Partially abandoned, Cleveland Heights' Severance Town Center sits in foreclosure with no plans for redevelopment of the property. Residents have some ideas on what should be done.

The aromas of fresh baked bread and pastries will soon waft through the streets of Cleveland when Bloom Artisan Bakery and Café opens two locations next year. In a social enterprise venture, Towards Employment, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping low income and disadvantaged adults achieve self-sufficiency through employment, announced last week that it will open bakeries in both Public Square and on the Cleveland State campus.

“The Towards Employment board of directors set out to start a social enterprise a couple of years ago,” says Logan Fahey, Bloom’s general manager. "We looked at different industries – manufacturing, lawn care – and then we found this crazy bakery idea. It met a need in downtown Cleveland and it’s an incredible training opportunity for our students.”
 
Bloom will hire and train 12 to 14 employees through Toward Employment for both locations in its first year, with a vision of expanding into additional locations, corporate catering and wholesale. “We wanted to create a business that is scalable,” says Fahey. “The hope is that once they graduate from the bakery they will move on to jobs with higher wages and use the skills they’ve learned.”
 
Before being hired by Bloom, potential employees will go through Towards Employment’s four-week career readiness course.
 
Once hired, employees will be learning baking skills from the best. Internationally-renowned artisan baking specialist Maurice Chaplais will personally train the staff on the art of making pastry and bread with locally-sourced ingredients.
 
Menu items include items such as the Great Lakes Beer bread, house white bread, assorted dinner rolls and croissants, pies, cookies, cakes, brownies and tarts. If that wasn’t enough, Bloom will also serve a lunch menu of sandwiches, sides and soups.
 
The CSU location at 1938 Euclid Ave. will house the production facility in addition to the retail shop. “It will have full commercial kitchen with glass windows so you can see the bakers making the product,” says Fahey.
 
Training starts in January and Fahey says they expect to open in February or March. In the meantime, Bloom Bakery is looking for an experienced executive head baker. Interested candidate can email their resumes to Fahey.
 

The latest apartments and lofts in Tremont, Flats East Bank and Detroit Shoreway each offer the expected high-end amenities and a modern yet industrial feel. But developers like to emphasize how they are helping to create new neighborhoods and celebrating the city and waterfront. 

Matthew Jackson traveled to Cleveland from the UK this past summer to get an idea of US cities' economic redevelopment efforts. He shares his impressions and compares Cleveland to the UK.

A unique preservation project aims to transform nine acres of green space into an outdoor learning lab. 

For small business owners reclaiming historic space, the path is different but the goal is the same: to use the foundation of antiquity as building blocks for modern ventures.

Downtown Euclid has been undergoing a transformation, say observers, thanks to a burgeoning culinary scene, new business investments, and property owners dedicated to reinvestment in their own ongoing enterprises.

While Cleveland's urban core is seeing an increase in educated young professionals, neighborhoods are also diversifying and families are moving to the suburbs.

Northeast Ohio’s tech industry is not only growing, it’s thriving says OHTec’s 2015 NEO Tech Industry Report. The organization conducted the same survey in 2014 as it did in the end of 2010 and recent results show an increase in employment, revenue and overall growth.

“Four years ago we used the same survey to get a snapshot of what the industry looks like,” explains OHTec director Brad Nellis. “We wanted to see what it looks like now and how things have changed in four years. It’s important because people don’t really realize the impact and scope of the tech industry here in Northeast Ohio. This report gives light to it.”
 
Nellis cites the fact that 68 percent of the region’s tech employers now have more than 10 employees – far above the national average of 18 percent – while in 2010, 45 percent had 10 or fewer employees. Today, only 32 percent fall into the very small category, while the number of companies with more than 25 employees and more than 50 and more than 100 employees has grown significantly.
 
Furthermore, the report states that in 2010, just seven percent of companies reported revenues of more than $10 million annually, while in 2014 that percentage rose to 13 percent.
 
Nellis notes that an important point in the report is that 60 percent on the area’s tech companies are doing business outside of Northeast Ohio. “It’s not just moving money around in the region that’s already here,” he says. “With big growth in companies doing business outside of Ohio, that’s dollars being imported into the region.”
 
There really hasn’t been much change in the types of technology companies in the region, says Nellis – Northeast Ohio continues to host a mix of companies, from software and IT services to web site development. And many tech employees are making good money. "We don't have any mega-tech companies here like Oracle, Google or Facebook, but there are high salaried individuals in web development, software development -- many making six figures," he says. 
 
Ohio in general has strong technology bases statewide, each with its own niche market. Nellis says the state has been supportive of the technology industry, which will only fuel future growth.
 
“Barring an economic upheaval, we will continue to see strong growth,” Nellis says. “We consider ourselves on a good, strong path.”

America's former industrial heartland, which includes Cleveland and nearby cities like Detroit, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, looks to reclaim its past through the attraction of foreign-born residents. 

As shop class disappears from American classrooms, local efforts to build a pipeline of young manufacturing talent remain strong. 

This weekend, explore IngenuityFest, check out Walk All Over Waterloo, get cultured at International Cleveland Community Day at CMA, view short films at Ohio City Film Festival and more. 

For 14 years Christie Murdoch has called Tremont home to her eclectic boutique Banyan Tree – selling unique clothing, jewelry, accessories and gifts to loyal customers. Last October, The Banyan Box became one of  the first tenants of Small Box Cleveland – a market of shops in renovated shipping containers.

 
Now, Murdoch is moving east and about to open her third Banyan Tree store at 11440 Uptown Alley in University Circle’s Uptown. “I feel like it’s a fresh and new area that people are just hearing about, just learning about,” says Murdoch of the location. “There’s a mixture of people coming here, and it’s different than Tremont.”
 
Murdoch wasn’t actively looking for a third location, but Uptown felt right. “I looked at spaces over the years, but it wasn’t right,” she says. “Then this came along and we were open to it. It turned out really nice. It has the same feel as Tremont, but more modern.”
 
The Tremont Banyan Tree has a solid East Side customer base, Murdoch says, but having an east side location will add to it. “Our east side customers are very loyal, but I think they’d come here more. And we love that we’re staying in the City of Cleveland.”
 
The Uptown store will carry similar items as the Tremont location, but Murdoch will adapt as needed. “In the beginning we will have very similar things,” she says. “Then, when we figure out who our client base is, we will bring in more items. We want to get to know our clients first, get feedback, then go from there.” The store will also showcase work from local artists and designers.
 
Murdoch grew up in retail – her mother owned a seasonal store – but didn’t initially intend to go into retail herself until she came across an empty storefront in 2001. “I had graduated from college and was looking for a job when I saw this space in Tremont,” she recalls. “And I decided I could do it.”
 
Fourteen years later, the Banyan Tree is one of Cleveland’s prized stores for shoppers looking for something a little different.
 
The Uptown location opens Thursday, October 8 with an opening night party at 6p.m with food, drinks and shopping exclusives. Regular store hours are Monday through Wednesday from 11am to 7pm, Thursday through Sunday from 11am to 9pm and Sunday 11am to 4pm.