Cleveland Heights

Can becoming a 'global employer' expand Cleveland's talent base?
An upcoming Global Cleveland event will encourage area companies to share best practices in hiring foreign-born brainpower.
Cleveland's immigrant population to get a shout-out during Welcome Week
The September events will celebrate the contributions of immigrants and entrepreneurs to their communities.
From high-flying adventure to hidden secrets: the Metroparks' top 10 discoveries
An obstacle course amid the treetops, miles of mountain bike trail and a mysterious 130-year-old rock? We've got that and then some: Fresh Water Cleveland has rounded up ten of the Metroparks' best hidden gems, quirky trails and thrilling courses.
Cleveland area record stores hitting their groove
It's no secret that vinyl sales are on the rise across the country, fueled by disenchantment with digital listening. Cleveland is a vinyl hotbed, boasting an impressive 11 record stores.
FutureHeights to offer mini-grants for neighborhood improvement projects
In an effort to improve Cleveland Heights neighborhoods and create a new kind of social interaction, FutureHeights is now offering mini-grants of up to $1,000 for neighbors to get together for improvement projects.
 
“It’s a way to strengthen our neighborhoods,” says FutureHeights executive director Deanna Bremer Fisher. “The way we do that work is with our residents and strengthen their assets.”
 
The grass-roots program is loosely based on Cleveland’s Neighborhood Connections program, which offers grants of up to $5,000 for neighborhood enhancement projects and is partially responsible for the creation of popular events like Larchmere PorchFest.
 
Years ago, Bremer Fisher says neighborhood block clubs were prevalent in Cleveland Heights. While some of the groups still exist and thrive, such as in the Fairfax neighborhood where the block has as many as 10 events a year, many of the groups have dissolved.
 
“This will be an incentive to be able to do small projects – do little things from a social aspect or physical appearance,” says Bremer Fisher. “Whether it’s a project that works on some aspect of physical appearance or strengthens a social network, we’re really open to all ideas. Let’s talk about it.”
 
FutureHeights has $7,500 budgeted for the mini-grants. Groups must consist of at least three people in the same neighborhood, and they will be required to match 20 percent of the grant in either money or volunteer hours.
 
 The organization plans to offer the program again in the spring, depending on the interest. “We have no idea what kind of response we’ll get,” Bremer Fisher says. The application deadline is September 15. An informational meeting is scheduled for this Wednesday, July 29 at 7pm at the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Lee Road Library.
Local, organic groceries now just a click away
Northeast Ohio has three organizations dedicated to getting fresh produce and sustainably-grown goods to consumers through online ordering.
This weekend In Cleveland: Cain Park Arts Festival and more
This weekend, shop arts and crafts from all over the country at the Cain Park Arts Festival, attend a free swing dance under the Playhouse chandelier, check out the Cleveland Flea and more.
This weekend in Cleveland: Lakewood's front porch concert series and more
This holiday weekend, go on a hot date to Mahall's for music, food and cocktails, visit Platform Brewing in celebration of their first anniversary, enjoy reggae by Carlos Jones at the kickoff of Lakewood’s porch concert series and more.
This weekend in Cleveland: Night Market, Pride, Waterloo Arts Fest and more
This weekend, feast on authentic Asian cuisine at the first-ever Night Market, celebrate LGBTQQA progress at Cleveland Pride, explore Waterloo Arts Fest, play free pinball in Coventry and more. 
This weekend in Cleveland: Parade the Circle and more
This weekend, hold onto your humanity at MOCA’s summer exhibition opening, witness the vibrant beauty of Parade the Circle, watch Prince’s Purple Rain under the stars at a free movie night, shop the Flea and more.
One woman show spotlights transgender lives in Cleveland
Christine Howey, a local theater critic, poet and actor, decided to live as the woman she knew she was when transgender individuals were not so visible.
Hack for good: How can we use technology and open data to spark change?
A group of civic hackers explored how transparency can be used to monitor the new consent decree and address disparity.
Fighting blight in the 'burbs
Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights and Lakewood are on the forefront of using the CDC model.
Babes on the boards: A guide to summer theatre camps
Northeast Ohio is still a mega manufacturing center for one thing: theatre arts. And when it comes to summer theatre opportunities, parents are spoiled for choice.
In the 216 shop celebrates grand opening in Coventry Village
 Last summer, Jenny Bendis Goe, artist and owner of Jewelry by Jenny, was touring Coventry with Angie Hetrick, director of the Coventry Village Special Improvement District. Goe, who has lived in the area for her entire life, was heartbroken by the amount of vacant shops at the top of the hill.

So, Goe made it her mission to transform the vacancies to thriving storefronts, starting with her own. She contacted landlord Lewis Zipkin in August, and after some persistence and a business plan, Zipkin agreed to lease Goe former Phoenix Coffee space.  
 
In January Goe opened In the 216, a store that features not only Goe’s artwork but the word of nearly 60 other local artists.
 
Last Thursday, May 28, Goe officially held a grand opening for In the 216 – offering more than 200 guests food, drinks and a look at some of the works for sale at the store.  “There are 58 small businesses represented here,” says Goe. “I have works from $2 to $3,000.”
 
Goe decided to postpone the grand opening until she had her bearings and the weather improved. “It was a little nerve wracking when we first opened up, but all of the Coventry veterans are right, it’s gotten increasingly better,” she says. “I feel like Coventry is just the perfect place for this. Business has doubled, if not tripled since we first opened.”
 
Bodega Coventry next door served food at the grand opening, and encouraged guests to come have a drink on the patio, while burlesque star Bella Sin welcomed people on the street. The event was a success, with both familiar faces and strangers in attendance. “It was fantastic, it was wonderful,” Goe says.
 
In addition to her husband, Steve, Goe has two of the artists helping her out in the store, and just had two high school seniors interested in pursuing art perform their senior projects at In the 216.
 
Now Goe is moving ahead with the next part of her vision for the empty space on Coventry. “I’d really like to see exhibits in the [former] Strickland’s Custard space,” she says. “Not just for artists. I hope anything we do will encourage businesses to open in the empty spaces.”  Goe has a few artists in mind who would like to exhibit in the space. She is talking to Zipkin about her plans to implement exhibits or studios in the area.
Tri-C business program elevates small companies to new levels of success
The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small  Businesses initiative has brought new jobs and economic opportunity to Northeast Ohio in its first three years.