In 2011, Trevor Shaw was working in sales and marketing for an industrial parts distributor, searching through Google AdWords accounts when his wandering mind struck upon an idea. “I was bored and thinking about the previous weekend and all the fun I had,” Shaw recalls. “So I started thinking.”
 
Shaw’s thinking led to Barkudo, an iPhone app that allows bar managers to input daily drink specials so customers within a five-mile radius can redeem them on their phones.
 
“The bar manager goes to the Barkudo website, logs in to their merchant account and creates deals throughout the week,” explains Shaw. “Users open the app within five miles of that bar and will see the specials.”
 
Barkudo differs from deal sites like Groupon in that users do not prepay for the special, and bar owners do not have to wait for their money. “The bar owners receive their money at the point of sale, up front from the customer,” says Shaw.  “There’s no printout. You just have to be at the location to get the deal.”
 
In just a few weeks -- Barkudo launched at the end of July -- Shaw has commitments from Panini’s on Coventry, The Cedar Lee Pub and Grill, The Fairmount Martini and Wine Bar, and the Blind Pig. More bars are on the way in Ohio City, Tremont and Akron.

“In the next month we expect to be moving quickly as everything starts trickling in and moving week by week," adds Shaw.
 
Right now, Shaw works with a programmer to help him launch. He expects to hire a technical person and sales reps as the business grows.

 
Source: Trevor Shaw
Writer: Karin Connelly

TOA Technologies, the provider of mobile workforce management solutions, has hired Brian Cook as the company’s CFO. Since its founding in 2003, TOA has steadily grown from a small startup company to the global company with 350 employees around the world and more than 40 in Cleveland.
 
Cook, whose background is in global technology, telecommunications and media companies, will help guide TOA through its projected future growth.

“Brian is a good match for TOA because he’s lived through our future and he’s also not far removed from our past,” says John Opdycke, vice president of worldwide marketing. “We need someone in a financial role who is familiar with a company that is small and nimble and growing quickly.”
 
Aside from Cook’s international business and telecommunications expertise, Opdycke says Cook is a good personality fit with TOA. “The cultural fit was there,” he says. “Personality fit is important because we are still a small company.”
 
TOA recently entered markets in Latin American, Australia and New Zealand and is expanding locally as well. “We have seven of the top U.S. pay-tv providers as customers,” says Opdycke. “As things are happening, you really need more people. We’re bringing on people almost every other week.”

 
Source: John Opdycke
Writer: Karin Connelly

Enforcer eCoaching, a personalized wellness coaching service, has secured $250,00 from JumpStart to expand services across the country. A spin-off out of the Cleveland Clinic, Enforcer eCoaching was founded by Cleveland Clinic chief wellness officer Dr. Michael Roizen, television health guru Dr. Mehmet Oz and entrepreneurs Steven Lindseth and Arthur Benjamin.
 
The eCoaching focuses on smoking cessation, weight loss, hypertension control and diabetes control through personalized one-on-one email coaching and behavior modification.

“It’s based on 25 years of health coaching by Dr. Roizen,” says Marty Butler, Enforcer’s president and CEO. “We’re seeing a lot of niche treatment programs in the marketplace for companies looking to reduce their healthcare spending. Employers see a very strong return on investment.”
 
Butler says participants in the smoking cessation program have an 85-percent success rate, while weight loss participants lose an average of two inches to their waist lines.
 
Employers or private individuals can sign up for eCoaching. They select the type of coaching they want, are assigned a coach, and then check in with daily email correspondence. “It’s part automation, part personal coaching,” says Butler. “Every email is reviewed by a personal health coach, and they really build relationships and people become more accountable for their own healthcare.”
 
The convenience of email contributes for Enforcer’s success. “People can email whenever and wherever they want, and read the emails whenever and wherever,” says Butler. “We’re slowly nudging people to success because of the daily email exchange.”
 
In addition to JumpStart’s investment to help Enforcer complete its computer platform, the organization has also provided expertise in hiring sales and IT staff.

 
Source: Marty Butler
Writer: Karin Connelly

On Saturday, Aug. 4, the 2012 class was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In this video interview, Dave Motts of the Hall discusses the past, present and future of this remarkable sports repository. Opened in 1963, the Hall of Fame is 50 years old -- and getting ready to embark on its next 50 years of excellence.

