Last summer, leaders of the Flats Forward initiative assembled a diverse group of area stakeholders and sent them in a boat down the Cuyahoga River to talk about how they could solve their problems together.

If ever a vivid metaphor was needed, the experience provided one. "It was the first time that people from Cargill Salt were able to talk to people from the bike community in a real, honest, transparent way," says Dan Moulthrop of the Civic Commons, which helped to facilitate the event. "This was not a meeting up on the 24th floor somewhere."

The boat ride was part of an inclusive process designed to spur the revitalization of the Flats Corridor. For years, Cleveland's historic birthplace lacked an effective advocate. Now, after more than a year of work, a new group has formed.

Flats Forward Inc., Cleveland's newest community development corporation, will oversee the redevelopment of the Flats District. The group has a diverse board of stakeholders and a search is underway for an Executive Director. The group is currently housed within the offices of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga Port Authority.

At a recent meeting, Flats Forward representatives touted the East Bank project, the Port Authority's stewardship of the lake and river, the steadily advancing Towpath Trail and Rivergate Park as signs of positive progress in the area.

"When I got here, I was immediately drawn to the Flats and the industrial river valley, and I knew that the Port would get involved," said William Friedman, CEO of the Port Authority, of his organization's commitment to the Flats. "This is one of the most unique maritime environments in the world, and we can tap into that."


Source: Dan Moulthrop, William Friedman
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Local firms like TWIST Creative, Go Media and Studio Graphique are just a few of the design-minded companies that are fueling Cleveland's creative renaissance. With the region's future success dependent on the procurement of young talent, the design community's exciting body of work is earning the city regional and national buzz.

Huntington Bank has lived up to its $4 billion commitment to small business and was honored October 24 by the Small Business Administration as the Grand Slam winner for SBA lending in the Cleveland district for fiscal year 2012. The bank led in every SBA lending category: number of loans; loan volume; minority lending; and 504 lending. Huntington also earned the Grand Slam title in 2011 and the Triple Play title in 2010. Huntington is the third largest SBA lender in the country.
 
“We’re committed to Cleveland as a company,” says Huntington’s Greater Cleveland president Dan Walsh. “We’re pleased with the results, not just for Huntington, but for Cleveland. There’s a great renaissance going on here and we believe we can lead the country in investments.”
 
Melt Bar and Grilled is just one growing small business that has benefitted from Huntington’s commitment. Melt owner Matt Fish was self-funded through his first three restaurants, but looked to banks when he decided to expand even more.
 
“We were looking for a financial institution we could partner with long term,” says Fish. “Huntington really stepped up. I was looking for a bank to perform for us, and the SBA was looking for a strong company. It was a win-win situation.” Fish opens his fourth restaurant  this week in Mentor.
 
Walsh sees Melt as the ideal client to grow the economy in Northeast Ohio. “They are the lifeblood for jobs creation and economic growth for our community,” he says. “They have a sustainability model that helps grow and sustain business, which is good for our business.”

 
Sources: Dan Walsh, Matt Fish
Writer: Karin Connelly

Developing Cleveland area businesses will show off their ideas, technologies and talents at the 2012 Northeast Ohio Entrepreneurial Expo and JumpStart Community Meeting on Tuesday, November 13 from 1 to 5:40 p.m. at CSU’s Wolstein Center.
 
“The theme is, ‘What’s next Northeast Ohio,’” says Samantha Fryberger, JumpStart director of communications. “The idea being, a lot of companies are really early in their development.”
 
The expo will feature 96 area tech startups as well as 32 support organizations, such as Bizdom, Youngstown Business Incubator, Shaker LaunchHouse, Akron ARCHAngels and Ohio Aerospace Institute. Nine student companies will also be featured, one of which will be presented with an award at the event’s close.
 
The showcase will be followed by a panel discussion featuring success stories of area companies that have grown into multi-million dollar businesses. “We’ll have some of the biggest success stories who have merged, sold, been bought out or exited,” explains Fryberger.
 
Goldman Sachs will talk about its 10,000 Small Businesses program, followed by an announcement of JumpStart’s newest portfolio companies.
 
