Downtown
“Downtown is where the action is,” says Alex Cortes, an attorney who lives in the Warehouse District. Cortes is one of the 10,000 people who call downtown home. But to reach the 20,000-resident figure that boosters say Cleveland needs to truly become a vibrant neighborhood in the city, more retail, green space, and housing options will have to come online.
Last January, a group of religious and community leaders got together under one common goal: To make Cleveland a better place to work and live. The Greater Cleveland Congregations (GCC) was born. A united front of 40 religious and community organizations began collecting input on what the city needed to do to improve.
“Between January and March we asked participating organizations, ‘What makes life better for you and your family in Cleveland?’” explains Ari Lipman, GCC lead organizer. Four hundred participants came up with five areas to focus on: education, healthcare, jobs, criminal justice and sustainable food.
GCC officially kicked off its mission in June with a founding assembly. More than 2,000 Clevelanders attended to put their heads together and come up with a collective bargaining of sorts to improve the living standard.
“Each of the five areas has started action teams,” notes Lipman. “For jobs, we’re looking at job training -- jobs that exist that you can support a family on and primarily on jobs creation.”
The GCC is part of the Industrial Areas Foundation, the nation’s first and largest network of multi-faith coalitions. Lipman cites success stories in other chapters around the nation as proof that the same kind of team power can work in Cleveland.
"In Washington state, the group figured out a way of expanding the number of green jobs,” says Lipman. “They signed up people to get their houses winterized, got 1,000 people signed up and created over 100 jobs.”
While the group is still in the research phase, they plan to unveil their action plan this winter. “By 2012 we’re going to have interesting and exciting ideas,” says Lipman. “We’re going to need some people to help implement them.”
Source: Ari Lipman
Writer: Karin Connelly
A vacant Euclid Avenue storefront has now become a community hub thanks to East 4th Yoga, a new studio that offers free yoga classes and aims to enhance the sense of community downtown.
The studio, which launched last month, offers complimentary, donation-based classes on Saturday mornings at 10 in the former Bang and the Clatter Theatre space at 244 Euclid. While geared towards downtown residents, anyone is welcome to attend. Organizer Tammy Oliver, an East 4th resident, says the studio creates a community gathering space and promotes downtown living.
“There aren’t many opportunities for this kind of gathering space downtown,” says Oliver. “The more opportunities we provide people to live, work and play, the more likely they’ll be to live downtown. We’re trying to create a neighborhood.”
To fund the program, Oliver secured a sponsorship from Oasis Health Care. Additionally, MRN Ltd. has donated the former theatre space, and yoga instructors from across the city volunteer their time. Finally, MVP Valet offers free valet parking for individuals traveling from other parts of the city.
Oliver, who organized the yoga classes as a volunteer, is also the leasing agent for East 4th Street. She says the idea was generated through discussions with friends who can’t afford to take regular yoga classes, and through brainstorming with downtown residents about other amenities that are needed downtown.
“It’s not enough to provide nice living spaces, we need places to shop, hang out and meet our neighbors,” says Oliver. She adds that MRN Ltd. is actively working on plans to recruit additional retailers to the East 4th and Euclid Avenue area.
The funds raised from class donations will be used to purchase equipment such as yoga mats and blocks that will be donated to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD). Oliver is hoping to work with a group of yoga instructors and CMSD to create a yoga program that is geared towards urban youth.
“We can use yoga to enrich and bring peace to young people’s lives,” she says.
Source: Tammy Oliver
Writer: Lee Chilcote
The $1.6 million first phase of the project, which was completed last fall, removed sunken areas that were considered unsightly and unsafe because they provided places for individuals to hide. Funding for this phase came from the City of Cleveland, Downtown Cleveland Alliance, businesses and foundations.
The $1.3 million second phase that is now underway includes new seating, trees, plants, art and a trellis along E. 12th Street. Construction for this phase stems from the $20 million sale of the Convention Center to Cuyahoga County.
The Perk Park project was originally designed in 2003 during Mayor Campbell's administration, but was not constructed at that time due to lack of funding. The nonprofit organization ParkWorks led the redesign process. Landscape architects Thomas Balsley of New York and James McKnight of Cleveland designed it.
The new park adds to the number of redeveloped green/public spaces that exist in downtown Cleveland. There are nearly 3,000 residents living within a three-minute walk of the park, according to Downtown Cleveland Alliance. The Erieview District, as it's called, has the second largest concentration of downtown residents (the Warehouse District is first). The location is also a major hub for office jobs.
