Intern in Ohio launched last week, connecting thousands of employers and students in internship opportunities across the state. The matching program, which was created by Detroit-based Digerati and sponsored by the University of Toledo, is free to both students and employers.
 
Intern in Ohio uses Digerati's matching algorithm -- called Classroom to Career -- to match participants based on their skills, interests and requirements. The program saves employers time and money by narrowing down the candidate pool to students who meet the specific requirements for the internships offered. Students are presented with internships that match their interests and skills.
 
“This is truly a talent attraction and retention effort,” says Wendy Pittman, director of Classroom to Career. “Nationally, 80 percent of interns stay in the region where they interned. Intern in Ohio is another tool to make Cleveland and Ohio an internship destination.”
 
Digerati launched a similar program in Michigan in 2011, in which 127,000 matches and introductions have been made. Digerati found that 70 percent of interns in Michigan were subsequently offered full-time jobs.
 
Potential interns and employers are asked a short series of questions about the position and about their personal preferences. The system then identifies the top seven matches for each individual student as well as the business for each position. When a match is made, the employer and the student are notified, and both must select that they are interested before any contact information is shared.
 
Pittman points out that the program is especially attractive to smaller companies that may not have the resources to find interns with the exact qualifications they need. “If you live outside of Cleveland, you probably don’t know about places like University Circle,” she says. “But what an awesome opportunity if you got matched there.”
 
So far, 1,200 students have signed up on the site, along with 59 Ohio companies posting 77 positions. Those numbers are growing every day, says Pittman.

 
Source: Wendy Pittman
Writer: Karin Connelly

The Greater Cleveland Aquarium (GCA) has a fish story to tell. Starting this spring, the aquarium will bring its compelling undersea tale to students throughout the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD).

GCA has partnered with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) for the education outreach program designed to teach kids the deep interconnection that Ohio has with its freshwater systems. This will be accomplished through Native-American lore, one-on-one time with native Ohio fish and reptiles, and hands-on activities that teach students the importance of protecting the area's local waterways.

The program, called Keepin' It Fresh, will be rolled out in local schools at the beginning of May, says Kayla Ott, aquarium marketing and sponsorship manager.

The multi-grade level presentations "will reach communities unable to come to the aquarium due to funding," Ott says. GCA is planning 75 school visits for 2013, and in future years hopes to educate up to 10,000 students annually. What's more, the program falls in line with Ohio academic standards in the realm of science.

"Teachers will be excited to jump on board," says Ott. "They'll be building their curriculums and lesson plans by offering this program."

Generating passion about aquatic life and water conservation is GCA's stated mission. With the sewer district's assistance, the aquarium can now bring this mission to Cleveland impressionable youth. 

"We're so fortunate to have a lake right here," Ott says. "Lake Erie is a huge piece of Cleveland. We're teaching students how to protect that resource."

 
SOURCE: Kayla Ott
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

For those who don't already know, Cleveland is a place where culture, education, creativity and innovation flourishes affordably. At least, that's the message city boosters are trying to sell to mobile young professionals. According to who you ask, that strategy is either working, working slowly, or not working well at all.

"Jazz is like the kind of man you wouldn't want your daughter to associate with." That might sound like a curious quote for a pastor to use in blessing a jazz bar, yet these were Mark Giuliano's words at the opening of the new Take 5 Jazz Club in downtown Cleveland. The quote comes from jazz legend Duke Ellington.

"We know how important live music is for gathering people; we're for that kind of community building," explains Giuliano, Pastor of Old Stone Church on Public Square and President of the Downtown Residents Association. "We want a place where you can have great food and a couple drinks, listen to live music, be able to visit and have a sense of community. What [the owners] have done is take an old, divey bar and brought new life to it."

Giuliano believes Take 5 will fill a gap in the Warehouse District entertainment scene by offering music that's geared towards an older, multicultural crowd.