And of course, investors will also be on hand to see what the next great thing is in the region. Fryberger says 25 investors attended the event last year, and she expects the same this year.
 
“It’s a little bit of everything,” says Fryberger. “It’s an opportunity to network. There are some of these companies who could help each other quite a bit. And if you’re very early in development, this is your first opportunity for exposure.”
 
The event is free and open to the public.

 
Source: Samantha Fryberger
Writer: Karin Connelly

Team Wendy, a designer and manufacturer of multiple-application products that serve to protect against serious and potentially life-threatening impact-related injuries, is returning to where it began with the release of a new and complete helmet solution, the EXFIL. 

The company developed and manufactured its line of W Helmets for the skiing, biking and multi-sport markets from 1998 to 2004 before moving away from complete helmet solutions and into helmet liner protection systems for the U.S. military. The company has supplied the U.S. military with more than five million Zorbium Action Pad (ZAP) protection systems since 2005. 
  
Team Wendy’s new helmet uses technology partially developed through collaboration on a key U.S. Army Natick Soldier RD&E Center program. The helmet features a hybrid sling/polymer structure impact management system that stands up to multiple impacts.

“With the EXFIL, we are not only excited about a return to complete helmet solutions but we are also pleased with our ongoing advancements in liner protection technology,” says CEO Jose Rizo-Patron.
 
While Team Wendy continues to produce the seven-pad ZAP sets for standard issue military helmets, they are also now assembling the new EXFIL helmet at its 50,000-square-foot Collinwood facility. “We really make it a concerted effort to stay local,” says Rizo-Patron. “Cleveland and greater Northeast Ohio’s strong manufacturing and engineering roots allow us to maintain a hiring pool that is largely local.  The majority of our vendors are also companies based in Ohio.”
 
Team Wendy consistently employs between 50 and 75 people in pre-assembly, final assembly and fabrication jobs. The company also works with local and state universities and design institutes to recruit new talent.


Source: Jose Rizo-Patron
Writer: Karin Connelly

NorTech will host the Advanced Energy B2B Conference and Expo in Columbus next week, Oct. 30 and 31 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. The conference focuses on companies, technologies and researchers driving progress in advanced energy in Ohio.
 
NorTech officials decided to move the conference to Columbus this year to make it a state-wide event. Last year the event was held in Akron. “We moved it to Columbus this year to make the networking as broad as possible,” says NorTech CEO Rebecca Bagley. “The conference will show ideas around new innovations and technologies provide networking and capitalize on future synergies.”
 
However, the issues covered impact Cleveland’s economic base. Advanced energy means $30 billion in new or expanded businesses -- including 6,800 new jobs over the next seven years in Northeast Ohio alone.
 
Nineteen Northeast Ohio companies will be participating in four Technology Showcases: energy storage and fuel cells; smart grid technology; waste and biomass to energy; and solar technology. There will also be student showcases included that are looking for collaboration and funding.
 
NorTech has created a software program using LinkedIn to connect companies with similar interests. “With this system, it’s as conducive as it can be to find businesses and research opportunities,” says Bagley. “Companies obviously get generalized networking out of the event, but we also have this system that connects companies to potential opportunities. This will connect companies so they can preliminarily talk.”
 
Keynote speakers include Bill Ritter, Jr., Colorado's 41st Governor and director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University and Todd A. Snitchler, chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

 
Source: Rebecca Bagley
Writer: Karin Connelly

It's no exaggeration to say that Cleveland wouldn't be half the city it was and is without the steady influx of foreign-born peoples. But nowhere, perhaps, is our city's melting-pot pedigree more evident than on the plates served at ethnic eateries throughout town. Every time we tuck into a delicious plate of ethnic food, we have these brave immigrants to thank for it.

Cleveland’s growing urban farming scene has gained national recognition as a creative response to the problems of foreclosure and vacancy. Now the challenge for these homegrown entrepreneurs is to develop business strategies that help turn their startups into year-round businesses.

In this video, Chris Coburn, Executive Director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations, explains how the organization takes the intellectual assets of the Cleveland Clinic -- be they medical devices, diagnostics, or drugs -- and turns them into commercial products. With names like Cleveland Heart, Explorys, and Juventas Therapeutics, its track record is impressive.

