Editing Akron, Ohio (section)

===2000s: City of Invention===
[[File:Goodyear Polymer Center at Sunset.jpg|thumb|Goodyear Polymer Center, [[University of Akron]]]]
Despite the number of rubber workers decreasing by roughly half from 2000 to 2007, Akron's research in [[polymers]] gained an international reputation.<ref name="Akron, Ohio"/> It now centers on the Polymer Valley which consists of 400 polymer-related companies, of which 94 were located in the city itself.<ref name="newsweek.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2001/04/29/a-new-brand-of-tech-cities.html|title=A New Brand Of Tech Cities – Newsweek and The Daily Beast|date=April 29, 2001|publisher=Newsweek.com|access-date=September 9, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126150813/http://www.newsweek.com/2001/04/29/a-new-brand-of-tech-cities.html|archive-date=November 26, 2010}}</ref> Research is focused at the [[University of Akron]], which is home to the [[Goodyear Polymer Center]] and the National Polymer Innovation Center, and the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering. Because of its contributions to the [[Information Age]], ''[[Newsweek]]'' listed Akron fifth of ten [[high tech|high-tech]] havens in 2001.<ref name="newsweek.com"/> In 2008 "City of Invention" was added to the seal when the [[All-America City Award]] was received for the third time. Some events of the [[Gay Games|2014 Gay Games]] used the city as a venue. In 2013, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company opened its new global headquarters on Innovation Way, further cementing the company's relationship with the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mackinnon |first=Jim |date=May 8, 2013 |title=Goodyear's new headquarters reflects a new company |url=https://www.ohio.com/akron/business/goodyear-s-new-headquarters-reflects-a-new-company |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115083012/https://www.ohio.com/akron/business/goodyear-s-new-headquarters-reflects-a-new-company |archive-date=November 15, 2017 |website=[[Akron Beacon Journal]] Ohio.com}}</ref> [[Bridgestone]] built a new technical center with state-of-the-art R&D labs, and moved its product development operations to the new facility in early 2012.<ref name="Mobile Edition"/><ref name="Bridgestone Americas, Inc"/>

The city also continues to deal with the effects of air and [[soil pollution]] from its industrial past. In the southwestern part of the city, soil was contaminated and noxious [[Polychlorinated biphenyl|PCB]]-laden fumes were put into the air by an electrical transformer deconstruction operation that existed from the 1930s to the 1960s. Cleanup of the site, designated as a [[Superfund]] site by the [[Environmental Protection Agency]], began in 1987 and concluded in 2000. The area remains restricted with regular reviews of the site and its underground aquifer.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Downing|first1=Bob|title=EPA begins new review of Superfund cleanup at Akron's Summit Equipment|url=http://www.ohio.com/news/local/epa-begins-new-review-of-superfund-cleanup-at-akron-s-summit-equipment-1.356906|agency=Beacon Journal|publisher=Ohio.com|date=December 10, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102221215/http://www.ohio.com/news/local/epa-begins-new-review-of-superfund-cleanup-at-akron-s-summit-equipment-1.356906|archive-date=January 2, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Harper|first1=John|title=When PCBs, heavy metal spewed from smokestacks in southwest Akron: Toxic Remains|url=http://www.cleveland.com/akron/index.ssf/2015/12/when_pcbs_and_heavy_metal_spew.html|access-date=December 31, 2015|publisher=Cleveland.com|date=December 28, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151231042745/http://www.cleveland.com/akron/index.ssf/2015/12/when_pcbs_and_heavy_metal_spew.html|archive-date=December 31, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=SUMMIT EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES INCORPORATION|url=http://www3.epa.gov/region5/superfund/npl/sas_sites/OHD055523401.html|website=epa.gov|publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102221216/http://www3.epa.gov/region5/superfund/npl/sas_sites/OHD055523401.html|archive-date=January 2, 2016}}</ref>