The Summit County Advantage
Over 541,000 people call Summit County home. We are a diverse group of hard working, talented, and innovative people, and we work together to grow our community and economy. Our commitment to innovation and excellence has set the stage for a diversified economy that capitalizes on our history as the "Rubber Capital of the World." Now known as "America's Polymer Valley", our people and businesses are highly adept at polymer and advanced material research, development and manufacturing.
We also have a long history of skilled manufacturing, and have leveraged our competencies in polymers and manufacturing into a strong biomedical and medical device industry. These market sectors are joined by our high concentration of headquarters, finance, IT and professional service operations. And, sitting at America's crossroads has provided us with the ability to support a growing logistics and distribution industry.
But our strength in these industry clusters is not our whole story. Summit County, and our nearly 20,000 businesses are successful because we have a highly skilled and talented workforce, sit in the middle of one of the highest concentrations of higher education, offer a growth-focused and low-tax business climate and are located in the middle of a region abundant with natural resources, infrastructure and amenities for our residents. There is room for everyone in Summit County and we invite your business and family to move forward with us.
Whether you are an established business looking for a better place to do business, or are an innovative start-up looking for fresh young talent, we invite you to set up shop in Summit County. Centered in the middle of the 15th labor market in the U.S., and boasting more institutions of higher education than anywhere outside of New York City, we are constantly educating and training the workers of today and tomorrow. And, we punch well above our weight in terms of innovation, with our businesses and universities consistently placing the region among the highest in the U.S. for patent development. At the same time, we have the distinct advantage of offering below-average costs of doing business and costs of living, mixed with an abundance of entertainment, recreational and cultural amenities.
Business owners benefit from our low-tax and business-friendly environment by day, yet enjoy everything from the Cuyahoga Valley Natural Park to sporting events and concerts within Summit County, or a short car-ride to Cleveland, Columbus or Pittsburgh to enjoy what those cities also have to offer. And, at night, those business owners can return to their neighborhood, where we are consistently ranked as one of the most affordable places in the U.S. to live.
We encourage you to explore more about the Summit County Advantage on the following pages, and look forward to showing you why Summit County is a great place to live, work and play.
