Joins Baldwin-Wallace Faculty, Launches Five-City Initiative for Fire Services
June 2005
Ohio Senator Eric D. Fingerhut joined Baldwin-Wallace College in March as director of Economic Development Education and Entrepreneurship.
One of his first projects has been to connect B-W with five local communities to look at one possible way to move toward regionalization – a hot topic in Northeast Ohio’s regional economic development drive.
Faculty and students at B-W will collaborate this summer with five local communities to look at fire department services and whether the five cities might share these services to improve efficiency and reduce or stabilize costs. The collaboration was born when Fingerhut contacted Parma Heights Mayor Martin Zanotti for suggestions for a B-W summer research project.
Eric Fingerhut
“Baldwin-Wallace is committed to being an active partner in the communities in which we live,” said Peter Rea, chair of the B-W Division of Business Administration. “This project gives us an opportunity to combine faculty expertise and student enthusiasm to the benefit of the community, while providing a window on regionalism – a critical issue facing Northeast Ohio.”
Business professors Mary Pisnar and Pierre David, along with Fingerhut, will supervise the six students involved. David is a nationally recognized expert on logistics and facilities management; Pisnar specializes in management and labor management.
The B-W Entrepreneurship Program and the College’s award-winning chapter of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) will assist on the project.
Along with Parma Heights, the other cities are Berea, Brook Park, Middleburg Heights and Parma; their mayors, administrators, civic leaders and fire departments will work with the students and faculty to look at communications, equipment, purchasing, facilities and personnel deployment.
The project earned stories in the Plain Dealer and Sun Newspapers on May 12, as well as coverage on local television news.
As a B-W faculty member, Fingerhut will draw on his extensive government, non-profit and regional economic development experience. While continuing to serve in the state legislature, he will focus on recruiting students and resources for B-W’s Entrepreneurship Center and the graduate program in entrepreneurship, and helping students connect with opportunities for entrepreneurial experiences in the Northeast Ohio region. He will also teach business courses related to economic development.
Fingerhut commented on the economic development and entrepreneurship programs at B-W, and on the College’s dynamic focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. He said that focus provides an opportunity for B-W to participate in the region’s continuing economic development.
“We want these to be the most innovative programs, training students who will be leaders – risk-takers and leaders who will create and develop the new businesses that will help improve the quality of life in Northeast Ohio,” he said. “We have an unbelievable pool of talent among the faculty and students at B-W
Rea said Fingerhut’s background adds even more depth to the talent and resources of the business faculty.
“Eric’s insights into economic development at the macro level provide an optimum complement for Business Division faculty such as Phil Bessler, director of our Business Plan Clinic, who has a unique perspective on how to start and grow businesses, and for resources such as our partnerships with Glengary LLC, a locally based venture catalyst enterprise; the President’s Council, which draws on the experiences of executives of minority enterprises; and the Civic Innovation Lab, which provides assistance to innovation-based start-up businesses.
“These combinations provide the region with additional resources while enabling B-W to enhance the educational experience for undergraduate and MBA students,” Rea said. “Our students can learn first-hand how to start and grow public, private and non-profit entities that will benefit our region for years to come.”
A graduate of Northwestern University and the Stanford University School of Law, Fingerhut has been a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, an associate in the Cleveland law firm Hahn Loeser and Parks, an adjunct faculty member at Case Western Reserve University, a U.S. Representative, director of the Center for Community Solutions (formerly the Federation for Community Planning) and an author. His book, “Making Ohio Great Again,” was published last year by Fairway Press.
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