Winners
Supporter of Entrepreneurship
In this new century, Northeast Ohio has been challenged to reinvent itself and embrace new technologies to compete in a global economy. Answering that challenge are Scot Rourke and Mark Ansboury of OneCommunity.
In the 1990s, the telecommunications industry built more than $3 trillion in fiber optic cable infrastructure in anticipation of the Internet boom. Most of these lines were built along transportation corridors, so Cleveland’s location along Lake Erie and the railways put it in prime position to take advantage of these lines. But the technology bust left much of this network unused right under the city’s feet.
Then in 2002, Ansboury and Rourke recognized the opportunity to leverage their entrepreneurial backgrounds and love for technology and community development to establish OneCommunity and create a common community network, connecting Northern Ohio’s public and nonprofit institutions to each other, to the world and to leading technology vendors via its fiber optic network.
Many people didn’t recognize the opportunities provided by fiber optic technology, so funding didn’t come easily. Some of the first donations were the underground fiber optic cables from telecommunication and utility companies. From there, they negotiated financing from banks and larger organizations.
Today, OneCommunity generates funding through federal and state grants and revenue through fees for its services.
Ansboury, who serves as senior vice president and chief technology officer, and Rourke, who serves as CEO, are committed to using high-speed fiber optic technology to link public and private institutions to each other to drive economic growth and educational opportunities. In fact, OneCommunity partnered with NorTech to launch the Northeast Ohio Regional Health Information Organization in order to enhance the quality of health care while reducing costs through initiatives such as shared electronic medical records and videoconferencing capabilities for off-site physicians.
They also plan to use a recent $11.3 million grant to connect 19 rural hospitals and clinics to the existing 30 in the network.
How to reach: OneCommunity, (216) 923-2200 or www.onecommunity.org
