create and cultivate an environment in Medina in which businesses can thrive. In the past few years he’s kept the county on that track by working on a list of “economic development cornerstones” he has pinpointed as needs in the county.

It has become a list of what Doutt considers some of his greatest accomplishments and a to-do list for economic development in Medina County.

The first item on that list was the creation of the Medina County University Center, which was conceptualized in talks in January 2001. Doutt said he was on the steering committee for the creation of the university center. “Many of the meetings were held right here in my office,” Doutt said.

After seven years, the university center opened in January of this year at Innovation Park in Lafayette Township.

In October 2006, Doutt and the economic development corporation also realized another item on the list by creating four foreign trade zones throughout the county. Located in Brunswick, Seville, Sharon Township and Wadsworth, the areas foster international trade by potentially saving businesses tax money on materials they import and export to other countries.

In 2005, the Medina County Port Authority was formed, allowing Doutt to check yet another item off his to-do list. Similar to the economic development corporation, the port authority works to assist businesses. Doutt serves as the authority’s administrator.

Since its inception, the port authority has helped three businesses finance new building projects. In addition, the port authority is working on the creation of a fiber-optic loop in Medina County, which is currently the only incomplete item on Doutt’s list of things to do. The 88-mile loop would cover much of the county and offer broadband services to government, educational and business users.

“Believe me, that’s another form of a highway. That’s something that will set us apart,” said Doutt. “This is a kind of service that isn’t available anywhere else in Ohio right now.”

The port authority is currently evaluating different contractors, one of which may be chosen to begin work on the project soon, he said.

But it isn’t just within the county on which Doutt has to focus. He explained that in order to keep Medina County a player in the regional, national and international markets, the county has to work with other players in those markets.

Thus, Doutt works with the Northeast Ohio economic development group Team NEO and the Northeast Ohio Trade and Economic Consortium, which oversees foreign trade zones in the area. In addition, he just finished his term as chair of the Summit-Medina Workforce Investment Board and has served as president of the Ohio Economic Development Association.

“I can sit here and tell you how great the county of Medina is. And I know full well that Wayne County is telling you the same story, Summit County is telling you the same story,” Doutt said “So you know what you have to do then is to do something that’s going to set you apart, make you more competitive, make you more attractive.”

But Doutt explained Medina County did plenty to bring him and his family here — wife, Stephanie, and daughter, Alexa. The 25-year Medina resident chose to live in the city in the 1980s, even though he worked for much of the time in Cuyahoga County.

“We drove up from Columbus with our little girl in the back seat and we just fell in love with the area. And we said, ‘OK, let’s move here,’ ” Doutt recalled.

“We like to garden and go to auctions and all of that,” Doutt said. The Doutts’ daughter, now 27, is a lawyer in Akron.

Doutt said anytime he drives through this county he is reminded of what he does and why he does it.

“I’m proud of the fact that we put Medina County on the map as far as the state of Ohio and economic development are concerned. There’s some companies that we’ve brought to this county that I’m very confident are going to be here for a long time,” Doutt said with a smile. “It feels good to drive by those places and see their lights on at night, see cars in their parking lots.”

Kacik may be reached at 330-721-4049 or mkacik@ohio.net.