The St. Clair Superior Development Corporation and artist-entrepreneur Stephanie Sheldon are hoping to start a new tradition in Cleveland come spring -- an urban flea market that celebrates Cleveland's maker community and helps locals turn trash into treasure.

The Cleveland Flea will take place on the second Saturday of the month at E. 64th and St. Clair Avenue beginning in April. It will feature a mix of artisans, food trucks, pop-up and bricks-and-mortar retail, and... Read more >

What's next? It's a question we all wish we had the answer to. But for folks looking to settle down, that question undoubtedly refers to place. In this running series, Fresh Water explores emerging Cleveland neighborhoods that are primed for growth. This week, writer Joe Baur examines North Shore Collinwood.

What began as a game and website development company in 1996 has blossomed into a thriving developer of software products.

After creating internal software that allowed UrbanCode to track the progress of its own software development projects, the company began developing similar products for its customers. UrbanCode products help their customers get their software to production faster -- decreasing time to market and ultimately getting their technology to the end users qu... Read more >

Detroit Shoreway resident Erin Gargiulo used to pass through the Gordon Square Arts District on her way to work each day and think, "I wish someone would open a hair salon, because then I would work here."

Last fall, when the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization (DSCDO) launched the Charter One Business Plan Competition and she saw an opportunity to create her own business, Gargiulo decided to go for it. Next month, Honeycomb Salon and Art Gallery... Read more >

Five student entrepreneurial teams will compete in the semifinals at the Ohio Clean Energy Challenge in Columbus on January 29, presenting their business plans and technologies to a panel of judges for the chance to win $10,000 and an opportunity to go on to the Midwest regional competition in Chicago.

The event is hosted by the University Clean Energy Alliance of Ohio (UCEAO) and NorTech as part of the Department of Energy’s National Clean Energy Business Plan Comp... Read more >

Downtown has lacked a soul food restaurant for years. That's changed now that Soul Republic, the successful restauranteurs behind Angie's Soul Cafe, Jezebel's Bayou and Zanzibar, have opened Stonetown Southern Bistro at 627 Prospect Avenue.

The casual venue, whose menu features "soul food with a twist" and is similar to Zanzibar at Shaker Square, aims to fill a gap in the marketplace. "This is one of those everyday locations, as opposed to a pla... Read more >

The Cleveland Heights-University Heights Library is transforming a 4,000-square-foot former YMCA gym connected to its Lee Road branch into a high-tech community classroom and home for the Cuyahoga County Small Business Development Center.

The renovation, which broke ground in December and will be completed in June, is aimed at better serving the community while also supporting small business entrepreneurship in the Heights communities.

The new Heights Knowledge a... Read more >

The health of Lake Erie has come a long way in the past 40 years, and it is now considered by many to be a case study of a recovering ecosystem. Yet not very many people know that, in part as a result of cleaning up our water pollution as well as our close proximity to a Great Lake, Northeast Ohio companies have developed rich expertise in water technology.

To leverage this cluster, influence policy, and conduct research and education, a group of organizations have launch... Read more >

Angela Ben-Kiki, the artist and designer behind Green Garage Studio, has come full circle by opening a new studio and showroom in a two-family rental that she owns on W. 11th Street in Tremont.

Ben-Kiki was one of the first entrepreneurs to open a design-focused store in Tremont when she owned the shop Go Modern. She eventually closed the store to focus on being a mom. Now that her daughter is older, she has returned with new energy to the place where it all began.
Read more >

Small plates. Classic cocktails. A wine list curated by a well-traveled owner with a zest for local food. Shared tables made from old flour bins and lots of cozy nooks for hanging out with friends or snuggling up to a date. A menu filled with items like gnudi and braised lamb.

These are just a few of the wonderful things Fresh Water uncovered during a recent tour of Toast Wine Bar, which is set to open next month in the Gordon Square Arts District after six long years of ... Read more >

About 15 years ago Nick Stevovich was experiencing the familiar burn in his legs from bike racing. He thought to himself, there has to be a better way to pedal a bicycle.

“I thought how do I overcome leg fatigue and still get the same performance,” he says. “About the same time I was rollerblading.” With that the idea for Motion Resolution was born.

Stevovich is developing an improved bike pedal that uses some of the concepts of rollerblad... Read more >

When Dave Lazor founded Lazorpoint nearly 16 years ago, he had a vision of building a full-service IT firm that would allow clients to focus on what they do best and not worry about whether their information services capabilities were the right match.

“We think, build and run informational systems that instill confidence,” explains Lazor. “Entrepreneurs or mid-market CEOs are focused on running their businesses and servicing their customers. They kn... Read more >

Jonathan Yale has always been socially conscious. As an athlete, he is also concerned about what foods he puts into his body. Those two principles came together when Yale and Phillip Williams founded HooftyMatch last August, an online marketplace for buying and selling locally produced meats.

“It started from a nutritional aspect,” says Yale. “I actually went to farms and bought some whole animals. I started educating myself on all the different factors ... Read more >

"I don't cook like any of those other guys on the block, I'll tell you that right now," promises Cajun chef Johnny Schulze, tossing out the names of celebrity chefs Michael Symon and Rocco Whalen, both of whom have Tremont restaurants. "I pull from what I learned growing up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The reason I'm doing this restaurant is I want to cook what I'm really good at."

Schulze is talking about his planned restaurant and water... Read more >

Throughout its colorful history, the Agora complex in MidTown has been home to a vaudeville theatre, burlesque house, and one of the nation's premiere concert venues. Now, thanks to an evolving landscape outside its door, it's being redeveloped into start-up friendly office space.

Valerie Mayen is both nervous and excited as she talks about taking Yellowcake, the independent clothing company she built from the ground up, from pop-up to permanent. In March, the 31-year-old Texas native, who came to Cleveland to study at the Cleveland Institute of Art and appeared on Season 8 of "Project Runway," will double her current retail space at W. 65th Street and Detroit Avenue in the Gordon Square Arts District.

Yellowcake's new 1,500-square-fo... Read more >

When Deej Lincoln bought Interior Products Company two years ago, he thought he would build upon the commercial millwork company’s reputation for creating beautiful libraries. While the company continues to do library work, a new business built on sustainability, recycling and a bit of nostalgia has evolved.

Reclaimed Cleveland harvests wood from Cleveland properties slated for demolition and turns what they find into functional works of art. “We wanted to bui... Read more >