Michael Goldberg, a professor at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and a managing partner of a venture capital fund that invests in early stage medical device companies, certainly has a bevy of knowledge and experience to share with others. He is currently taking some time off teaching in Cleveland to focus his attention on a different part of the world. 

In this article, published in Vietnam, he urges Vietnamese entrepreneurs to dream and take risks.
 
“I was honored to be awarded a Fulbright fellowship to teach entrepreneurship at the National Economics University (NEU) in Hanoi," states Goldberg in a lengthy feature in VietNamNet Bridge.
 
“I had the opportunity to co-teach a course on entrepreneurship and new venture creation with Mr. Ha Tung, a talented Vietnamese lecturer.”
 
“It was a great experience designing a course alongside a Vietnamese professor as we were able to incorporate points of view and practical experience from the US and Vietnam into the syllabus.”
 
“Although Vietnam is incredibly entrepreneurial, many business people in Vietnam are afraid to fail. Thus, often times Vietnamese entrepreneurs do not take as many risks with their business as their counterparts in other countries.  We also tried and push our Vietnamese students to “dream big” when they think about starting companies.”
 
The feature goes on to discuss in detail the strategies and challenges he faces in his efforts working with these Vietnamese students.   
 
Read the full article here.

Clevelanders certainly can remember the wonderful but short-lived Bar Symon, the eatery that shut its doors in Avon Lake nearly two years ago. The concept has been reborn, as Michael Symon has recently opened the “new” Bar Symon in the Pittsburgh International Airport, reports Clare Sheehan of The Daily Meal.
 
"I am so pleased to bring my passion for serving great food in a fun environment to airport travelers in Pittsburgh," said Symon. "Dining is all about the experience, and we've captured that with Bar Symon. I have no doubt it will quickly become a passenger favorite."

“The menu features many of chef Symon's signature dishes, such as the Lola burger with a fried egg and pickled red onions, Lola fries with sea salt and rosemary, and two varieties of baked macaroni and cheese, either with cheddar, pulled pork, hot sauce, and scallions, or blue cheese, bacon, and parsley.”
 
While Symon remains an avid supporter of our local sports teams, travelers and locals alike can now experience the tasty treats we have been enjoying in Cleveland for years.
 
Read the complete story here.

Here in Cleveland, we all know what a treasure and luxury it is to have the West Side Market available to us for all of our culinary needs. Now the readers of the health conscious food magazine Cooking Light know it as well. Recently, the 100-year-old public market was recognized as one of the mag's favorite “Hidden Gems & Delicious Destinations” in the country.

“In this beautiful, 27,000-square-foot hall, shoppers find ethnic specialties like kielbasa and smoked sausage, barrel-aged sauerkraut, and potato-filled pierogi. But these days, they also come for grass-fed beef, farmstead cheeses, local honey, and handmade pasta," touts the foodie mag.
 
We have known this all along but in order to give the accolades more weight; Cleveland’s own Michael Symon pipes in as well: “The West Side Market maintains all of the integrity and uniqueness that it always has, even after 100 years,”
 
Check out the full series in addition to the West Side Market piece here.

It appears as if Cleveland’s other culinary golden boy, Jonathon Sawyer, is lending his name and reputation to a popular cookware manufacturer. 
 
Olivia Just from the Connecticut Post reports that the "Defining the Edge" campaign from Wusthof cutlery centers around three chefs, "The Rebel," Richie Nakano from San Francisco; "The Poet," Camas Davis from Portland, Ore.; and "The Believer," Jonathon Sawyer from Cleveland, Ohio.
 
“Each of the chefs has a story that fits in with the spirit of the campaign: Nakano started with a pop-up food stand Hapa Ramen, Davis learned the art of butchery and founded the Portland Meat Collective, and Sawyer opened the Greenhouse Tavern, Ohio's first certified green restaurant.”

The campaign is not just about lending their culinary celebrity to a commercial brand but also educating consumers on improving their techniques and knife skills.
 
"We are looking to target food-centric and hyper-connected college-educated, 25- to 35-year-olds," Garaghty said. "We are also trying to reach those who are newly married, a first-home buyer, or someone in the process of updating their kitchen."
 
Read the full story here.

In light of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposing a ban on the sale of large-sized sugary drinks, Joe Palazzolo of the Wall Street Journal points out that citizens need to look no further than Cleveland, Ohio, when it comes to local government determining what can and cannot be consumed by residents and guests.
 