Let's imagine that the Northeast Ohio healthcare innovation community is a football team. That would make business recruiter BioEnterprise the quarterback, "handing off" startup companies to Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron, with an aim of scoring funding and resources a company needs to succeed. 
 
Strained metaphors aside, BioEnterprise and Austen are two local groups working as a team to push a regional economic transition from staid manufacturing to the more vibrant realm of healthcare and innovation technology. What exactly do these groups do and how do they do it? How do they work together to achieve their goals? Key members from each organization share their connected strategies.
 
Providing a guiding hand
 
BioEnterprise is a Cleveland nonprofit tasked with growing healthcare companies and commercializing bioscience technologies. The early-stage firms BioEnterprise assists are seeking to produce medical devices and biotechnology, or developing drugs for commercial use.
 
The economic development group was founded in 2002 by the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University as a way to harness area strengths in medical devices and healthcare technology. The nonprofit's foray into a potentially lucrative "innovation economy" is built by guiding new companies, not funding them, says interim president Aram Nerpouni.
 
Read the rest here...

Thanks to Northeast Ohio's collaborative medical startup community, one fueled by forward-looking economic organizations and angel investors, entrepreneurs with viable ideas are making waves. Here are five Cleveland and Akron healthcare companies poised to be the Next Big Thing.

Whether it is health care, information technology, clean tech or business and consumer products, our region’s increased level of startup activity is attracting funding from venture capital firms both here in Northeast Ohio and beyond. But experts say there's a ways to go before the Silicon Valley comparisons stick.

Vocon, an architecture and design firm in Cleveland, was named one of the top places to work by the NorthCoast 99. Vocon was recognized for its positive work environment and fostering an atmosphere dedicated to creativity, innovation and collaboration for its staff.
 
The NorthCoast 99 event was created in 1999 by the Employers Resource Council to recognize companies that create good workplaces. The awards ceremony was held on Sept.19 at LaCentre Conference and Banquet Facility in Westlake.
 
Vocon, which has added 30 employees and grown to 100 total employees in the last two years, has maintained a healthy growth rate while still focusing on creating an ideal workplace. “We’re growing in the right way,” says Susan Austin, chief human resources officer for Vocon. “We still have that small company feel, but we keep our current staff engaged.”
 
The company prides itself on a diversity of ages and talents who learn from each other. “We’re non-hierarchical,” says Austin. “It’s not about titles, it’s about contributions. We take inexperienced employees and put them in positions very early where they can shine. When you have the freedom to get work done you work harder.”
 
Of course, being one of the top places to work, Vocon offers its perks as well. “We work hard, but we play hard too,” says Austin, who adds that the company recently installed a nine-hole putt-putt golf course in the offices.

 
Source: Susan Austin
Writer: Karin Connelly

Bizdom, the nonprofit accelerator created by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, recently moved to new, 7,000-square-foot offices in downtown Cleveland to better assist the growing portfolio of startup technology companies in its program.

Bizdom graduated its first class of entrepreneurs in January and has made 13 investments in Cleveland businesses so far. The new office space is designed to provide useable space for entrepreneurs, as well as those who mentor them.

"The goal was to be downtown and near the Quicken Loans family of companies," says Paul Allen of Bizdom. "We have room for approximately 20 businesses and two conference room areas. They can have desk space, network access, printers and meeting breakout rooms. There is also space to play darts, music or foosball."

Bizdom's mission is to "help startup businesses go further faster by helping them at their earliest stages," says Allen. Entrepreneurs accepted into the three-month accelerator program receive a $25,000 investment in exchange for giving up an eight percent equity stake in their company. They also receive free training and mentorship throughout the program. After they graduate, they may receive additional support such as follow-on funding or subsidized office space.

Bizdom is a nonprofit organization, and if a company is sold at a later date (something that has already happened twice at its Detroit office), the proceeds from Bizdom's equity stake will go towards helping other entrepreneurs.

Bizdom's new offices are located at 250 West Huron Road, Suite 203.


Source: Paul Allen
Writer: Lee Chilcote