Michael DeAloia ia a seasoned business executive who thrives on accomplishment and making immediate and profitable change happen. He has more than fifteen years experience partnering with organizations to develop business and economic growth initiatives. Through his work at several start-up and emerging growth companies in Northeast Ohio, Michael has gained an extensive understanding of the culture and needs of high-growth companies, with a particular focus on technology. Michael uses his extensive network to foster relationships that help companies move their initiatives forward. Central to his success is his creative use of resources and talent to achieve organizational goals. Michael is currently the tech columnist for the Plain Dealer and Chief Evangelist of Designing Interactive. Perhaps best known for his term at the City of Cleveland as the Senior Executive for Technology Development, or “Tech Czar,” where he was responsible for the economic development of the technology industries in the City. During his tenure as the “Tech Czar,” Michael was able to recruit 37 tech companies into the City of Cleveland, which brought or created nearly 1,000 jobs. He was also instrumental in developing the e-Tech Hatchery, Hanna Tech Hotel, Idea Center and the Tyler Elevator Complex as tech hubs for the City. Michael was recently the Regional Vice President (RVP) for the Cleveland operations of Expedient, a Pittsburgh, PA- based data collocation and managed services company. As RVP, he had P&L responsibility, de facto sales director, marketing functionality and control of operations. The Cleveland region experienced nearly $24.0 million in sales in 2013 under Michael’s management. Recently, Michael was an Executive Producer of the culinary documentary film The Steel Fired Story of Chef Nowak. He was also the Co-Founder and CFO of BlueBridge Networks, a Cleveland, OH-based provider of data center services. Michael also Co-Founded and is an investor in EmergingChefs.com, a Cleveland, OH-bases culinary event company. He also worked for LNE Group, FIT Technologies, Saltz, Shamis & Goldfarb, Ernst & Young, National City Venture Capital and National City Bank. He has also spoken at numerous national economic development, technology and social media events including – NOTACON, Gov 2.5, the Online Marketing Summit and the Cool Twitter Conference – and many others. He has appeared on the Fox News channel’s John Stoessel Show and was included in the Drew Carey supported Reason Foundation documentary on Cleveland titled Reason Saves Cleveland. He is the author of “Lost Cleveland,” which was published by History Press in late 2010. His third history book, also published by History Press, “Lost Grand Hotels of Cleveland” was published in September 2014. Michael also manages the Tech Czar Notes blog (www.techczarnotes.tumblr.com). Michael earned his MBA from Case Western Reserve University and his Bachelors degree from Xavier University. He currently lives in Lakewood, OH with his fiancé and their baby daughter.