“The Cleveland city council passed a law last year to ban restaurants from using cooking oils containing trans fats.”
 
In the meantime, those both for and against the ban have been battling it out in court whether it is within the local government’s jurisdiction to impose such a ban.
 
On Monday, June 11, “Cuyahoga County Judge Nancy Russo sided with the city, finding that Cleveland was within its powers to outlaw trans fatty cooking oils.”
 
This might serve as proof that local government may have more say about what its citizens can and cannot do than anyone ever thought.
 
Read the full WSJ story here.

Once a center of industry and mass-production, Cleveland is becoming recognized for green initiatives and sustainability.  What a turn of events for the place we call home.
 
The latest bump of good press comes in the form of HGTV's article, "The 10 Greatest Cycling Cities in America."
 
“The underdog of this list, this historic rust belt city is home to an impassioned and persevering community of bike riders." states the writer.
 
In comparison to the leaders on the list, which contain the likes of Portland, New York, and San Francisco, it is easy to see why Cleveland is once again referred to as an “underdog.”
 
"Cleveland was one of the first cities in the country to temporarily close streets to motorized traffic so they can be enjoyed by cyclists and pedestrians," say local rider Jeff Sugalski.”
 
The article also notes, “Another exciting feature of Cleveland's urban cycling scene is its Metroparks, or nature preserves with walking, hiking and bicycling trails along river paths and creeks.”
 

In his blog Burgh Diaspora, Jim Russell frequently covers the topic of reverse migration, where Rust Belt cities are seeing an influx of young residents thanks to a multitude of factors. Russell, a geographer studying the relationship between migration and economic development, calls the trend "Rust Belt Chic."

Recently, Russell, who lives in Pittsburgh, toured Cleveland to gather some on-the-ground research. He liked what he saw.
 
"I flew into Cleveland early last Saturday with the downtown rebound in mind. I wanted to see if the view from the sidewalk matched the data analysis. Leading up to the business trip, I was semi-joking with Richey that Cleveland was turning into Portland, OR. Investigating the West Side, I quipped that Cleveland was already Portland. I was (am) dead serious."

Read the rest of this and many other compelling posts here.

NPR's Morning Edition recently aired a story on Cleveland's rise in popularity with young, college-educated professionals.
 
"Blue-collar towns seem to be attracting a new generation of residents looking for an affordable urban lifestyle," reports David C. Barnett.
 
Richey Piiparinen, a researcher at Case Western Reserve University, was quoted in the piece as follows: "A lot of young people in Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh whose parents grew up in the inner city, and whose parents left during the white flight movement -- they have this attraction to the roots that they never knew."
 
Listen to the entire broadcast here.

Of the 47 projects awarded grants from ArtPlace to support their use of the arts to improve quality of place and transform their communities, only one was from Ohio.

The creative placemaking grants totaled $15.4 million.

“Across the country, cities and towns are using the arts to help shape their social, physical, and economic characters,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. “The arts are a part of everyday life, and I am thrilled to see yet another example of arts organizations working with city, state, and federal offices to help strengthen and revitalize their communities through the arts. It is wonderful that ArtPlace and its funders have recognized this work and invested in it so generously.”

ArtPlace received almost 2200 letters of inquiry from organizations seeking a portion of the money available for grants. One of those letters came from Collinwood.

Using Art to Spark Redevelopment

Collinwood Rising 
$500,000
Northeast Shores Development Corporation – Cleveland, OH

To creatively combat urban vacancy and foreclosure in Cleveland’s North Shore Collinwood neighborhood, Collinwood Rising will work with artists to establish replicable development models for artist space in older industrial cities, leveraging ongoing HUD and municipal investments.

Great news, Collinwood.

A new partnership between NASA and the Greater Cleveland RTA has resulted in a space-age bus (oxymoron alert!).
 
Powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, which converts hydrogen gas into water and electricity, the bus can travel the streets of Cleve for up to 100 miles per "fill-up."
 
The plan is to install a hydrogen fueling station at the RTA garage in East Cleveland that will power a fuel cell bus.
 
