We are the Secret Sauce

February 9, 2026

"The single most important factor in determining a region's prosperity is the share of adults with a college degree." — Enrico Moretti, The New Geography of Jobs

Good morning BW,

This past Friday, I had the honor to speak at the City Club of Cleveland about the special role that BW plays not only in shaping the future of our students but also Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.

(BW President Lee Fisher City Club of Cleveland Speech February 9, 2026)

There are 40-50,000 jobs in Northeast Ohio that are unfilled each year just in the health care, professional services, and manufacturing sectors alone.

That should alarm all of us. But there is an answer to this challenge.

It's the secret sauce to our city's and region's economic success and it's hidden in plain sight.

It's the talent pipeline that is being built every day by BW and the other colleges and universities in our region.

More than 2/3 of a city's or region's economic success, as measured by the single most important metric of economic growth — average earnings of its citizens — can be attributed to how many people with a college degree live in your city or region.

We are the secret sauce - but only if we stay breathtakingly relevant to the needs of our students and our community.

At a time when higher education is facing unprecedented headwinds, the same forces challenging higher education are clarifying its purpose and changing on how we deliver on our mission.

Our region doesn't need job fillers- we need job keepers, job creators, and leaders. That's why we are making 3 promises to our students at BW: That when they graduate, they will be leader-ready, career-ready, and future-ready.

At BW, "Get Ready" captures who we are: a university ready to meet this moment, while preparing our students to be ready for their futures.

We are approaching our future with a sense of urgency, bold innovation, and relentless optimism.

The story is still ours to write.

Lee Fisher
President, Baldwin Wallace University