Source: Downtown Cleveland Alliance/ParkWorks
Writer: Lee Chilcote
To be held Saturday, August 27, the Crawl will utilize public transportation to ferry attendees from urban location to urban location, with stops Ohio City, University Circle, Little Italy, Larchmere/Shaker Square and E.4th Street. The day-long event steps off at 1 p.m. and winds down in Ohio City at 8 p.m.
"The purpose of the RTA Bar Crawl is to show Clevelanders and our suburbanite friends that our public transit system is a safe mode of transportation to get around the city," Baur explains. "It's also my hope that people will come away from the crawl envisioning life living in Cleveland proper. Walking, riding a bike or taking public transit to work, being part of the ongoing revitalization and knowing your fellow Clevelanders instead of going from boxed house to box car to office, back home to fall asleep and repeat."
Baur says the inspiration for the event came to him after listening to the "Mike Trivisonno Show," when the host said he would never step foot on the RTA, adding that downtown is filled with people who can't afford to live in the suburbs.
"Meanwhile, I'm laughing to myself," he adds, "because I fought like hell to get out of the suburbs!"
The event will also benefit the charity We Run This City.
For more info, click here.
Beginning August 29, 92.3 FM will switch formats from alternative rock to Cleveland's first and only FM sports talk radio station. Owned by CBS Radio, Sports Radio 92.3 The Fan (WKRK-FM) will feature locally produced programs hosted by familiar Cleveland voices, along with headline updates every 20 minutes and a full lineup of NFL and college football play-by-play coverage.
"CBS has done this across the country with terrific results," says market manager Tom Herschel. "We saw the opportunity in Cleveland and we're taking it."
On-air personalities will be made up of local and national names. Nationally-known talent Kevin Kiley will team up with Cleveland's own Chuck Booms weekday mornings for the area's only local morning drive sports-talk show. Adam "The Bull," formerly of WFAN in New York, will fill the afternoon drive time slot. Andy Roth has been named as program director and joins the station from Buffalo's WGR. He also has experience at stations in New York and WIP in Philadelphia.
The remainder of The Fan lineup will be announced at a later date. The new station will produce openings in a variety of areas, from on-air positions to back office jobs. "We're filling the other day parts with great talent and many people with local Cleveland sports ties," Herschel says. "The new station will result in a significant amount of hiring. The numbers will develop as we go along, but it will definitely be a jobs boost for the area."
Source: Tom Herschel
Writer: Karin Connelly
The five companies represent the diversity of enterprises in Northeast Ohio -- from retail and publications to business products and services to social media. The companies are: All Points Connect, Mindset Digital, iGuiders, Bonitas International and Your Teen magazine.
"Build it Big identifies companies that already have successes and want to achieve that next milestone," explains Katie Gage, manager of programming for Springboard. "It's a chance to plug them in to the entrepreneurial community."
Twelve companies applied to participate in the Build it Big: Cleveland program. After a 10-minute presentation and 15 minutes of Q & A, the five companies were chosen. "They are now meeting with Springboard partners in advisory sessions to address strategies for growth," says Gage.
The Springboard partners include KeyCorp, Meaden & Moore, and Thompson Hine. Since January, 2000, Springboard has helped over 400 women-led companies raise more than $5 billion in equity financing, including 8 IPOs, and legions of high value M&As. Eighty percent of Springboard companies are still in business, generating $4 billion in revenues and creating tens of thousands of newjobs.
Source: Katie Gage
Writer: Karin Connelly
The article reports that the four-week filming schedule is for a pivotal -- and explosive -- scene in the Marvel Comics superhero flick.
"Word is that a big battle will be shot [in Cleveland]. Odds are it will be the biggest battle of the film and appear toward the end."
"A movie like this is guaranteed to have a big battle," the article continues. "But now it seems we can pinpoint it to Cleveland, so it ought to be especially fun to watch filming there. Apparently there will be lots of explosions in the downtown."
Read the rest here.
Hosted by Tyler Florence, the series features eight top food trucks competing for a $100,000 grand prize. Over the course of seven weeks, the trucks engage in a cross-country battle, with one team being eliminated at each stop. Thanks to omnipresent social media, Hodgson fans in Cleveland know that our favorite lunch-wagon guru makes it clear to the final week with his newly christened second truck, Hodge Podge. What happens next is a well-guarded secret.