"The purpose of the project is to demonstrate alternative energy technologies and build awareness for hydrogen fuel cells," reports WKSU's Jeff St. Clair. "Northeast Ohio is a center for fuel cell research. The state's Third Frontier Fuel Cell program, from 2003 to 2011, pumped $90 million into fuel cell research and manufacturing in Ohio."
 
For a great description on how fuel cells work, listen to this broadcast from WKSU.

Zagat asked its readers to weigh in on the best cities to enjoy food truck fare. Cleveland was one of only 10 cities in the running.

Cleveland, OH

"Fairly recently, the City of Cleveland decided to renew a law that allowed food trucks to roam the city that 'rocks.' However, they can only operate with permission from their councilperson. A few dozen trucks and growing, residents have options like Streat Mobile Bistro (healthy, local, organic) and fig “burger” dealer Hodge Podge. Also, there's Umami Moto which serves Asian-fusion food -- inspired by LA’s Kogi Truck perhaps?"

Check out all the city scenes here.

In a lengthy feature titled, "Power of One," Spirit magazine highlights a half-dozen people who discovered their calling. The in-flight magazine of Southwest Airlines devotes a majority of the ink to Cleveland Councilman Joe Cimperman.

"In his 16 years as a councilman, [Cimperman] has passed pioneering urban farm zoning legislation at a time when no other city in the U.S. had done so, and spearheaded a local food procurement ordinance that gives companies who do business with the city a bid discount for sourcing food locally. In 2009, he sponsored so-called “chicken and bees” legislation, which allows residents to keep up to six chickens and two beehives in their backyards or on vacant lots. He was ridiculed for it at the time -- colleagues did the chicken dance as they passed him in the hallway -- but today both raising hens and beekeeping are popular pastimes in Cleveland."

"In 2011, Cimperman, chair of the city’s public health committee, helped shape Mayor Frank Jackson’s “Healthy Cleveland” resolution, a series of audacious public health goals that was crafted in conjunction with four local hospitals, including the Cleveland Clinic. A handful of these have already been passed by City Council: outlawing smoking in public spaces and banning artery-clogging trans fats at restaurant chains and bakeries. Several other pieces of legislation -- including one that would improve food in public schools -- are in the pipeline. Though the trans fat ban was overturned by Ohio’s state legislature last June, the City of Cleveland is now suing the state for the right to reinstate it. Cimperman is leading the effort."

Read more about his good work here.

It is hard to believe, but this year's Cleveland International Film Festival -- the 36th annual -- once again broke the previous year's attendance figures.
 
The 11-day film festival, which wrapped up on Sunday, April 1, checked in a record total of 85,018 filmgoers. This is a 9-percent jump from the previous year and a whopping 143-percent increase from 2003. What's more, the festival saw it's largest single-day attendance on Saturday, March 31, with 13,176 coming to see a film.
 
Changes to next year's festival can only add to those numbers. Organizers will be adding a full day of films -- making it a 12-day festival -- while pushing back the dates. The 2013 film fest will begin almost two weeks later, running Wednesday, April 3 through Sunday, April 14, at Tower City Cinemas.

Here's looking to another record-setting year!

In a feature titled "Urban entertainment districts: Blocks where no one has fun," Salon writer Will Doig describes the modern “urban lifestyle destination” as a "swath of cityscape whose character has been preordained by a city council vote and is now identified by brightly colored banners affixed to lampposts."
 
“The problem with these created-overnight districts is that you’re trying to create a culture as opposed to letting one grow,” Nathaniel Hood, a Minneapolis-based transportation planner, is quoted in the piece. “You’re getting the culture that one developer or city council member thinks the city needs, as opposed to the ground-up culture that comes from multiple players.”
 
Cleveland's Gordon Square Arts District is mentioned as an example of a neighborhood that got it right.
 
"[Milwaukee's] Water Street is an example of how, when the city declines to step in, citizens will. In a less cacophonous way, Cleveland has done this with its Gordon Square Arts District, where a group of nonprofits got together and created their own urban district where theaters already existed.
 
“You had three very humble nonprofit organizations, no powerful boards, that just needed capital improvements,” says Gordon Square's executive director Joy Roller.
 
Read the rest of the good news here.

Paulius Nasvytis can add another item to the already crowded wall of big-time media accolades. Esquire magazine, the arbiter of good taste, has just included the Velvet Tango Room in its annual roster of Best Bars in America.