"There are an awful lot of empty-nesters like my wife and I [downtown]," he says. "We're not really going to be doing the club scene over on W. 6th at two in the morning. This is a place where everybody feels welcome and has a place."

Take 5, which opened on March 21, offers live jazz, R&B and blues from Thursday through Sunday nights. It is located at 740 Superior Avenue, in the former House of Cues and Prime Rib Steakhouse location in the Warehouse District. The venue also offers an extensive tapas menu prepared by executive chef Jeremy Rolen.

Owners Brian Gresham and Claude Carson have renovated the once-shabby House of Cues into an upscale jazz venue that caters to a professional crowd. Gresham says he saw an opening in the scene due to all the development taking place downtown.

"With the casino, med mart and Flats being revitalized, we wanted to fill a niche," he says. "We more or less took concepts from places that were once in the area that did very well -- The Bop Stop, Wilberts and Sixth Street Down Under."

The owners renovated the interior with new lighting and other improvements. A black ceiling makes it "feel like you're in a true musical venue," Gresham says.

Take 5 welcomed trumpet player and vocalist Skip Martin for its opening weekend, and Gresham is currently working to bring Sean Jones to town, as well. The venue's performers will include a mix of regional and national acts.


Source: Mark Giuliano, Brian Gresham
Writer: Lee Chilcote

El Futuro de Cleveland, a collaboration between Global Cleveland, Esperanza, Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education (NOCHE), and Cleveland Leadership Center’s (i)Cleveland hopes to retain local Latino talent in Northeast Ohio by offering paid internships to college students.
 
“The mission is to support the rich diversity of the Greater Cleveland Latino community and ensure it grows and thrives,” says Global Cleveland’s Elizabeth Hijar. There are 62,000 Latinos in Cuyahoga County, and that population grew by 30 percent since 2000. “The Latino community is a bright spot in Cleveland and is growing."
 
Part of the Global Cleveland Latino initiative, El Futuro de Cleveland is working with Cleveland State, CWRU, Baldwin Wallace and Kent State, in addition to reaching out to schools in Boston and Chicago. “The focus is on young people to help ensure there are opportunities to make them stay in Cleveland, attract them and make sure there’s a pipeline,” says Hijar. “We want to focus on these students and really try to help them get a first start in their careers, whether they are from Cleveland or outside of Cleveland, and think about living here on a long-term basis.”
 
Nineteen employers already have signed up to provide paid internships through the program. The employers are required to enroll their interns in the (i)Cleveland summer leadership and mentoring program.

 
Source: Elizabeth Hijar
Writer: Karin Connelly

Since its modest beginnings 36 years ago at the Cedar Lee Theatre, the Cleveland International Film Festival has blossomed into a premiere local, regional and national event. Over the years the festival’s attendance has grown by over 600 percent to last year's record of 85,018. Here are four films with a Cleveland connection.

When Tom Nolan was at South by Southwest (SXSW) last year, he was moved by the startup companies on the stage during the business accelerator. “It was inspiring to see the companies go and pitch their hearts out with something they’ve been working on for months and years,” Nolan says. “I remember sitting in the audience and I had the idea for Plotter and I thought, ‘I’m going to go home and work on it.'"

Plotter is Nolan’s social mapping app -- just launched for iPhone on March 1. Plotter allows users to not only perform typical mapping functions, but also lets users interact and view friends’ maps or plot multiple destinations.
 
Nolan quit his job last September to develop Plotter and hasn’t stopped since. “We kind of hit the ground running in October and November,” he says. “We logged thousands of hours in a short amount of time.”
 
Nolan and his three partners, Chad Milburn, Tim Zeller and Chris Jungjohann, applied in November to compete in the SXSW accelerator in the social division. In December they got word that Plotter had beat out more than 500 companies for the chance to pitch their app at the conference last week.
 
The Plotter team made it through the first round, giving a two-minute pitch to judges and investors and made it into the final three in their category. They went on to give a five-minute pitch and a 10-minute Q & A before they were declared the winner.
 
