Thirty-year-old Mark Raymond has stayed in hostels all over the world, and now he's bringing his passion, ideas and money to Cleveland to create a 60-bed hostel on West 25th Street in Ohio City.

"A hostel is a very valuable asset for a city to have, and I think Cleveland is a good place to start one," says Raymond. "Hostels attract nontraditional travelers on a shoestring budget, and if a city doesn't have a hostel, many will skip over it."
... Read more >

The Cleveland Council on World Affairs (CCWA) will once again be hosting former U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce, Frank Lavin tonight in its speaker series at the Union Club of Cleveland. Lavin, who recently co-published the book "Export Now," will talk about strategies for success in exporting to a global market.
 
“He is a great speaker and a great resource for organizations in the area,” says Jana Krasney, director of speaker programs for CCWA.... Read more >

LineStream Technologies is growing by leaps and bounds in the automated software control market. The company was created in 2008 as a spinoff out of research done by CSU’s Zhiqiang Gao, director of the Center for Advanced Control Technologies and focuses on commercializing and simplifying control software.
 
Basically, LineStream products increase efficiency, are easy to implement, and therefore improve the performance of automated systems.
 
&ldquo... Read more >

For just shy of three years, Crop Bistro & Bar attracted diners to its Warehouse District home, where chef Steve Schimoler wowed them with creative American gems. That all ended last spring when Schimoler decided to transplant his Crop to Ohio City. How could he not, he said, after first laying eyes upon the old bank space that could -- and would -- be his restaurant's new home. After months of construction -- all followed by Fresh Water shooter Bob Perkoski -- Crop Bistro... Read more >

Justin Bibb, special assistant for education and economic development for Cuyahoga County executive Ed FitzGerald, was looking for a way to make sure his generation is heard in the business world. That’s when he founded YP Nation, a group of young professionals who want to play an active role in the nation’s policies and views.
 
“There’s a movement as baby boomers retire to engage millennials,” Bibb says of his generation. “Rarely ... Read more >

Although just barely eight months old, ImageIQ has found a niche in the medical imaging field. The company, which is a spinoff of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, takes a qualitative approach to diagnostic imaging.
 
“Anybody who acquires an image during a bio-science event, it’s a subjective process for anyone who looks at that image,” says ImageIQ CEO Tim Kulbago. “We build custom solutions to get quantitative scientific data.&... Read more >

Last month, crowds poured into the third annual F*SHO, an exhibit that showcased locally made contemporary furniture. The goal of the Midtown event was to promote what is widely being described as a burgeoning local industry. This year's F*SHO was twice the size of last year's. If you didn't make it, check out Fresh Water photographer Bob Perkoski's visual tour.

The Historic Haunts Walking Tour, an event now in its fifth year, provides family-friendly Halloween treks through the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. Local residents sporting top hats and toting lanterns lead audiences along historic West Clinton and Franklin Boulevards. They stop at porches to watch costumed actors bring to life tales of murder, love and mayhem from the neighborhood's storied past.

Yet last year, the event did more than just entertain. It also led Cl... Read more >

OnShift has found its groove. The Cleveland company continues to build success as a software developer for the senior living market.

“We specialize in healthcare organizations who want to manage their staffing and labor costs,” says CEO Mark Woodka.
 
Tapping into the senior living market happened by accident for the company, which was founded in 2007.

“Our founder (Gene Groys) was building a communications platform and was hosting ... Read more >

Four Northeast Ohio organizations are one group of just 20 national winners of the Obama administration's $37 million Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge, a multi-agency competition to support the advancement of high-growth industry clusters across the country.
 
NorTech, JumpStart, MAGNET and Lorain County Community College came together to cooperatively apply for the $2 million grant that will help create jobs in the region. The program, the Northeast Ohio... Read more >

Bizdom U, a business accelerator that trains, mentors and funds innovative, growth-oriented startup companies, kicks off its inaugural class in less than two weeks. Based on a similar program in Detroit that was launched three years ago by Quicken Loans owner Dan Gilbert, Bizdom U hopes to kindle a new wave of entrepreneurial spirit in Cleveland.

Despite dire news to the contrary, the indie bookstore is not dead -- especially in Cleveland, one of the most literate cities in the nation. But that doesn't mean booksellers can coast on sales of Woolf, Pynchon and Roth. More than simply literary vending machines, the best indie bookstores have learned to adapt by offering poetry readings, book signings, live music, and even glasses of Australian chardonnay.

Aeroscena is tapping into the world of aromatherapy with Ascents -- little sachets of essential oils that creators say not only smell nice, but help with everything from weight loss and insomnia to energy and relaxation. Aeroscena CEO Mark Kohoot says the idea was inspired by the 18th and 19th century trend of women wearing their own personal scents around their necks.
 
“Ascents are an innovative way to experience aromatherapy in a portable diffuser,” exp... Read more >

Fashions by Fowler, a popular women's clothing boutique run by sisters Renay and Tracy Fowler, has relocated to a Shaker Square storefront that has been sitting empty for years. Previously home to Metropolitan Galleries and Ann Taylor Loft, the 5,200-square-foot space is considerably larger than the boutique's old home on Mayfield Road.

"It's been very exciting," says Renay Fowler of the new space. "Shaker Square is so diverse in terms of nation... Read more >

The growing number of urban gardens in the city of East Cleveland prompted the second annual Urban Gardens and Farmers Market Open House. Held last Saturday, the event highlighted the blossoming of urban farms and gardens in a community that lacks even a single major grocery store, says Nicole Wright, Program Coordinator with the Ohio State University Cuyahoga County Extension office, who helped to organize the event in collaboration with local residents.

Wright says the ... Read more >

JumpStart will celebrate the region’s entrepreneurs at the Northeast Ohio Entrepreneur Expo and JumpStart Community Meeting on Tuesday, October 25 at the John S. Knight Center in Akron. The event will feature high-growth entrepreneurs, student entrepreneurs and investors. 

Organizers have signed up 20 entrepreneurs to exhibit their companies, and expect almost 80 by the time of the event. Three hundred people have already signed up to attend the event.
&nbs... Read more >