"Perplexed whispers followed the Velvet Tango Room for years after the cocktail bar opened in 1996," begins the Esquire item. "For starters, it was hard to find, tucked in an unassuming building in an inner-ring nib of Cleveland between two trendy neighborhoods, a tiny neon sign the only hint that anything was happening inside. Co-owner Paulius Nasvytis waited tables at the city's finest restaurants before purchasing the building for just $35,000 to execute his vision with uncompromising accuracy: a sanctuary of cocktails priced in the mid-teens. It was an incongruous idea in a city that prizes its shot-and-a-beer corner joints."

Read the rest of the glowing praise here.

According to beer sales volume calculated by The Brewers Association, a Boulder-based not-for-profit trade group that tabulates production statistics for U.S. breweries, Great Lakes Brewing Company is now the 18th largest craft brewery in the country. That is a jump from the #22 position the previous year.
 
According to the same stats, Great Lakes also is now the 27th largest American brewery overall, up from #31 previously.
 
Great Lakes produces over 110,000 barrels of beer annually and serves 13 states and Washington D.C. The company will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2013.

See all the sudsy stats here.

"Ohio's first casino opened Monday night with long lines of gamblers ready to roll the dice, a glitzy music video instead of a traditional ribbon cutting and a taste of Las Vegas with two bare-midriff showgirls wearing plumed hats and sequined tops," begins this Las Vegas Review-Journal piece on Cleveland's brand new Horseshoe casino.
 
Toledo's casino will open in two weeks, with Cincinnati and Columbus to follow suit by next year.
 
"Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment owns 20 percent of the $350 million project and will receive fees for managing it on behalf of majority owner Rock Gaming LLC."
 
Read all the news right here.

Cuyahoga Arts & Culture is accepting applications for its 2013 grant programs. Nonprofit organizations offering arts and culture programming in Cuyahoga County are encouraged to apply.
 
To learn more about its Project Support grant program, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture encourages applicants to attend one of three informational workshops, to be held June 5, 7, or 13.
 
“In 2012, CAC is investing $15 million in 154 organizations throughout Cuyahoga County, and we welcome organizations offering arts and culture programs to apply now for CAC grants in 2013,” explains Executive Director Karen Gahl-Mills. “Our county is fortunate to have this source of public funding for arts and culture, which strengthens our community by making it a better place to live, work, and play.”
 
At each workshop, CAC staff will review its grant programs, eligibility requirements, and CAC’s application process. The same content will be reviewed at each workshop. Workshops are optional, but are a valuable learning opportunity for new applicants to the Project Support program. Attendees are encouraged to register online.
 
Click here for more information.

In an article titled, "Rust Belt chic: Declining Midwest cities make a comeback," Salon writer Will Doig reports on the surprising growth and popularity of former Rust Belt cities like Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh.
 
"More than any other city in America, Cleveland is a joke, a whipping boy of Johnny Carson monologues and Hollywood’s official set for films about comic mediocrity," Doig begins.
 
"But here’s what else is funny: According to a recent analysis, the population of downtown Cleveland is surging, doubling in the past 20 years. What’s more, the majority of the growth occurred in the 22-to-34-year-old demo, those coveted 'knowledge economy' workers for whom every city is competing."
 
This newfound growth and appreciation can go one of two ways, writes Doig. "Demand for decay could spell a new era for post-industrial cities -- or run its course as a faddish blip that attracted more media coverage than actual converts."
 
Cleveland-based writer Richey Piiparinen argues for the former.
 
"The country in the 2000s, it became about growth, glamour, living beyond your means,” Piiparinen says. “It was all aspiration. Now we’re comparing the foreclosed glass condo tower to the old brick building that’s stood for a hundred years.”
 
Read the rest right here.

"Cleveland, You have been my best friend for over 40 years," writes Symon, in a heartfelt love letter to his one and only native town.
 
"I hid from you like every other teenager with a skateboard and BMX, choosing to play in the suburbs, a wide world of vanilla filled with malls, chain stores and entirely too much mediocrity."
 
"It wasn't until I left you that I realized how amazing you are and all the great treasures you possessed. Whether it was the old world headcheese at The Sausage Shoppe, amazing pierogies at Sokolowski's or the perfect steak and steam at the Shvitz, you were -- history and culture aside -- loaded with old-world culinary traditions that most cities could only imagine."
 
Enjoy the rest of his ode here.