The next step is to roll out Plotter for Android. Nolan also wants to target the auto industry. “We’re talking to car manufacturers to bring Plotter in dashboards of cars,” he says. “We want to become the first mapping app in cars. The in-dash systems are so outdated.”
 
Nolan says he plans to keep Plotter in Cleveland and expand the team as soon as possible. “It’s been kind of a whirlwind,” he says. “We need to figure out the next steps and what direction to go in.”

 
Source: Tom Nolan
Writer: Karin Connelly

Cleveland Social Venture Partners (CSVP) is an organization that helps the community's helpers. The group of individual donors accomplishes this worthy goal by pooling its varied skills to strengthen the business acumen of local nonprofits.

After getting linked with a nonprofit organization, CSVP's community professionals provide management support in finance, strategic planning, fund development, legal matters and marketing. CSVP also offers a range of information, workshops and resources to further develop the personal philanthropy of its partners.

"These are all the things an organization needs to be successful," says executive director Linda Springer. "Some nonprofits need assistance to thrive and carry out their missions."

Every other year CSVP holds its bigBANG! event to establish a long-term sponsorship with a local nonprofit. This year's event, to be held April 10 at the Cleveland State University Student Center, features eight nonprofits chosen by CSVP. Each organization will give a fast-pitch presentation to the bigBANG! audience, which will then vote for their favorite.

The chosen nonprofit will receive funding and in-depth consultation services from CSVP. Among this year's presenters are City Year, Drink Local, Drink Tap, Ingenuity and Ohio City Bicycle Coop. The organization is currently working with past vote winners Open Doors Academy and MedWish.

"We're looking for innovative ideas," says Springer. "It could be an organization adapting to its current needs, or wanting to make changes to become stronger."

Assisting these groups is beneficial to CSVP's members as well, adds the executive director. "We're strengthening our own skills to become better donors and philanthropists," she says.
 
 
SOURCE: Linda Springer
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

Two years ago, Matt Benton and his partner Jeremy Amos had an idea for adding social media to the college search process. So they quit their jobs doing investment work at KeyBank to develop College with Friends, a free mobile app that allows users to build a list of schools and see where their friends are going.

“It’s a way of saying, 'Hey, I want to go to Ohio State; who else wants to go there?'" says Benton. "The main idea is seeing who your future classmates might be."

It also gives colleges an alternate way of contacting students who are interested in their schools, as opposed to blindly marketing through the mail.
 
“At Key, time and again we heard parents complaining about kids going to college,” recalls Benton. “In addition to financing, they were getting all this mail, and kids wanted to know where everyone else is going. We wanted to create a time and a place for the college search and solve a lot of these problems.”
 
The app contains all the academic information prospective students need about the schools, and shows what friends are looking at those schools. Benton and Amos launched the app in January after talking to schools about their marketing process.
 
“We spent a ton of time with colleges,” says Benton. “The number-one thing they do is mailings through buying zip code data. We create the ability for colleges to come in and connect directly with the kids interested in going to that college.” Benton and Amos also talked to high school students about what they’d like to see in College with Friends.
 
Benton and Amos plan to add a news feed to the app, in which students can share their campus visits.
 
Right now the two work with a development firm for the technical aspects of the app while they focus on the design side. Benton says they plan to move the technical side in-house, as well as hire a “pretty sizeable” sales force.

 
Source: Matt Benton
Writer: Karin Connelly

Prom night is typically a highlight for teenagers, but the glitz and glamour of the once-in-a-lifetime event may be lost on teens battling cancer. For the last few years, A Prom to Remember has stepped in to give these young people a night they won't soon forget.

Thanks to the Cleveland nonprofit, teens with cancer will be getting their own special prom on April 5 at The Ritz-Carlton in downtown Cleveland. Organizers expect over 100 teens to attend the event.

"The idea is to give these kids something incredible to look forward to," says prom chair Jane Knausz.

The teens are patients from three area hospitals: Akron Children's Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital, and Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. On prom night, they get the red carpet treatment, including limousine pickup, prom photos and entertainment. On hand will be cheerleaders from the Cleveland Cavaliers as well as members of the St. Ignatius Circus Company. 

To prepare the young prom-goers for their big evening, a "Dress Extravaganza" event was held earlier this month at Eton Chagrin Boulevard. About 100 girls selected donated dresses of all sizes, shapes and colors, along with a bevy of jewelry and accessories. Their male counterparts were not left out, receiving tuxedos from American Tuxedo. Funding for accessories like gift bag items is still needed, notes Knausz. Those interested in donating can do so directly on the A Prom to Remember website.

A night away from chemotherapy and hospital gowns is its own kind of therapy, Knausz believes. "These kids can get together with others in the same situation," she says. "They know they're not alone."

 
SOURCE: Jane Knausz
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

"Ever dream of running your own restaurant as an executive chef, pastry chef or sommelier?"

That is the question asked by leaders of EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute. Fulfilling that dream would be a challenge for most anyone, but what about a person reentering society after incarceration?

Hoping to provide the answer is Brandon Chrostowski, general manager, sommelier and fromanger at L'Albatros restaurant. He is also founder of EDWINS, a Cleveland nonprofit providing free restaurant training to underprivileged adults. The 26-week program teaches cooking methods, pastry techniques, food pairings, nutrition and other facets that come with the culinary arts.

Ohio's recidivism rate stands at about 30 percent, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Chrostowski, 33, believes these numbers reflect the lack of opportunities available for ex-inmates.

"There's no guidance and no jobs out there," he says. "Our goal is to provide these people with a skill and a solid path."

Students are rotated through every station of a restaurant, providing them with a variety of skills and real-world experience. Over the last two years, the program has assisted about 30 graduates in finding employment as line cooks, dishwashers and servers. Some students have already been promoted from these entry-level positions.

Chrostowski hit his own "rough patch" a decade ago, and was able to go back to school and hone his culinary craft. The restaurateur wants others to have the same opportunity he did. EDWINS' ultimate goal is to open a restaurant staffed entirely by program graduates.

"Everyone deserves a second shot," Chrostowski says. "This is a chance for people to change their lives."
 
 
SOURCE: Brandon Chrostowski
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

With over 11 million visitors expected in downtown Cleveland this year (up from nine million last year), RTA officials sought last year to better connect the city's neighborhoods via public transportation. Their goal was to ensure that RTA is the transportation mode of choice for visitors to downtown. 

Six months ago, RTA was able to launch expanded, free shuttle service downtown on weeknights and weekends, thanks to $2.88 million in federal transit money and $720,000 in donations. The program is funded for the next three years.

Speaking at a downtown tour last week, RTA General Manager Joe Calabrese touted the trolley service as a huge success for downtown Cleveland that will enhance the visitor experience as the Global Health Innovation Center opens.

"RTA experienced five percent growth last year," he said. "We think downtown growth will help us. We want to make public transit a viable option for tourists."

As downtown experiences a so-called "parking crunch," Calabrese said that RTA is increasingly becoming the transportation mode of choice. Trolleys run until 11 p.m.

There are five lines: The C-line, which links the casino with the convention center; the L-line, which focuses on lakefront destinations; the NineTwelve line, which helps shuttle office workers from large garages to offices on E. 9th; the E-line on Euclid Avenue; and the B-line on Superior and Lakeside Avenues. Trolleys start at 7 a.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. on weekends, and they arrive every 10 minutes.

The trolleys also serve downtown's growing residential population, expected to swell from 11,000 to 14,000 as new apartment projects open in the next two years. Another benefit? Helping office workers get around downtown easily.


Source: Joe Calabrese
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The librarians at Cleveland Public Library (CPL) love books. No surprises there. Still, there's nothing wrong with spreading love of the printed word, and that's exactly what CPL is trying to do with its new outreach program, Read in the CLE.

The program, which launched last month on CPL's website, features a well-known Clevelander who is sharing the book that he or she is currently reading. A selection of CPL librarians also impart whatever page-turner has them staying up past bedtime, with the goal of giving visitors ideas on a new book to read.

"The focus is to pull people in so they can talk about reading together," says Amy Pawlowski, CPL's web applications manager.

As CPL does not have the user base of other local library systems, Read in the CLE was created to enhance interaction and keep the city's public library top mind. Visitors to the site can leave comments discussing their favorite books with either that month's featured reader or CPL's literate librarians.

"These aren't book reviews," Pawlowski says. "It's very loose and free-flowing. More along the lines of 'This is what I'm reading, do I like it?'"

CPL's first featured reader was columnist Connie Schultz. This month's guest is blogger and restaurant-owner Amelia Sawyer. The program will have a rotating series of notable Cleveland readers on hand for the rest of the year.

"We have some great readers downtown, but people always don't have time to get to the library," says Pawlowski. "This (program) is just a way for them to get more involved when they have the time."

 
SOURCE: Amy Pawlowski
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

On March 31st, Cuyahoga County will turn over the Global Health Innovation Center -- formerly known as the Medical Mart -- to its individual tenants so they can begin to build out each of their spaces. 

It will be a landmark moment for the project, says Dave Johnson, Director of Public Relations and Marketing for the GHIC. He expects the project to be majority leased when the ribbon is cut in June.

"The project will open ahead of schedule and under budget," says Johnson, who also cites the building's LEED Silver (Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design) status, a sought-after sustainable building rating.

GHIC tenants include a partnership between the Cleveland Clinic and GE Healthcare, a partnership between University Hospitals and Phillips Healthcare, Johnson Controls, and the Health Information Management Society.

The GHIC will include a display of the "home of the future," which will be built out by vendors and will feature medical devices that allow people to stay in their homes. UH and Phillips will showcase scanning equipment, while Johnson Controls will display the latest in hospital operating systems. Visitors will be able to view the behind-the-wall systems that would otherwise be invisible.

The Health Information Management Society will rotate exhibits based on what's hot in healthcare management. "It will be like a pretend hospital," says Johnson. "This is the organization around healthcare IT. The display will show equipment and how it interfaces. This is an entity bumped from the cancelled Nashville Med Mart project. It will become a magnet for companies to test IT equipment."

Officials are planning a public grand opening in June with a weekend of festivities.


Source: Dave Johnson
Writer: Lee Chilcote

During the mid-2000s, local newspapers ran stories with evocative phrases like "quiet crisis" and "brain drain" in lamenting the flight of young, talented minds from Cleveland.

Bob Yanega saw those negative headlines, too, and decided he wanted to do something about it. Yanega, a self-professed "serial entrepreneur" with a background in commercial construction and real estate, is the creator of Choosing Success Programs, a Cleveland-centric advocacy project aimed at area high school students.

The program provides live, in-school presentations showing students how to connect with the opportunities right in their own backyard. The goal is to motivate youth to become passionate, lifelong residents of Northeast Ohio.

"Many kids don't have parents who expose them to what's great here," says Yanega, of Larchmere. "We need to sell Cleveland to young people."

Yanega has been giving Choosing Success talks at local high schools for the last 18 months. Along with providing students with tips on college and career choices, he also mixes in a "sales pitch" about Cleveland, pointing to the city's affordability, increasing job rate and wealth of cultural options.

Choosing Success, under the umbrella of its parent organization The 1990 Project, recently received a boost as one of the winners of The Cleveland Colectivo's fast- pitch presentation event. The program now has a chance to get some much-needed funding from the giving circle, and Yanega believes his brainchild is worth it.

"We're presenting facts about the city," Yanega says. "Keeping the next generation in town is a powerful, broad-based message."

 
SOURCE: Bob Yanega
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth