From lumber to antique books and vintage guitars, local businesses share their secrets to success amid big box competition, financial pressures and changing times.

Well-educated millennials are living in Cleveland, but the city must adapt to their needs if we want them to stay.

Boot-camp style computer coding courses are rapidly growing alongside Northeast Ohio's tech sector. 

The technology and software business startup accelerator Flashstarts  will now offer a way for companies in the formulation phase a way to speed up the process.

Starting today, the organization will begin taking applications for Flashstarts Labs – a way for startups to prepare for the accelerator program.

“It’s a formalization of something we’ve been doing for the last couple of years, where we can work with teams before they are accepted in to the accelerator,” explains Flashstarts co-founder and CEO Charles Stack.  “A lot of teams are missing something – skill sets, market validation, strategy, a co-founder – this will help them get into the accelerator program.”
 
The idea behind the Labs is to offer the fastest path between business concept and startup formation. Companies accepted into the three-month program will receive access to more than 40 mentors, consulting, business tools and office space in StartMart, Flashstarts’ 35,000-square-foot entrepreneurial co-working space in the Terminal Tower.
 
Stack explains that in Flashstarts’ three-year history, he has found that a lot of startups need help getting things organized. “We learned that a lot of people and ideas need a high-speed on-ramp,” he says. “Now we have StartMart, so we have a lot of space to bring in Labs. When a good idea bubbles up from the goo, we grab it and put it in the accelerator.”
 
There's room for 50 people in the Labs, and accelerator companies will be chosen from the Labs teams. "I don't know how many we'll pick for the accelerator, but we will pick from these teams,” Stack says. “We will spend a lot of time working with these teams.”
 
Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis. Selection criteria will include uniqueness, market opportunity, team background, and likelihood of success.

Sign up for the Commmunity Update to stay informed with the Republican National Convention Host Committee.

Team Promotions in Beachwood has been helping businesses promote their names and ideas for 28 years. 

“I would consider ourselves to be a dimensional advertising agency,” says company owner and president Hank Frisch. “We’re helping people promote their companies through products.”
 
From coffee mugs to adult coloring books, Team Promotions has thousands of products to promote a company or event. “We’ve sold steaks and delivered them to people’s addresses,” says Frisch of one of the more outrageous promotions he has done. Other times, Frisch has shaped T-shirts into the shape of a realistic replica his client is promoting.
 
“There are just a million different things – crazy, crazy things – you can do. It’s a matter of creativity.”
 
With the Republican National Convention coming to town in July, Frisch has already gotten inquiries from convention officials. “We’ve done some business as it relates to the Republican National Convention,” he says. “[They’re] interested in the variety of things, some tech products.”
 
As the convention nears, Frisch says he is prepared for the increased business. “We hope to do more,” he says. “We’ve shown our ideas to them and we hope as things get closer we’ll be able to do more for them.”
 
Frisch expects the pace to be hectic, but he’s ready. “There’s a lot going on and it’s interesting to wrap your arms around who’s doing what,” he says. “There’s a lot of opportunity for local businesses. It’s a fast-paced business. We just have to be prepared. We’re ready to be there when they need us.”

The Tavern Company owner Chris Armington and his fellow business owners along Lee Road in Cleveland Heights were tired of hearing their customers complain about how difficult it is to find parking on the weekends.

So they got together to solve the problem and, hopefully, increase their business traffic.

Most of the restauranteurs, bar owners and the Cedar Lee Theatre got together and hired VIP Valet to park customers’ car on Fridays and Saturdays. “It’s a convenience for customers,” says Armington. “Everyone’s biggest complaint is parking, walking, getting tickets.”
 
For $5, patrons can park at any of the four valet stations located in the business district along Lee Road – from Taste and Brennan’s Colony  to Parnell’s Pub. When they are done eating, drinking and catching a movie, they can pick their cars up at any station – regardless of where they dropped it off. Even establishments like Lopez, which has its own lot and valet, are participating.
 
Customers do not have to specify where they are heading to use the service. “They won’t turn anyone away,” says Armington. “The business owners are paying for it [the up-front costs] so people can have fun all evening at the restaurants and bars.”
 
Of course, the convenience also means better traffic for the business owners. “It’s a win-win for everyone,” Armington says, adding that the LED “valet” sign cones VIP uses make the valet stations easily identifiable, “inviting and safe.”
 
The service, which began on Friday, Dec. 18, is slowly catching on, according to Armington, with more people using the service as word spreads. “Every weekend is a little better and better,” he says. “Ideally, we want to make Lee Road a destination where people can go, park and then go anywhere.”

Last May, Fresh Water published a story on Jerry Mearini and the Rock Hard Guitar Picks he developed, combining his love of rock and roll with his physics knowledge. Our media partner WKYC Channel 3 picked up the story.

As he transitions from 18 years on city council to president of Global Cleveland, Fresh Water asks Joe Cimperman about his tenure, his vision and his love of Cleveland..

Whether they grew up here and left or are just experiencing Cleveland for the first time, five residents share why they came here and what they love about the city.