Hyland Software has "strong management, a clear strategy, happy customers and a vertical-market focus." That, according to the IT research and advisory company Gartner, is part of the reason Hyland Software is on its list of leaders in the enterprise content management (ECM) industry. Gartner's Magic Quadrant 2010 puts Hyland Software in good company, as it shares the title "leader" with the likes of Microsoft, Oracle and IBM. The annual Magic Quadrant is used by the IT industry t... Read more >

Creative signs are making a comeback in Cleveland. Dramatic signage not only perks up a neighborhood visually, it makes them more competitive by helping indie retailers stand out from national chains. For proof, look at East Fourth Street.

In the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, Huntington Bank led other lenders in Northeast Ohio in number of small business loans, total dollars lent and amount of minority lending. This report from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Cleveland District Office signals the second year in a row that Huntington was the regional leader in loan support to small business owners.

In the past year, Huntington gave out 365 loans and $59 million, including $8 million in ... Read more >

Prfessor.com officially launched this year, beckoning anybody who knows something about a subject to create an online course for the benefit of others. According to Jim Kukral, one of three owners of the Rocky River-based e-learning curriculum designer, "hundreds of thousands of visitors and students have experienced Prfessor." Topics currently on the site range from marketing to green living.

Now Prfessor is promoting the use of its online resource for businesses that wa... Read more >

With their city's centennial coming up in less than 13 months, ShakerHeights officials will spend a lot of time in the new year preparing tocelebrate history. But many are already looking much farther into thefuture, implementing the Economic Development Strategy adopted by Shaker City Council last month.

Crafted over several months with a consulting firm in Maryland, theplan outlines steps Shaker can take now and in the foreseeable futureto ensure a stable and growing ta... Read more >

The St. Clair Superior neighborhood welcomed two new businesses recently, a café and a coffee shop, both in former factories, and both indicative of the forces that have been driving development in the area in recent years.

The 30th Street Café opened in Asia Plaza at East 30th and Payne, serving selections from Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese cuisines. Owned by the Hom family, prominent local entrepreneurs, Asia Plaza is a two-story retail center that was once a... Read more >

Along with her fiancé, José Andrade, Leticia Ortiz recently launched La Bamba Tortilleria in Ohio City. The minority-owned start-up has filled a gap in the Mexican foods market for fresh, local tortillas while at the same time growing jobs.

Whether it's an empty nook in their attic or a corner table at the local Starbuck's, home-based businesspeople are constantly searching for the ideal spot to do research, make phone calls or meet with clients. Come June of 2011, East Side entrepreneurs will be able to take advantage of specially designed space at the Shaker Heights Public Library's main branch on Lee Road.

The Community Entrepreneurial Office -- CEO for short -- will be a pilot program featuring workspace... Read more >

Health Information Technology (HIT) is a rapidly emerging field that will likely grow much faster than the average jobs, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Midwest Community College HIT Consortium is designed to ready a trained workforce for jobs in the HIT sector.

The consortium is comprised of 17 large community colleges in 10 Midwest states, and is being led by Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C). Last month, the consortium launc... Read more >

When Cleveland Heights resident Michael Adams first got serious about making the switch from law to opening a restaurant, he looked at lots of forgettable locations -- "kind of cookie-cutter," he recalls. Then someone told him about a space on the second floor of the Rockefeller Building, at the corner of Mayfeild and Lee roads. For Adams, it was love at first sight.

"It's a gorgeous space," Adams says of the former bank, with its original, well-preserved stone floors, ... Read more >

You'd be forgiven for thinking that "Indians Snow Days" refers to contingency plans in the event of a repeat of 2007, when the home opener was delayed, and finally called, due to snow. In April. Actually, Snow Days is an entirely different first in Major League Baseball: an off-season theme park inside a stadium, with the theme being wintertime fun.

According to Rob Campbell of the Indians' communications department, Snow Days was inspired by the National Hockey League's ... Read more >

There is no downtown "plan," per se, but there is a hell of a lot goingon. The newest piece to the revitalization puzzle is the NineTwelveDistrict, a new identity for the declining business corridor betweenEast 9th and East 12th streets, and Euclid and Lakeside.

The area once known as the financial district "is really going througha change," says Joseph Marinucci, president and CEO of the non-profitdevelopment group Downtown Cleveland Alliance."Change" is a polite way of ... Read more >

Experts estimate that the global flexible electronics market will grow to $250 billion by 2025. Northeast Ohio wants to ride that wave of innovation and market growth, and a recently unveiled plan for the region to become a global epicenter for the flexible electronics industry will play a part in realizing that goal.

Developed by NorTech, a technology-based economic development organization, The Northeast Ohio Flexible Electronics Road Map outlines strategies and initiat... Read more >

For several years, Kim Crow watched as the contracting newspaper business shed people, including many of her friends and colleagues, and laid ever-increasing burdens on those still employed. So relinquishing her duties at the Plain Dealer -- editing three sections, supervising six reporters and, the work she's best known for, writing a fashion column -- was the easy part.

At least compared to opening a store.

Crow recently unveiled Evie Lou -- "A contemporary ... Read more >