CLEVELAND — How much did bringing Kendall Jenner, Machine Gun Kelly and Bad Bunny to Cleveland cost?
JobsOhio, the title sponsor of the Forbes Under 30 Summit, won’t say how much it paid to lure this year’s event and future conferences to Ohio.
Some 4,000 people attended the Forbes Under 30 event held in Cleveland October 8-11, 2023. Another 2,000 attended online, according to JobsOhio. The event was billed as a "life-changing four days" where participants can rub elbows with some of the “world’s top young leaders, founders, and creators” according to Forbes.com.
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The next two Forbes Under 30 events will be held in Columbus and Cincinnati.
News 5 requested an interview with JobsOhio in hopes of learning more about the cost of landing the events. The agency refused. Instead, in a statement, JobsOhio Spokesperson Matt Englehart wrote:
“We are not sharing the dollars going toward this and future U30 conferences so Ohio can compete and win against other states for these kinds of extraordinary talent attraction and marketing opportunities.”
Legally, JobsOhio is not required to share spending records with the public. That’s because it’s set up as a non-profit, not funded directly by taxpayers, even though Ohioans do fund JobsOhio through liquor sales. In 2022, a bill was introduced to force the organization to be more transparent.
"The people need to know where their money has gone and where it continues to come back to them," said Rep. Catherine D. Ingram of Cincinnati, who sponsored HB 654, which died in committee. "If I can get an open records request through a school district or from any other part of Ohio functioning, then I should be able to do that for JobsOhio."
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JobsOhio said the cost of the Cleveland event was split between JobsOhio, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, Team NEO, and Destination Cleveland. Similar partnerships in Cincinnati and Columbus are still being solidified.
“Each partner is investing because of the opportunity to attract Under 30 talent, ideas, energy and investments to their part of Ohio,” said Englehart in the statement.
Cuyahoga County was also listed as a sponsor "partner" of the event. A spokesperson said the county is proposing $400,000 to support Destination Cleveland's effort to attract major conferences like the Forbes Under 30 Summit. That funding has not gone through the council yet.
