As a region we are fortunate to have NOCHE, the Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education, leading our regional efforts to increase college attainment levels. Their efforts, called The Northeast Ohio Talent Dividend, has three primary goals: improve college readiness of high school and adult students, increase student retention through degree completion, and increase degree attainment among adults with some college experience but no degree.

There was good news and bad news when David Uram and David Burg learned in June of 2009 about their application for Low Income Housing Tax Credits from the State of Ohio. The owners of PIRHL, an affordable housing development firm, were seeking to develop a 44-unit housing project on Euclid Avenue in MidTown called Church Square Commons.

The good news was that they'd been awarded tax credits for the project. PIRHL has completed 24 successful projects in five states in... Read more >

"Events like TEDxCLE are changing how people feel about Cleveland and rebranding the city," says founder Hallie Bram Kogelschatz. More than simply inspirational, the annual event is about "inspiration turned into action." Despite a larger space -- the 700-seat Gartner Auditorium at the Cleveland Museum of Art -- all tickets still managed to sell out in minutes. Here's a sample of what's in store.

Imagine eating chef-made meals from food grown right around the corner. That’s the dream Brian Doyle had when he created Sow Food last year, which is a catering business built around locally-grown food.
 
”Last year my wife Jennifer and I wanted to create a business that was full-circle,” Doyle explains. “We wanted to add a farming component to our catering business because we were interested in adding food in areas considered food deserts.&rdq... Read more >

Todd Pownell of TAP Studios in the St. Clair Superior neighborhood has always purchased recycled gold. He fashions the raw material into unique wedding rings for Cleveland couples, or helps people to make their own through his unique, do-it-yourself workshop.

Yet as the price of gold has risen from $300 per ounce five years ago to more than $1,600 per ounce today, Pownell has also observed an increase in exploitative mining operations in various corners of the globe. At t... Read more >

Do you want to see more mountain bike trails in the Metroparks? Or spur trails that lead visitors through secluded, natural landscapes? Could the Metroparks take over the city's ailing, neglected lakefront park system, which suffers from millions in deferred maintenance from the cash-strapped State of Ohio?

These issues and many others will be the focus of public meetings scheduled in April and May by the Cleveland Metroparks. The Metroparks is seeking to present and ... Read more >

The Open Office opened in the Coventry School Building in Cleveland Heights on Monday, April 9, welcoming independent workers -- freelancers, small biz operators and mobile professionals -- a co-working environment to get their work done in a social atmosphere.
 
The Open Office, which will host its grand opening on May 2, offers office space, printers, fax machines and other office services on a membership basis. Memberships range from cubicles dedicated exclusively ... Read more >

After three years of fundraising -- and a generous last-minute gift from an anonymous donor -- a bronze statue of Dante Alighieri is now being crafted at Studio Foundry in Cleveland. It will be installed in the Italian Cultural Gardens in Rockefeller Park in June.

"I view this as a Cleveland project," says Joyce Mariani, Executive Director of the Italian Cultural Gardens Foundation, who championed the project after discovering unfinished plans for the Italian Ga... Read more >

LeanDog Software Studio has seen success as a software delivery firm and the team enjoys sharing their knowledge and mentoring others in the field. So the natural progression for the 55-person company was to expand into the world of fostering entrepreneurs in the tech field. The launch of LeanDog Labs does exactly that.
 
“Labs was really a part of our original vision of LeanDog,” says Nick Barendt, director of LeanDog Labs. “Very early on we were wo... Read more >

When Jeremy Amos and Matt Benton were working together at a bank a few years back, they constantly heard from potential investors about how difficult the college admissions process was for their children. They found that finding the right college was often confusing, complicated and even expensive.
 
So, in 2011, Amos and Benton came up with Upclique -- a free forum to connect students with the information they need to find the college that fits their needs, and allow... Read more >

Later this month, a pop up store for visitors will open inside of an historic railroad car in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The store, called Trail Mix, will be housed on a spur track along the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad in the town of Peninsula. It will feature snacks, refreshments, books, souvenirs and other items.

Then, later this year, Trail Mix will move into its permanent location at 1600 West Mill Street, adjacent to the Winking Lizard and the tracks wher... Read more >

Since its inception in 1984, Quebec-based Cirque du Soleil has entertained over 100 million spectators. Close to 15 million people will see a show in 2012 alone. The now-world famous acrobatic theatre troupe bounds into Cleveland this weekend to perform Dralion. Fresh Water photographer Bob Perkoski "snuck" into Thursday's rehearsal for some rare behind-the-scenes glimpses of what goes into preparing for a show.

When Costas Mavromichaelis opened Constantino's Market in downtown Cleveland, he knew that he was an urban pioneer. Downtown residents and businesses had been crying out for a small, full-service grocery store for years, yet no entrepreneur had been willing to take the plunge.

Eight years later, Constantino's Market on W. 9th Street is still going strong, and Mavromichaelis is hoping for another shot in the arm when the Horseshoe Casino opens this year and the Med... Read more >