Each week, Happy Dog will host hosting a viewing party. Hodgson will have both food trucks parked outside the Detroit Shoreway venue to feed fans. The show will be broadcast on all five of the bar's flat-screen TVs.
Check the schedule here.
Mike Belsito and Bryan Chaikin sprouted a business idea after a death in Belsito's family. Both were working at Findaway World, a digital products company, when Belsito's cousin died and he went through the arduous process of planning a funeral.
The two started talking about how difficult it is to find the right funeral home in a time of crisis... and an idea was formed. They started FunerAlly, an online resource for selecting the right funeral home.
"It's nearly impossible to understand each funeral home in the area and what they had to offer and the prices," says Belsito of the wide selection. "When you talk about the importance of finding the right funeral home, you just pick a home and hope for the best. There really aren't a whole lot of options in choosing one."
It was all talk until the two heard about Ohio State University Fisher College of Business' 10-Xelerator, an 11-week boot camp for 10 start-up companies to launch and succeed in their business ventures. "Bryan and I submitted the idea to the 10X program and we were accepted as finalists," says Belsito. "That was the impetus for us to really step out fulltime and launch a business. We're really motivated to make this work."
Through 10X, FunerAlly is getting the guidance it needs to successfully launch. Belsito and Chaikin are spending their summer in Columbus, getting advice and lessons from advisors and mentors.
"10X opened the door to so many individuals we wouldn't have access to otherwise," Belsito says. "Entrepreneurship has always been a passion of mine and definitely our intent is to created jobs in Northeast Ohio."
Source: Mike Belsito
Writer: Karin Connelly
Arteriocyte, a leading clinical-stage biotechnology company with offices in Cleveland and Hopkinton, Mass., has been awarded a $1 million grant by the Ohio Department of Development's Third Frontier Commission. The company, which develops proprietary stem cell and tissue engineering based therapies, will use the grant for the development and commercialization of hematopoietic stem cell expansion for clinical applications.
The move is part of the Ohio Third Frontier Biomedical Program to accelerate the company's Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) of its NANEX technology for clinical use under the product name HemaEx.
"The technology takes a small amount of stem cells and gets a large amount of stem cells," explains Adam Sorkin, Arteriocyte's director of research and development. "We are converting our existing process that is suitable for research to a process that is suitable for use in humans.".
Arteriocyte's therapies help find cures for chronic heart disease and peripheral artery disease, among other diseases.
The company, which was founded in 2004 as a spin-off out of CWRU, has seen rapid growth in the past couple of years, going from four employees to 80. The expansion will create between 15 and 20 jobs in the production facility.
Source: Adam Sorkin
Writer: Karin Connelly
"The tech sector is fueling a job boom that stands in stark contrast to the malaise of the general job market. The nationwide unemployment rate ticked up to 9.2 percent in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the same time, the unemployment rate for tech professionals dropped to 3.3 percent, from 5.3 percent in January."
And nowhere, according to a recent ranking by the magazine, is that growth stronger than here in Cleveland.
Claiming the No. 1 spot thanks to 107-percent growth, Cleveland saw the biggest boost in tech sector jobs in July compared to a year ago. Technology career website Dice.com tracks the cities with the biggest year-over-year growth in job listings.
According to the article, the companies that are doing the most hiring in Cleveland are IBM and Deloitte & Touche. They are looking for employees with skills in systems integration, software engineering and project management.
Read the rest of the rankings here.
He found what he was looking for in a former Lake Erie barge, which dates back to 1892 and was last used as the floating restaurant Hornblower's. "We help companies envision who they want to be," says Stahl. "With a view of the trains, the Rock Hall, Lake Erie and downtown Cleveland, we figured this was the place to do that."
Now Stahl has partnered with the owner of Arras, a 20-year-old marketing and brand innovation company that currently has offices in the Terminal Tower, to purchase and renovate the barge, now permanently moored at 1151 N. Marginal Road. The project will add a full second story to accommodate the companies' growth.
Stahl and his business partner plan to purchase the barge for $500,000. They have also received a $275,000 loan package from the City of Cleveland towards the costs of renovations. That welcome support is part of a larger effort by the city to lure technology companies to the waterfront district, Stahl says.
