Hopkins and Wright State University welcomed more than 200 leaders in business, education, health care, government and industry Wednesday to its second-annual Regional Summit, discussing some of the leading concerns affecting business in the area….

“Higher education is the business of economic development,” Ohio Board of Regents’ Chancellor Eric Fingerhut said in the morning’s welcome session….

In the Product Innovation and Commercialization group, Ireland native Eugene Peden gave a fiery speech comparing Dayton to his homeland.

“I look at this region, and I see a great parallel to Ireland,” said Peden, vice president of operations at PECO II, a telecommunications power equipment and service provider.

Peden said like the Dayton region, Ireland was heavily dependent on the manufacturing industry, but has emerged as one of the fasted growing economies in the world because of a strong educational system.

The strong educational system allowed the country to change gears and flourish in emerging industries, which is exactly the point the summit was hoping to make with regional leaders.

“Be afraid, be very afraid, but let’s have that fear energize us,” Peden said.

Dayton-area leaders gather for annual summit at local university

What’s happened to regional leadership in NEO?

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