The communities competing for the $1 million Talent Dividend Prize have a modest goal: boosting the number of college degrees in their city by one percentage point. If every participating city meets that goal, it could raise national earnings by a stunning $124 billion.

The inaugural Great Lakes Venture Fair will take place at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown October 17-18, on the heels of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds annual conference. The fair is a collaborative effort  between  JumpStart, Ohio Capital Fund, Ohio Venture Association, TiE Ohio, CincyTech and TechColumbus and will bring together investors and startups from across the Midwest.
 
“It’s a chance for the venture capital community to come together and see some of the most promising startups,” explains Carolyn Pione Micheli, director of communications for CincyTech. “According to a study by the Kauffman Foundation, in 2007 all net news job growth came from companies that are less than five years old.” The event is the successor to the Ohio Capital Fund’s Early Stage Summit, which was held in Columbus for seven years.
 
The GLVF will only accept 18 startup companies in bioscience and IT to pitch their companies to investors. Other activities at the event include presentations on regional investment activity, and conversations about building future growth in startups and investing.
 
“In terms of growing fresh new jobs, small companies are the key, “ says Micheli. “The startup community is really important to our economic future.”
 
Keynote speaker will be Jeff Weedman, vice president of global business development for Proctor & Gamble. The application deadline for companies looking for funding is Aug. 12. Registration to attend is $200 before Sep. 15, $250 after that.

 
Source: Carolyn Pione Micheli
Writer: Karin Connelly

In the best of cases, getting a book published can take one to three years from start to finish. Or, you can do it the way Richey Piiparinen and Anne Trubek did with Rust Belt Chic: The Cleveland Anthology. The pair of Cleveland writers managed to compress the entire Sisyphean process into an implausible three-month timeframe.

The Cedar Center North project, envisioned as a bold, mixed-use development featuring a midrise condo building above new shops and restaurants, is a far cry from what the original developer and community backers had hoped for originally. Gone are the high-end condos, replaced by an upscale strip retail center filled with familiar national chains.

The Coral Company and DeVille Developments broke ground on the project, which has been in the works since 2001 but stymied by the recession that began in 2007, this spring. So far, they've secured leases from Piada, PetSmart, Menchies, Chipotle, Panera Bread, Starbucks, Jimmy Johns, Five Guys, Sprint, Sport Clips, Little Caesar's Pizza and Huntington Learning Centers, among other tenants.

When Piada Italian Street Food opens this fall, it will be the first location for the Columbus-based restaurant chain. For the most part, the other new tenants that have leased space at Cedar Center North already have locations in Northeast Ohio.

Despite the downscaled nature of the project, Patrick Sirpilla of co-developer DeVille Developments says that many members of the community are simply happy that the project has broken ground and is well on its way to completion.

"We're getting a great response from the community and people are excited about the types of tenants going in," he says. "We've gotten a lot of great comments on the design, which has nice architectural features and lots of brick and stone."

Sirpilla says that three of the tenants he is currently negotiating with are retail operators, and that he hopes to ultimately see more stores within the project.

Two new retailers, Gordon Food Service and Bob Evans, opened locations here last year. Although it is scaled back, Cedar Center North is much more pedestrian-friendly than its predecessor, a maligned strip mall dominated by parking lots. It features outdoor dining, bike racks, community areas and varying architecture.

A mile away, First Interstate Development recently broke ground on Oakwood Commons, a large new retail center off of Warrensville Center Road that will feature a SuperWalmart and other tenants that have not been announced.


Source: Patrick Sirpilla
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Startup Lakewood is looking for new businesses and the organization is willing to help entrepreneurs take their ideas to fruition. The second annual Ideation Challenge showcases the new ideas and new business startups that will add to the diversity of the Lakewood business community. 

“We think there are all sorts of people right here in Lakewood who have ideas for businesses but haven’t taken the steps to launch them,” says Mike Belsito, Lakewood’s entrepreneur-in-residence and director of the Ideation Challenge. “New businesses are important to the city, and this is one way to help people actually get started.”
 
Anyone with a business idea can submit an executive summary and a one- to two-minute elevator pitch for a chance to win a prize package that includes consulting, training and other resources for starting a new business. “The prizes will help the entrepreneurs take the next steps and take their ideas into reality,” says Belsito.
 
Two winners will be chosen -- one from Lakewood and one from Northeast Ohio. All entrants will receive feedback from Startup Lakewood. The competition is open to anybody, with the hope that the winners will start their businesses in Lakewood.
 