The entrepreneurs will create open offices that maximize employee collaboration -- in essence modeling what LeanDog teaches. "We help companies change how they work, even as we deliver software," says Stahl. LeanDog is a practitioner of 'Agile' software development, which fosters an open, flexible culture.
The 34-employee company also hopes its offices will continue to serve as a meeting space for Cleveland's tech community. Currently, LeanDog hosts software user groups as well as organizations like Cleveland Startup Weekend and Cleveland Give Camp. "It's part of our values to help the community," says Stahl.
Stahl also plans to create a dock so visitors can arrive by boat. The second floor bar will disappear -- but not for long. Stahl hopes to recreate it on a new third-floor deck, complete with stunning views of Cleveland's skyline and Lake Erie sunsets.
Source: John Stahl
Writer: Lee Chilcote
More than 200 people in various industries donated their time and talent last weekend at the second annual Cleveland GiveCamp at LeanDog Software in Cleveland to help area non-profits.
Software and database developers, graphic designers, marketing professionals, copy writers, video producers, photographers, social media experts and food service volunteers donated more than 4,500 hours to 22 non-profit organizations, coming away with new technology applications valued at nearly $500,000 to help them in their efforts to help others.
"I think people want to be a part of a good thing," says GiveCamp spokesperson Amy Wong, adding that the 187 media volunteers is an exponential increase from the 100 people who helped out last year. "Thirty other cities participate, and we think we are one of the biggest."
Sponsors donated more than $14,000 in goods and services to make the event possible. Top sponsors included LeanDog, Burke Lakefront Airport,, Explorys, Hyland Software, OneCommunity, Rosetta, Saint Luke's Foundation and Sollie Rosen Memorial Foundation.
The volunteers worked long hours, often late into the night and early in the mornings to complete the projects. Organizations benefitting from the services were 501(c)3 groups in Northeast Ohio that had projects that could be completed over the duration of camp.
GiveCamp is an international initiative started in 2007 to bring together technology talent to help local nonprofits in need.
Source: Amy Wong
Writer: Karin Connelly
BlueBridge Networks in Cleveland and Bluemile in Albany, Ohio, have joined forces to offer a virtual powerhouse in data storage and recovery services. The joint venture offers the most robust, scalable and secure cloud computing platform with state of-the-art architecture and service delivery for companies and organizations.
The $11 million investment lets the two data centers easily provide cloud computing to large companies nationwide. Data can be passed quickly between Cleveland and Columbus thanks to Bluemile's acquisition of fiber optic internet cable that stretches between the two cities. BlueBridge's local clients include Hyland Software, Olympic Steel and Rosetta.
"Part of the value is you have a regional company that thinks regional, coupled with human interaction," says Kevin Goodman, managing director of business development and partner with BlueBridge. "We're going to bring cloud business here. Instead of sending your stuff to Seattle or Herndon, Virginia, you're sending it to Cleveland or Columbus."
No other regional data service center in the country provides this type of secure cloud computing. The collaboration enables a certain level of protection in times of emergency or data recovery needs. "We can deliver state-of-the-art, robust, efficient platforms and create jobs," says Goodman. "We've planted the right seeds and built the right infrastructure."
In fact, the partnership has created more than 60 jobs this year, 10 of them in Cleveland in sales, engineering and back-office positions, and BlueBridge is planning to hire even more in the near future. "We've had solid, constant double-digit growth," says Goodman. "This has us poised for exponential growth and jobs."
Source: Kevin Goodman
Writer: Karin Connelly
"The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority's plan will try to bring jobs to the lakefront while creating recreational development like the kind that once thrived in the Flats," says the article. "Making that happen means shoring up the slowly-sliding Irishtown Bend and finding a suitable home for heavily metallic sediment dredged from the Cuyahoga River and port."
Development has already begun, it continues, mentioning Scott Wolstein and Fairmount Properties' $275-million East Bank project. The article also states that the Port Authority recently purchased a four-story building on West 9th Street for $3.1 million, which will serve as its new home.
Other development, most notably around Cleveland Browns Stadium and the shoring up of Irishtown Bend, are also mentioned.
Read the rest here.
Meanwhile, the Port of Cleveland is currently soliciting feedback on its Strategic Action Plan. Review the Strategic Action Plan and give your feedback through the online survey. The Port will review all public comments and the Board will later vote on proposed recommendations.