The Burton D. Morgan Foundation, which supports entrepreneurship education and programming in Northeast Ohio, awarded a $1 million grant to JumpStart last week for an entrepreneurial mentoring program over the next three years.

“Our goal is to reach aspiring entrepreneurs by using the talent and time of the mentors to help these businesses move along with their plans,” explains Deborah D. Hoover, Burton D. Morgan Foundation CEO and president.
&nb... Read more >

Cleveland has gained a reputation nationally for its vibrant local food culture. The city's foodie status has gotten quite a bit bigger - literally - thanks to Green City Growers Cooperative, a 3.25-acre greenhouse that celebrated its official opening on Feb. 25.

Size matters at the hydroponic, high-tech greenhouse, which aims to produce three million heads of lettuce and 300,000 pounds of herbs annually to vendors within a 50-mile radius from its location in Cle... Read more >

Startup Weekend is returning to Cleveland March 8-10 at the 5th Street Arcades. An event that originated in Seattle, Startup Weekends occur all over the world and are designed to get people with the entrepreneurial bug together to pitch ideas, form teams to hash the ideas out and potentially form companies.

 
The event has not been held in Cleveland since 2009, but thanks to the efforts of Hyland Software employees Ryan Marimon and Brian Adams, it&rsquo... Read more >

Last summer, the Near West Recreation League's t-ball league was a hit for Cleveland kids. Organizers believe a recently debuted bowling league will play a similarly big "roll" in the health of a community that didn't have much in the way of organized sports.

The bowling program, open to 70-plus youngsters between the ages of 6 and 10, launched February 16 at Corner Alley in downtown Cleveland. The league is part of a two-year partner... Read more >

Expedient and Fast Switch are bringing their Tech Strategy event to Northeast Ohio. Started in 2007 in Columbus by Fast Switch, the Tech Strategy events are relaxed invitation-only networking events between senior level IT executives and promising technology startup companies.

Expedient got on board as a co-sponsor soon after the group’s inception, and now the two companies brought the concept to 70 attendees at Lockkeepers in Independence o... Read more >

If  Kauser Razvi has a say in it, underutilized spaces in Cleveland will be a place where a child's imagination can run wild, all thanks to power of the written word.

Razvi, founder of the Cleveland-based project management organization Strategic Urban Solutions, is the book-loving brains behind Literary Lots,  a program that aims to "brings books to life" in a vacant lot, playground or other outdoor space.

To pilot this ide... Read more >

As new VP of operations for the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp (LEEDCo), Dave Karpinski will guide the organization through the next phase in the process of building the nation’s first freshwater offshore wind project. With its first round of financing in tow, LEEDCo must now compete for a critical second infusion of funds against six other projects across the country.

Innovative ideas abound in Northeast Ohio, believes Judy Wright, founding member of The Cleveland Colectivo. Too often, however, those dreams are not big enough to draw the attention of the major grant makers in town.

The Colectivo was designed to fill that gap. A grassroots, Cleveland-based giving circle that pools funds to make contributions in the community, the group is inspired by the traditional practice of immigrant neighbors who invested in each other’s busi... Read more >

When we last checked in with real estate developer Howard Grandon, he was kicking off renovations of a 9,000-square-foot Detroit Shoreway building into four apartments and five retail spaces. The structure, which had housed an illicit nightclub called "Cheerios," sat vacant for seven-plus years before he bought it.

That was then, this is now. Although it's taken him longer than he anticipated, two and a half years later the results are plain. Grandon's b... Read more >

The city of Beachwood already is home to 2,500 businesses, and the city has long taken pride in providing services and amenities that make the city an attractive place to locate. Now Beachwood is launching a grant program to further entice new businesses and encourage existing businesses to expand.
 
The Job Creation Incentive Grant Program offers annual grant payments to companies. The payments are based on a percentage of payroll withholding taxes generated by new j... Read more >

Thanks to a new breed of bandleader, polka music is enjoying (yet another) Cleveland revival. While some of the acts might appear more shtick than substance, the motivation behind them comes from love and respect – and in the process are giving rise to a new generation of polka fan.

Cleveland is quietly transforming from a meat-and-potatoes to a beets-and-tomatoes kind of town -- at least at the edges. Not only are there more meat-free diners in Cleveland. But vegans are finding more meat-free dinners thanks to progressive new eateries and chefs, who are more than eager to please this growing faction of foodies.

Nautical adventure awaits Cleveland youths this summer thanks to Project YESS (Youth Empowered to Succeed through Sailing), a program that allows local students to spend a week sailing and working on a 150-foot tall vessel.

The program, developed by the Rotary Club of Cleveland, is meant for high school students ages 13 to 17. Starting this year, teenagers will develop leadership and navigational proficiencies during a six-week land-based course. Graduates will then ply t... Read more >