The deadline to submit executive summaries was recently extended to August 14. Startup Lakewood will then invite finalists by August 17 to make their elevator pitches on August 28 at University of Akron’s Lakewood Campus.
 

Source: Mike Belsito
Writer: Karin Connelly

Incoming ninth graders at Max Hayes High School took it to the parking lot last week, Thursday, July 26, to race the cars they had crafted as part of the Take it to the Max program. Part summer camp, part school orientation, nearly 60 students participated in two WIRE-Net program sessions to see if a career in manufacturing is the right path. Max Hayes students concentrate on manufacturing in their studies.
 
"The goal of the program is to introduce the students to careers in manufacturing and the careers taught at Max Hayes,” explains Jose Estrenera, director of youth programs for WIRE-Net. “If they get a leg up on what Max Hayes is about, they’ll be more productive.”
 
Two three-week sessions this summer focused on building a car. Students were given a block of wood, four wheels and four nails. “At first they look at it and say, ‘how am I going to make a car out of this,’” says Estrenera. But they figure it out as they take computer classes with a CAD type program to develop a plan, hear lectures from volunteers on aerodynamics and the rudimentary skills needed, and take a 3D model into the lab to shape, sand, paint and decorate their cars.
 
“The camp has four parts: the technical lab, the computer lab, physical exercise and social skills,” says Estrenera. “There are a lot of good jobs around in manufacturing. This camp gets them actively thinking about what they are doing in courses at Max Hayes.”
 
Not to mention the fun that was involved. “The reaction was great,” says Estrenera. “The kids were really proud of their cars and really expressed themselves.”

 
Source: Jose Estrenera
Writer: Karin Connelly

Eight years ago Alon Weiner and Ram Tamir were in the offset printing business, doing flyers and newspaper inserts. But the two of them imagined something bigger – in print format, that is. So, in January 2004, the two founded Post-Up Stand, a large format printing company that does everything from banners and tablecloths to retractable display banners that roll up and down in seconds.
 
“As we looked to diversify the business, we checked the large format printing opportunity,” says Weiner. “After a short time with one large format printer, we realized that this market had much bigger growth potential than offset.”
 
Weiner and Tamir eventually shut down the offset side of the business completely and focused on the large format. “The nice thing about our product is that any business, from mom-and-pop shops to Fortune 500 companies can use them,” says Weiner. “We manufacture for trade shows, retail store displays and non-profits.”
 
Post-Up Stand started in a 500-square-foot office in Valley View with one employee. Today the company has 49 employees and has grown into a 30,000-square-foot facility in Maple Heights.
 
Post-Up Stand has customers across the country, and they are known for quality work done fast. “Everything we do here is custom,” says Weiner. “We keep our technology top of the line. No lens is more than three years old. If we don’t like it, we reprint it.”
 
Weiner credits his customers with Post-Up Stand’s success. “I try to see everything through the customer’s eye,” he says. “Everybody here, no matter what you do, you’re in customer service. We invest a lot in customer service. A lot of returning customers recommend us. Word of mouth is a great tool for us to grow.”

 
Source: Alon Weiner
Writer: Karin Connelly

Voss Industries, an employee-owned aerospace and industrial applications company on West 25th Street in Ohio City, is replacing all the windows on its century-old building -- all 650 of 'em.

The investment will help the company to make key improvements to its headquarters on Cleveland's near west side, where it has been since 1957.

"It's been a rather long project," says Voss President and CEO Dan Sedor with a chuckle. "It's a 100-year-old building, so we're refacing it. What's going on in Ohio City is definitely a renaissance, and our company wants to play a small part in it."

"Small" is not the word that accurately describes the outsized ambitions of this half-century-old company that occupies 240,000 square feet in Ohio City, however. Voss has experienced 20-percent growth annually for the past several years, and has hired 80 workers in the last two years alone. The progress, says Sedor, is due to the improving economy and Voss's competitiveness in the marketplace.

"We're a metal manipulator -- we bend it, roll it, stamp it and machine it," says Sedor. "We've been steadily gaining market share by diversifying the markets we serve and also by providing engineering solutions to many of our customers."

Voss has more than 330 employees. Sedor says he likes Ohio City because it offers a convenient, centralized location for employees, who live throughout the region.


Source: Dan Sedor
Writer: Lee Chilcote