Douglas J. Guth
Thanks to Thrive, the Cuyahoga Community College business incubator program, students receive a shared office space outfitted with a phone, computer and printer as well as access to a conference room and reception area. Participants also are assigned a mentor from either Tri-C faculty or the business community.
Long winters (and the occasional polar vortex) are just something we have to live with around here. However, those bold enough to venture into Cleveland's great white waste will find a flurry of cold weather activities that extend beyond the usual realm of skiing, inner-tubing and tobogganing.
Tomorrow's economy-boosting titans are today's middle and high school students, and there's no good reason to make them wait until college or later to start honing their business acumen. Fortunately, area programs aimed at would-be high school entrepreneurs are providing experience that will serve them well regardless their future paths.
On any given night in Cleveland, it's not too difficult to see the economic impact represented by a seemingly simple glass of suds. Breweries had an undeniably positive effect on Ohio City, and now the arrival of more breweries promises to boost the economic prospects of other neighborhoods.
There's so much pop culture ephemera floating through the average American brain, it's impossible to keep track of it all. No worries: Three Cleveland-based authors have recently published pop culture books on Superman, breakfast cereal and film, which take dead aim at our nostalgia centers.
If you were among the thousands of people who attended concerts this summer outside the Transformer Station in Ohio City, you have Thomas Welsh to thank. As director of the Cleveland Museum of Art's newly minted City Stages, the Philadelphia native is spicing up his new hometown with musical acts from around the globe.
WMMS "The Buzzard" reached the largest radio audience in the history of Cleveland media. A new film hopes to document the glory years when a charmed roster of on-air talent introduced national rock acts like Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Joe Walsh to the people of Cleveland and the rest of the country.
Modern medicine is constantly innovating ways to improve the length and quality of human life. Cleveland researchers are leading the way with cutting-edge treatments and technologies that can blast a brain tumor with a laser, detect a concussion using an iPad, and test for prostate cancer by way of genetics.
Micro-lending organization Bad Girl Ventures (BGV) wants Cleveland to connect with the next generation of entrepreneurs and small business owners. That hopefully beautiful friendship will begin on Thursday, October 3, when BGV Cleveland hosts its kickoff event introducing the 10 finalists of its fall business plan competition.
The 10 women will present themselves at Battery Park Wine Bar, pitching their ideas to an audience before embarking on BGV's nine-week course to help tweak their fledgling enterprises. The final class will be in mid-November, with the winner of BGV's $25,000 low-interest loan announced during a "graduation ceremony" the following month.
Financing and mentorship are just two of the benefits for program participants, says Reka Barabas, director of BGV Cleveland.
"Networking is a huge motivating factor for them," she says. "These women are not just sitting in a stuffy classroom, but extending their professional network."
This autumn's class represents a wide range of industries and specialty areas. There's a children's party bus, granola bar company, match-making business, and more.
BGV Cleveland offers business education courses and financing twice per year to help women-owned startups launch, manage and market their businesses. In May, custom cake baker Sugar Plum Cake Company earned the business group's $25,000 loan. Two other ventures -- Journey Art Gallery and The Agrarian Collective -- each received $5,000 loans from a private giving circle.
"We're exposing these businesses to as many resources as possible," says Barabas. "There's a huge value in that."
SOURCE: Reka Barabas
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
The 10 women will present themselves at Battery Park Wine Bar, pitching their ideas to an audience before embarking on BGV's nine-week course to help tweak their fledgling enterprises. The final class will be in mid-November, with the winner of BGV's $25,000 low-interest loan announced during a "graduation ceremony" the following month.
Financing and mentorship are just two of the benefits for program participants, says Reka Barabas, director of BGV Cleveland.
"Networking is a huge motivating factor for them," she says. "These women are not just sitting in a stuffy classroom, but extending their professional network."
This autumn's class represents a wide range of industries and specialty areas. There's a children's party bus, granola bar company, match-making business, and more.
BGV Cleveland offers business education courses and financing twice per year to help women-owned startups launch, manage and market their businesses. In May, custom cake baker Sugar Plum Cake Company earned the business group's $25,000 loan. Two other ventures -- Journey Art Gallery and The Agrarian Collective -- each received $5,000 loans from a private giving circle.
"We're exposing these businesses to as many resources as possible," says Barabas. "There's a huge value in that."
SOURCE: Reka Barabas
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
Cleveland's economic leaders have worked hard to parade the city as a hub for innovation. A chance to further show off Northeast Ohio's entrepreneurial acumen is a driving force behind Shaker Heights accelerator LaunchHouse's sponsorship of Cleveland Entrepreneurship Week (Cleveland EW), an upcoming four-day celebration of business success.
The event, scheduled for November 4-8, was created to give entrepreneurs and investors the knowledge and resources to grow the Northeast Ohio business community, says LaunchHouse co-founder Todd Goldstein.
LaunchHouse will kick off Cleveland EW at its Shaker Heights headquarters by presenting the 11 technology startups participating in its Accelerator Program. The rest of the week will feature speakers and other events that give entrepreneurs from all over the country an opportunity to connect with potential financial backers as well as fellow businesspeople.
"We're giving them exposure to people they normally wouldn't meet," says Goldstein. "Meeting the right person can help turn a small business into a large business."
LaunchHouse pushing for the entrepreneurship event aligns with its mission of local job creation through seed capital, education and innovation, notes Goldstein. With Cleveland striving to be on the forefront of the new economy, an event like Cleveland EW can put the area in a positive national spotlight.
"We've worked to change how Northeast Ohio is viewed in terms of entrepreneurship," Goldstein says. "This [event] is about showcasing the region as a place of innovation and capital formation."
SOURCE: Todd Goldstein
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
The event, scheduled for November 4-8, was created to give entrepreneurs and investors the knowledge and resources to grow the Northeast Ohio business community, says LaunchHouse co-founder Todd Goldstein.
LaunchHouse will kick off Cleveland EW at its Shaker Heights headquarters by presenting the 11 technology startups participating in its Accelerator Program. The rest of the week will feature speakers and other events that give entrepreneurs from all over the country an opportunity to connect with potential financial backers as well as fellow businesspeople.
"We're giving them exposure to people they normally wouldn't meet," says Goldstein. "Meeting the right person can help turn a small business into a large business."
LaunchHouse pushing for the entrepreneurship event aligns with its mission of local job creation through seed capital, education and innovation, notes Goldstein. With Cleveland striving to be on the forefront of the new economy, an event like Cleveland EW can put the area in a positive national spotlight.
"We've worked to change how Northeast Ohio is viewed in terms of entrepreneurship," Goldstein says. "This [event] is about showcasing the region as a place of innovation and capital formation."
SOURCE: Todd Goldstein
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
"Failure" is a tough word, particularly for entrepreneurial types throwing so much of their lives into a venture that might go belly up within a few months. However, Paul McAvinchey, creator of TechPint, believes valuable lessons can be learned from disappointment.
Such is the theme of this fall's TechPint conference, a casual gathering for entrepreneurs and investors in Internet technology. Coordinator McAvinchey expects more than 250 of the region's most innovative tech pacesetters to attend the quarterly-held event taking place tonight (September 26) at Sterle’s Slovenian Country House. Speakers John Gadd of Hotcards.com, Kendall Wouters of Reach Ventures and Phil Brennan of Echogen Power Systems will touch on how businesses can bounce back from seemingly crushing setbacks.
"It's a fact that you must fail many times before you see success," says McAvinchey, who moved to Cleveland from County Tipperary, Ireland, in April 2012 to lead product innovation for MedCity Media. "If you're failing, that means you're trying. That's a good thing."
Even stories of tremendous achievement, like the billion-dollar acquisition of Instagram, began on a rocky road of risk and false starts, McAvinchey points out.
"Failure will work for you if you learn from it," he says.
The informal get-together is designed to connect the region's tech thinkers over a couple pints of beers, says McAvinchey. TechPint's moniker this month is "Techtoberfest," in appreciation of this suds-filled season of the year.
Autumn also is a time for scary stories, and attendees will hear a few frightening business-related tales at TechPint. "It's important to celebrate failure," McAvinchey says. "This is a way to bring positive attention to it."
SOURCE: Paul McAvinchey
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
Such is the theme of this fall's TechPint conference, a casual gathering for entrepreneurs and investors in Internet technology. Coordinator McAvinchey expects more than 250 of the region's most innovative tech pacesetters to attend the quarterly-held event taking place tonight (September 26) at Sterle’s Slovenian Country House. Speakers John Gadd of Hotcards.com, Kendall Wouters of Reach Ventures and Phil Brennan of Echogen Power Systems will touch on how businesses can bounce back from seemingly crushing setbacks.
"It's a fact that you must fail many times before you see success," says McAvinchey, who moved to Cleveland from County Tipperary, Ireland, in April 2012 to lead product innovation for MedCity Media. "If you're failing, that means you're trying. That's a good thing."
Even stories of tremendous achievement, like the billion-dollar acquisition of Instagram, began on a rocky road of risk and false starts, McAvinchey points out.
"Failure will work for you if you learn from it," he says.
The informal get-together is designed to connect the region's tech thinkers over a couple pints of beers, says McAvinchey. TechPint's moniker this month is "Techtoberfest," in appreciation of this suds-filled season of the year.
Autumn also is a time for scary stories, and attendees will hear a few frightening business-related tales at TechPint. "It's important to celebrate failure," McAvinchey says. "This is a way to bring positive attention to it."
SOURCE: Paul McAvinchey
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
Are you sustainable, Cleveland? That's the question environmentally conscious city officials are asking heading into the fifth annual Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit. The initiative to build "a green city on a blue lake" is at the halfway mark, and Cleveland's new chief of sustainability believes Northeast Ohio is meeting the metrics set out a half decade ago.
As the nation's first freshwater offshore wind project cranks up off the coast of Cleveland, thousands of people are pledging to pay a little more for a power source that supporters say will improve the environment, create local jobs and advance the nation's energy security.
Len Gray, a young attorney and Memphis native, has relocated to Cleveland to launch his legal startup Inlaw.me, an online recruiting aid that connects legal employers with candidates. What attracted him was the local business community's spirit of collaboration and enthusiasm.
In a city with no shortage of vacant land on which to cultivate gardens, it might surprise some to learn of the growing trend of gardens in the sky. Not only do rooftop gardens offer a place to relax, they reduce a building's heating and cooling costs while shielding the roof from damaging UV rays.
Cleveland has a proud and colorful comic book legacy, which begins with Superman and ends (for now) with Captain America. And that heroic heritage is taken seriously at local comic book shops, where geek is chic and comic book enthusiasts no longer are relegated to the shadowy corners of what's cool.
Three Northeast Ohio architecture firms currently are working within the confines of niche industries like dining, education or healthcare. But far from staunching a designer's creativity, these disciplines are proving a playground where the imagination can run free.
The two square miles of real estate between downtown Cleveland and University Circle are bursting with development. A local nonprofit has established a fund to ensure that work continues to flourish.
On June 20, economic development corporation MidTown Cleveland, Inc. announced the creation of the MidTown Cleveland, Inc. Endowment Fund at the Cleveland Foundation. The fund, under the foundation's guidance, proposes to build a sustainable revenue source to secure continued activity in the burgeoning district. This will include promotion of the health-tech corridor, a three-mile expanse of hospitals, business incubators, educational institutions and high-tech companies situated within MidTown.
The growing tech corridor isn't the only project the fund will support, notes MidTown chairman John Melchiorre. The group plans to leave other "footprints" on the community as well, be they demolishing old buildings, planting flowers along Euclid Avenue or helping transform distressed properties into job-creating enterprises.
"The Cleveland Foundation has been a leading supporter of the revitalization of Midtown, so this is just the latest way our two organizations have joined forces for the betterment of that neighborhood," said Kaye Ridolfi, senior vice president of advancement at the Cleveland Foundation.
Founded by Cleveland businessman Mort Mandel and others some 30 years ago, MidTown Cleveland has helped develop the area into a business district home to 600 companies and 18,000 employees. Executive director Jim Haviland views MidTown as part of the city's renaissance, and believes the fund will sustain the region for decades to come.
"It helps us to continue the role we play" within the neighborhood, says Haviland.
SOURCES: John Melchiorre, Jim Haviland, Kaye Ridolfi
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
On June 20, economic development corporation MidTown Cleveland, Inc. announced the creation of the MidTown Cleveland, Inc. Endowment Fund at the Cleveland Foundation. The fund, under the foundation's guidance, proposes to build a sustainable revenue source to secure continued activity in the burgeoning district. This will include promotion of the health-tech corridor, a three-mile expanse of hospitals, business incubators, educational institutions and high-tech companies situated within MidTown.
The growing tech corridor isn't the only project the fund will support, notes MidTown chairman John Melchiorre. The group plans to leave other "footprints" on the community as well, be they demolishing old buildings, planting flowers along Euclid Avenue or helping transform distressed properties into job-creating enterprises.
"The Cleveland Foundation has been a leading supporter of the revitalization of Midtown, so this is just the latest way our two organizations have joined forces for the betterment of that neighborhood," said Kaye Ridolfi, senior vice president of advancement at the Cleveland Foundation.
Founded by Cleveland businessman Mort Mandel and others some 30 years ago, MidTown Cleveland has helped develop the area into a business district home to 600 companies and 18,000 employees. Executive director Jim Haviland views MidTown as part of the city's renaissance, and believes the fund will sustain the region for decades to come.
"It helps us to continue the role we play" within the neighborhood, says Haviland.
SOURCES: John Melchiorre, Jim Haviland, Kaye Ridolfi
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
A trio of local creatives, whose work in the arts ranges from entrepreneurship to philanthropy, have been acknowledged for the impact they make on the community.
Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio, a nonprofit that promotes creative learning through the arts for local children and teenagers, announced the winners of its 2013 Arts, Education and Entrepreneurship Awards late last week.
As part of its 60th anniversary celebration, the organization recognized those who have made a lasting contribution in the three key categories, says development director Jerry Smith.
The winners are:
* Stephanie Morrison-Hrbek, founder and director of Near West Theatre. Located in the Gordon Square Arts District, the theater was deemed by Young Audiences as a bastion for Cleveland youth struggling with their identities.
* Anna Arnold, director of the Florence O’Donnell Wasmer Gallery. An artist and educator, Arnold works with at-risk children, encouraging them to positively express their thoughts and values through art.
* Jeff Lachina, CEO of Lachina. The entrepreneur's educational product company recruits from Cleveland Institute of Art and other area universities to demonstrate to students that an active career in the arts can happen locally.
The three award-winners each will have an endowment established in their names, and be recognized during Young Audience's anniversary commemoration in September.
"They all reached out into the community in a unique way, touching the lives of people for whom the arts is not always readily available," says Smith.
SOURCE: Jerry Smith, Jennifer Abelson
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio, a nonprofit that promotes creative learning through the arts for local children and teenagers, announced the winners of its 2013 Arts, Education and Entrepreneurship Awards late last week.
As part of its 60th anniversary celebration, the organization recognized those who have made a lasting contribution in the three key categories, says development director Jerry Smith.
The winners are:
* Stephanie Morrison-Hrbek, founder and director of Near West Theatre. Located in the Gordon Square Arts District, the theater was deemed by Young Audiences as a bastion for Cleveland youth struggling with their identities.
* Anna Arnold, director of the Florence O’Donnell Wasmer Gallery. An artist and educator, Arnold works with at-risk children, encouraging them to positively express their thoughts and values through art.
* Jeff Lachina, CEO of Lachina. The entrepreneur's educational product company recruits from Cleveland Institute of Art and other area universities to demonstrate to students that an active career in the arts can happen locally.
The three award-winners each will have an endowment established in their names, and be recognized during Young Audience's anniversary commemoration in September.
"They all reached out into the community in a unique way, touching the lives of people for whom the arts is not always readily available," says Smith.
SOURCE: Jerry Smith, Jennifer Abelson
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
A Shaker Heights High School project about the Kent State shootings will be brought into classrooms throughout the Cleveland area thanks to a nonprofit that believes education is the key to stopping such events from happening again.
Facing History and Ourselves awarded Shaker Heights High School teacher John Morris $3,000 to collaborate with Kent State University professor David Hassler on the project. American history, literature and theater students at Shaker Heights will learn about the ramifications of the massacre through the play May 4th Voices: Kent State 1970. Pupils at regional Facing History classrooms will also be part of the program, says Mark Swaim-Fox, executive director of the local chapter of Facing History.
The play offers different viewpoints from a violent moment in American history, investigating a critical moment in the social protest movement. Stagings of May 4th Voices will take place for students as well as the wider Cleveland community, with help from Facing History staff and educators.
"It aligns with critical thinking of how we remember the past," says Swaim-Fox. "We want this to be a resource for the kids in our network."
Facing History is a Massachusetts-based educational group working across the country to combat racism and prejudice through education. Swaim-Fox hopes the play garners a new audience, with curricular materials about the shootings circulated to a new generation of young learners.
"The play is uncovering untold stories from a chapter of history that sometimes gets passed over," he says. "This will be a great vehicle for students to look at a complicated time period."
SOURCE: Mark Swaim-Fox
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
Facing History and Ourselves awarded Shaker Heights High School teacher John Morris $3,000 to collaborate with Kent State University professor David Hassler on the project. American history, literature and theater students at Shaker Heights will learn about the ramifications of the massacre through the play May 4th Voices: Kent State 1970. Pupils at regional Facing History classrooms will also be part of the program, says Mark Swaim-Fox, executive director of the local chapter of Facing History.
The play offers different viewpoints from a violent moment in American history, investigating a critical moment in the social protest movement. Stagings of May 4th Voices will take place for students as well as the wider Cleveland community, with help from Facing History staff and educators.
"It aligns with critical thinking of how we remember the past," says Swaim-Fox. "We want this to be a resource for the kids in our network."
Facing History is a Massachusetts-based educational group working across the country to combat racism and prejudice through education. Swaim-Fox hopes the play garners a new audience, with curricular materials about the shootings circulated to a new generation of young learners.
"The play is uncovering untold stories from a chapter of history that sometimes gets passed over," he says. "This will be a great vehicle for students to look at a complicated time period."
SOURCE: Mark Swaim-Fox
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth