Saint Luke's Foundation's stated mission is to move the needle in the area of healthcare, effectively impacting the root causes of what the organization deems as inequities in the quality of care received across all economic and social sectors.
 
The foundation has a long way to go to achieve its goals, but at least it knows it has a champion in former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher, who spoke to foundation trustees and staff at The Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland on October 4.
 
Eliminating care disparities in regards to health insurance, for example, would cut down African-American mortality rates in diabetes, heart disease and HIV/AIDS, Satcher said during his visit, part of the St. Luke's refined grantmaking philosophy that ties funding directly to three main priorities- health, community and family.
 
The talk "was a great opportunity for learning," says foundation president and CEO Denise San Antonio Zeman. "Dr. Satcher is putting these notions into the national limelight and giving them stature."
 
Satcher, who served as surgeon general from 1998 to 2001, is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University.  During his tenure, he wrote "Healthy People 2010," a document written with two goals; to increase the quality of life for all Americans and reduce the inequities keeping all U.S. citizens from getting proper care.
 
Some progress in that department has been made in the years since Satcher stepped down, says Zeman. Still, as highlighted by the recent presidential and vice presidential debates, health care is still top mind for many Americans.
 
"There is more work that needs to be done," she says.  

 
Source: Denise San Antonio Zeman
Writer: Douglas Guth

Freelance designers Eric Bockmuller and Dan Klammer noticed that family and friends were coming to them for help when they wanted to create announcements, invitations and other such items and needed a creative mind.

“We thought, why can’t people publish their own content without going through us,” recalled Bockmuller. “We saw a need for something that was more than 140 characters, but not a blog.”
 
That thought sparked the idea for Tackk, an online design tool where users can instantly create and share their own content. The online editor provides fonts, color palettes and backgrounds to design the perfect announcement with no design skill needed.
 
"It’s a super simple format to create and share your content instantly,” says Bockmuller. “They’re simple designs, but they always look beautiful.” Users don’t have to sign in or create an account to use the site.
 
Tackk launched in early September. “It’s been great,” says Bockmuller. “We’re taking all the data and learning from it.”
 
Bockmuller has two goals for his new product: “First, Tackk becomes the next verb on the web,” he says. “And we build a great company here in Cleveland. It’s not every day you see something like this happening in Cleveland.”
 
In addition to Bockmuller and Klammer, there are four other people on the Tackk team: CEO Christopher Celeste, CTO and developer Ryan Niemann, COO Robert Hatta and developer Ryan Pastorelle. Tackk plans on hiring additional staff as they get off the ground.

 
Source: Eric Bockmuller
Writer: Karin Connelly

Bizdom, the nonprofit accelerator created by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, recently moved to new, 7,000-square-foot offices in downtown Cleveland to better assist the growing portfolio of startup technology companies in its program.

Bizdom graduated its first class of entrepreneurs in January and has made 13 investments in Cleveland businesses so far. The new office space is designed to provide useable space for entrepreneurs, as well as those who mentor them.

"The goal was to be downtown and near the Quicken Loans family of companies," says Paul Allen of Bizdom. "We have room for approximately 20 businesses and two conference room areas. They can have desk space, network access, printers and meeting breakout rooms. There is also space to play darts, music or foosball."

Bizdom's mission is to "help startup businesses go further faster by helping them at their earliest stages," says Allen. Entrepreneurs accepted into the three-month accelerator program receive a $25,000 investment in exchange for giving up an eight percent equity stake in their company. They also receive free training and mentorship throughout the program. After they graduate, they may receive additional support such as follow-on funding or subsidized office space.

Bizdom is a nonprofit organization, and if a company is sold at a later date (something that has already happened twice at its Detroit office), the proceeds from Bizdom's equity stake will go towards helping other entrepreneurs.

Bizdom's new offices are located at 250 West Huron Road, Suite 203.


Source: Paul Allen
Writer: Lee Chilcote

A Cleveland company that has its roots downtown but moved to the suburbs 12 years ago has relocated its headquarters back to the place where it all started.

Ohio Business Machines, a company that offers the latest Sharp office technology to customers in Northern Ohio and Southeast Michigan, recently signed a lease on 8,000 square feet at 1111 Superior.

OBM was located in downtown Cleveland for 25 years before it moved out of the city. With billions in new development either planned or underway and renewed vibrancy downtown, the company's executives believed that the time was right.

The company has 42 employees and plans to grow its sales department. OBM, which also has an office in Toledo, is known for its excellent customer service.


Source: Ohio Business Machines
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Several times each week, giant freighters the length of two football fields travel up the crooked Cuyahoga River to deliver raw materials. In this slide show, Fresh Water photographer Bob Perkoski goes along for the ride.

On the heels of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds annual conference, the Great Lakes Venture Fair will host its first event at the Cleveland Marriott on October 17 and 18. The event is a joint effort between the Ohio Capital Fund, Ohio Venture Association, JumpStart, TechColumbus and CincyTech.

“The event builds on the past seven successful years of the Ohio Early Stage Summit,” says Chris Sklarin, event chair and investor manager with Edison Ventures. “Great Lakes Venture Fair will showcase the region’s high potential companies to investors with a focus on successful strategic partnerships -- how it’s done.”

The Great Lakes Venture is designed to highlight the activity in the region, as well as identify the next big things. “It’s important in general for the region because this is the new economy,” says Sklarin. “This is where we find new growth, new ventures. It would be really great for us to have a successful large company to grow out of this.

Keynote speaker for the event will be Jeff Weedman, who took a two-year leave as vice president of global business development of Proctor & Gamble to become CEO of Cintrifuse in Cincinnati. He will talk about the corporate partnerships behind Cintrifuse as well as join a panel discussion about working with strategic investors.

Sklarin’s advice to entrepreneurs planning on attending is straightforward. “Bring your business cards -- there’s a lot of networking,” he says. “Have your elevator pitch down. You want to get out there and meet everyone you can.”

Organizers are expecting as many as 300 attendees.


Source: Chris Sklarin
Writer: Karin Connelly

The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority is asking voters to vote "Yes" on Issue 108, a levy that would cost property owners roughly $20 a year per $100,000. Fresh Water discusses the importance of the levy and more with Port President and CEO William Friedman.

On a recent September morning, the American Courage freighter began a trip upriver at the Port Authority’s Cleveland Bulk Terminal, where it picked up roughly 15,000 tons of iron ore. This was the 635-foot freighter’s second trip that day up the 5.5-mile ship channel to ArcelorMittal, where workers would later turn the iron ore into steel used to produce cars, construct buildings, and make household appliances.

Munchit co-founders Tim Holmes and Jon Dinardo were living worlds apart -- Holmes in London and Dinardo in Los Angeles -- but they had one thing in common: the desire to find a better way to snack.
 
“I was based in London and lived inside the city and ended up eating a lot of junk,” says Holmes, a native Brit. Meanwhile, Dinardo was living a fast-paced lifestyle on the west coast. The two, along with Holmes’ wife (and Dinardo’s sister) Nicole, were craving something better.
 
So the three moved back to Dinardo's Ohio hometown to start Munchit, an all-natural snack company. Munchit sells snack boxes, either on a weekly or monthly subscription basis, in which the buyer chooses from 25 wholesome snacks. Snacks feature things like dark chocolate espresso beans, nuts, cranberries, rolled dates and seed mixes. Each box features four different snacks.
 
“You log in and go through all our snacks,” explains Dinardo. “If you love 18 out of the 25 items we mix it up each time.”
 
Holmes and Dinardo source their products from small, local companies as well as national family-owned suppliers. “All of our food is 100-percent natural, with no preservatives or artificial colors,” says Dinardo. “The snacks are portion sized and are 180 calories.” They focus on environmental issues, keeping packaging to a minimum.
 
They decided to start the company in Cleveland to not only be close to family, but also for economical reasons. “Cleveland is a good area logistically because it’s very close to the hub of business,” says Holmes. “The cost of suppliers is right.”
 
Munchit currently is trying to raise $50,000 by Oct. 25 on Kickstarter. “Our goal right now is to launch and stay afloat in the short term,” says Holmes. “We want to make it past the first year. After that, the opportunities in the market are open to us to grow and expand.”
 
While right now it is a family affair, Holmes and Dinardo predict they will hire people to help with packaging and fulfillment as they grow. Eventually they plan to hire people to help with finance and bookkeeping.

 
Source: Jon Dinardo and Tim Holmes
Writer: Karin Connelly

Mike Stanek, president of Cleveland Cycle Tours, is offering the newest way to see Cleveland: A group bike tour. But unlike most group bike tours, this one employs just one vehicle. Nearly the whole group gets behind powering this 15-person, 1,600-pound bike.

“We are a group party bike, a group cycling experience,” Stanek explains. “There’s no motor, there’s no other way to move it except to pedal it.”
 
Ten people pedal Stanek’s 15-person bike, whether it’s a site-seeing tour, a pub crawl, a corporate team-building event or a wedding. Stanek can also haul the bike out to any location a customer chooses. A driver steers and operates the brake. The bike goes four to five miles per hour, and Stanek designs the routes to be mostly flat.
 
Cleveland Cycle Tours has hosted three or four tours since launching in September. Although Stanek applied for the license in July, some red tape kept him from officially launching. For now he is focusing on a successful spring tour season. He’s received a lot of support so far. “We’re building nice relationships with the taverns downtown and in Ohio City,” he says.
 
Stanek got the idea from a group in Minneapolis who brought a similar bike there from the Netherlands. Today that company has seven bikes operating in Minneapolis. Stanek hopes to grow his company in Cleveland similarly.
 
“The ultimate goal is to purchase a second or third cycle for Ohio City and Lakewood,” Stanek says. “The biggest challenge is finding a 10-foot high garage because the bikes are 9-feet, 4-inches tall.”
 
Right now, Stanek operates Cleveland Cycle Tours with his wife, who runs the daily operations, and oldest son, who drives the bike. Stanek hopes to hire and train three or four more drivers by spring.

 
Source: Mike Stanek
Writer: Karin Connelly

A parent can cover their child's eyes when there is violence on television, but who will do that for a child when they're exposed to real-life trauma? That is the question United Way is answering with its 2-1-1 community access line, a 24-hour help number that's part of Cuyahoga County’s Defending Childhood initiative.

United States Attorney General Eric Holder and Cuyahoga County Executive Edward FitzGerald hosted a news conference September 28 at Martin Luther King Jr. High School to announce a $2 million Justice Department grant that will aid Defending Childhood programs including the community access line.

The phone line is manned by United Way staff members. These trained staffers determine if Defending Childhood services can help a child who has witnessed violence or experienced trauma. Diagnosing and treating children who have lived through violence can be a significant step in helping them avoid trouble later in life, says Stephen Wertheim, president/CEO of United Way.

 "The trauma a kid goes through can impact their function in society," Wertheim says. "We're trying to get to these problems at the root."

While at the high school event, Holder participated in a round-table discussion with students and teachers. He later met with a group of law enforcement officers and social workers that were also on hand.

The impact of violence on children has reached "national crisis" proportions, Holder told the audience during the Sept. 28 conference. Assessing and screening the young people victimized by violence must take precedence over merely prosecuting those perpetrating the trauma.

Studies have shown how post-traumatic stress can negatively effect children, says FitzGerald. 

"If a child witnesses horrific acts of violence, they're more likely to be involved in the justice system themselves," says the county executive. Through a preventative measure like the 2-1-1 help line, "the idea is to increase public safety rather than just incarcerating everyone."

 
SOURCE: Stephen Wertheim, Ed FitzGerald
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

The way Beachland Ballroom owner Cindy Barber sees it, Cleveland's music glory days are far from over. Yet our music scene could use some better amplification. That's why Barber has created a new nonprofit, Cleveland Rocks: Past, Present and Future, to preserve the legacy of the city's rock-and-roll history while also promoting and shaping its future.

"The past is the legacy project of capturing Cleveland music history, the present is documenting what's happening now, and the future is figuring out what we need to do to grow it," says Barber. "There's already a huge amount of music business here. We need to take stock of what we have and what we're missing."

Barber cites music business startups like Gotta Groove Records, Fortune Drums, Audio Technica and Dr. Z Amplification as success stories. She also wants to highlight the local bands that are touring and getting signed nationally.

"The plan is to create a website to highlight the bands that are getting attention," she says. "If they're out touring the world, they can bring that energy back to share with other people in Cleveland and grow the music business here."

To kick off the project, Barber and others are organizing a series of live interviews with local legends that played a role in Cleveland music history. The first event is scheduled to place on Saturday, November 3rd at 1 p.m. at the Beachland Ballroom. Tickets cost $15 and include lunch and the opportunity to participate as Larry Bruner, former booking manager for the 1960s folk music venue La Cav, is interviewed by Steve Traina, DJ for the WCSB radio show "Steve's Folk."

Future plans include working with the Rock Hall to preserve oral histories and promote live music, helping musicians identify investment sources for growing their bands or recording albums, and marketing the music industry here.

"All the clubs that came together as part of the Cleveland Music Coalition [to challenge the city's admissions tax] are part of this," says Barber. "We want to use the nonprofit to support what they're doing to create live music in Cleveland."


Source: Cindy Barber
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Lindsay Sims has been a lifelong renter and knows the headaches involved with trying to reach a property management office for leasing information. She also knows that property managers are not using social media effectively to promote their properties.

So, in 2011 Sims founded Renter’s Boom, a resource for property managers to use sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as leasing portals.
 
“We are a software and service company smashed together,” says Sims. “We offer three apps: refer a friend, a listings app, and a make an appointment to see an apartment app. It makes it easy because that’s where some users spend five to 10 hours of their day.”
 
Sims originally designed a maintenance app where renters could text the property managers. But after going through the Bizdom U program, she refocused her businesses. “I figured out what business was going to work,” she says. “The feedback was property managers wanted to know how to handle social media.”
 
With that feedback, Sims developed Renter’s Boom. “For the past six months we were really running as fast as we can, figuring out the silver bullet that works,” she says. Originally working out the Beta Space at MAGNET, Sims recently moved into new offices at E. 55th and Euclid.
 
Business is good. Sims has a solid client base and hopes to start hiring around the first of the year. “I want to make sure our revenue strategy is okay,” she explains. “But I’ll be looking for people to get our clients serviced -- sales and marketing people.” In the meantime, Sims is looking for a fall intern to help with the daily operations.

 
Source: Lindsay Sims
Writer: Karin Connelly

For the next three months, artists from Sri Lanka, India, Armenia, Mexico and Chile will bring their talents, experiences and cultures to Cleveland through The Cleveland Foundation's international artist-in-residence program, Creative Fusion.

"The Cleveland Foundation does have a globalization agenda for Cleveland, and we think it's important for Clevelanders to see the city as a global, international city and that the rest of the world see us that way, too," says Kathleen Cerveny, Director of Institutional Learning and Arts Initiatives for the foundation. "The arts are a great tool to promote international understanding and exchange."

Creative Fusion brings in five international artists for a three-month stay in Cleveland. The program has been in the pilot phase for the last three years, and this year's roster of artists represents a complete relaunch for the initiative.

"Traditionally, arts organizations will bring in international artists, but there's very little lasting impact," says Cerveny. "We wanted to bring artists here for a longer period of time, especially cultures that are not represented in Cleveland."

While Creative Fusion artists are embedded within a cultural organization, they are required to complete community engagement activities and interact with the local artistic community. Cerveny says that the artists have gotten right to work.

"There's an Indian choreographer at the Rainey Institute who has been here a week and a day, and he's already taught two classes at Hathaway Brown and worked with inner-city kids at Rainey. This program has a significant impact."

Many of the artists consider Cleveland "a second home" after living here, she adds.

The artists are being hosted by Inlet Dance Theatre, Rainey Institute, Trinity Cathedral, Young Audiences and Zygote Press. More information about the Creative Fusion artists can be found on the Cleveland Foundation's website.


Source: Kathleen Cerveny
Writer: Lee Chilcote

After Robert Knighton’s grandmother had a stroke, she could only use the right side of her body. It made keeping clean in the hospital difficult. Knight’s wife Nina, a nurse at the VA Medical Center, noticed the same problem with some of her patients.

“The bed-bound patient population can’t get up to wash their hands,” explains Nina. “If a nurse comes in and she’s contaminated and touches the bedrails, the patients have nothing to wash their hands.”
 
The problem gave Nina an idea. “After working at St. Vincent Charity Hospital and then the VA she noticed it more in conjunction with the spread of hospital-acquired infections,” says Robert. “One day she was driving and it just came to her that patients needed a personal convenient device.” So Robert and Nina formed RKN Corporation in 2010 and started to develop the Bedside Sani-Holder, a bedside hand sanitizer dispenser. “This is a smart dispenser that helps with compliance, reminds patients if they haven’t used it and tracks usage,” says Robert.
 
Working with agencies like MAGNET and NorTech, RKN is working on a prototype of the Bedside Sani-Holder. They expect to hit the market by the second quarter of 2013. The Sani-Holder is part of NorTech’s Speed to Market Accelerator.
 
“We’ve really been able to use Northeast Ohio to launch our product,” says Robert. “Cleveland is known for healthcare and technology. It kind of feels like we’re entering the market at the right time.”
 
Robert and Nina are targeting hospitals and nursing homes with the Bedside Sani-Holder. So far, interest has been high. “We have spoken with quite a few hospitals in Northeast Ohio and have received welcoming feedback and interest,” says Robert. “Humility of Mary’s purchasing department said they would be interested in trialing our product once we are ready to go to market.”
 
When their product hits the market, RKN will be hiring IT staff, customer service, sales reps and operations staff. Two people that have been helping with management tasks will also join RKN working in permanent project management and operations.

 
Sources: Robert and Nina Knighton
Writer: Karin Connelly