Bialosky and Partners Architects, a design firm in Shaker Square known for its design, historic rehab and new construction projects, recently promoted five of its younger employees to senior level positions.

“This particularly young set, all under 40, join the senior leadership at Bialosky and Partners with a high energy, high motivation approach to how we design and how we do business,” says Jack Bialosky, Jr. “We take pride in growing our own. By empowering hard-working and self-confident individuals early in their careers, they end up gaining experience beyond their years.”
 
David W. Craun was promoted to principal and continues to be one of the firm’s key design leads. Brandon Garrett was named associate principal. Both Craun and Garrett were key players in the development of Crocker Park. Paul Taylor was named associate principal. Craun and Taylor started their careers at the firm as interns.
 
Taylor has played instrumental roles in projects such as the award-winning designs for Tri-C’s Hospitality Management Center. Ryan Parsons was named senior associate. Parsons currently leads the team in the adaptive reuse restoration of the Schofield Building at E. 9th Street and Euclid Avenue. John Guzik was named senior associate in addition to his role as the firm’s director of sustainability.
 
“These young and empowered leaders are continuing the virtuous cycle of attracting new talent to the firm,” says Bialosky. “By knowing the skill set and mindset it takes to succeed early in their careers, these newly promoted leaders can effectively seek out compatible hard-working individuals who will stay will one day become principals themselves.”
 
Bialosky and Partners won numerous design awards and national recognition last year for its projects and designs.

 
Source: Jack Bialosky, Jr.
Writer: Karin Connelly

The 2014 Gay Games kick off August 9th with an expected 8,000 to 10,000 participants competing in some 40 sports. The comprehensive event will serve as the latest memo to the world that Cleveland is a sought-after host for large-scale events that add millions to the local economy.

Winter shows no signs of abating with the impending arrival of another Polar Vortex and more of that white, fluffy stuff.
 
But have no fear! The Kurents are here. These mythical fuzzy creatures from Slovenia will be out in force this weekend at the second annual Cleveland Kurentovanje, an all-ages festival that seeks to ward off winter with a fun parade and day-long party.

"We have 10 fuzzy Kurents this year, six of which are waiting for us in customs right now," says Michael Fleming, Executive Director of St. Clair Superior Development, the nonprofit agency spearheading improvement efforts in the area, who expects a good crowd. "There's a lot of excitement this year."

Fleming and his co-organizers ordered the outfits directly from the city of Ptuj in Slovenia, which, in case you don't know, is the capitol of all things Kurentovanje.

Cleveland Kurentovanje takes place this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Slovenian National Home on St. Clair, with an after-party set for Sterle's Country House. The parade steps off at noon from St. Vitus Church, and will feature fuzzy Kurents, marching bands from area schools, floats from area businesses, and a DJ Kishka float. Family-friendly activities will take place in the basement of the Slovenian National Home, and kids can also march in the parade.

There will be plenty on tap at the Slovenian National Home, including krofe and sausage sandwiches, wine, beer, music, dance and crafting stations for kids.

Fleming says the Slovenian National Home on St. Clair and Sterle's on East 55th have become focal points for redevelopment activity in the area. The National Home has attracted new tenants including the Slovenian Genealogical Society, a dance studio and a bakery. Sterle's has reinvented itself with additional live music geared towards a younger crowd and an outdoor beer garden, yet it has retained the beer-and-schnitzel atmosphere that has worked for the past half century.


Source: Michael Fleming
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Shaker Heights is seeking to become the next city in Northeast Ohio to earn a bicycle-friendly community designation from the League of American Bicyclists. A crowdfunding campaign launched this month to raise funds for 25 additional bike racks for the city illustrates one way the leafy east-side community has redoubled its efforts to develop cycling amenities.

"The city just finished its second application," explains Rick Smith of the advocacy group Bike Shaker and the Shaker Heights Public Works and Safety Committee. "One thing the League encourages cities to do is provide bike parking around the community, so we figured that we'd try to focus on that as low-hanging fruit."

So far, the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights and Lakewood are the only ones in Northeast Ohio to receive the increasingly coveted designation. Each one has earned a bronze-level award for its efforts. By comparison, Portland, Oregon, is the only major city in the U.S. to earn a platinum-level designation.

The IndieGogo campaign aims to raise $4,500 to help fund racks produced by Metro Metal Works, a project of Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries that employs low-income individuals. The bike racks will be installed at public and private locations throughout the city. The goal is to paint them "Shaker Red," pending city approval, Smith says, to enhance the city's brand as a bike-friendly community.

The city also is offering five cycling-related courses through its Department of Recreation, and plans are in the works to add more "sharrows." The next step is to revisit the Lee Road plan and add bike lanes/infrastructure there, Smith says.

"The city is getting serious," notes Smith, citing the fact that Shaker Heights now has a Bicycle Programs Manager and has issued a proclamation designating May as Bike Month throughout the city, similar to other communities around the country.

"It's slow going, but all agree that cycling is an asset to the community, and that cycling improvements improve property values and quality of life," says Smith.


Source: Rick Smith
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Thanks to a partnership between the Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), Sherwin-Williams, the Cleveland Foundation and Towards Employment, CMHA residents are getting hands-on training in commercial painting skills.

Sherwin-Williams instructors come in and teach participants about brush technique, taping and masking baseboards, cutting in and mixing paint. Students get one week of classroom instruction, followed by a week of hands-on training.
 
“We, as a housing authority, identify residents to participate and identify locations for painting,” explains CMHA manager of youth and adult services Robin Holmes. “We have plenty of housing and we always have plenty of areas for painting. It really benefits our residents in looking for opportunities to get training and get employment.”
 
About 60 percent of the program graduates have gone on to get jobs or start their own painting companies.
 
The program also provides classes in demolition and asbestos abatement. Participants can enroll in job readiness training and job placement assistance.
 
John Fitcheard is one such resident who took the class and went on to get a job thanks to it. While he has some interior painting experience, he figured he’d brush up on his skills. “I enrolled in the program because I was sitting at home and not doing anything else,” he says.
 
Fitcheard went on get a job with Precision Environmental doing asbestos abatement and continues to do painting jobs on the side.

 
Sources: Robin Holmes, John Fitcheard
Writer: Karin Connelly

It’s no secret that "destination" development is happening all across Cleveland. But thanks to the diligent work of community development corporations (CDCs), there also is a renewed focus on improving livability for the residents who call their neighborhoods home.

Thanks to a bevy of new accelerators and incubators -- all grooming startups to be the Next Big Thing -- the art of the pitch is more important now than ever. Whether it’s a casual elevator pitch or an intense 20-minute address to potential investors, there are some definite dos and don’ts to giving an effective pitch.

Whiskey aficionados sat up and took notice when Cleveland Whiskey hit the market last March. Founder Tom Lix’s “radically different” approach to making whiskey -- pressure aging the whiskey for a superior quality in a short period of time -- has been met with enthusiasm and praise.

“I think, if anything, we just had an incredible reception,” says Lix. “The support has been phenomenal, especially when we are doing things untraditionally.”
 
Cleveland Whiskey sold 50,000 bottles in 2012 and now employs 12 people. Today, Lix is producing 4,000 bottles a week. The company started selling in Illinois and Tennessee last year, has begun selling in Virginia, and is about to start distribution in Michigan.
 
“We want to make sure we can keep up with demand at our Cleveland home base,” says Lix. “We want slow growth, but our mission is to sell nationally and eventually overseas.”
 
During the holidays, Cleveland Whiskey released its Christmas Bourbon and is about to launch a new whiskey – 87 – a slightly lower proof version of the original. “It still has the same bold flavors but it's a little less strong,” explains Lix.
 
The Cleveland Whiskey group will contribute to a float in Cleveland’s St. Patrick’s Day parade that will feature Celtic band CRAIC. The team will host an after-parade party at McCarthy’s Downtown with another concert by CRAIC and, of course, some whiskey.

 
Source: Tom Lix
Writer: Karin Connelly
 

Matt Strayer and his business partner, Aj Mihalic, had a vision: To be able to streamline all of their social network accounts into one place. The two were running a website and graphic design firm while in college, but they were burnt out and looking for something different.

During a bike ride through the Metroparks in 2012, that vision started to come into focus. “I said, ‘Why do I have to have to go to all these different sites to see my posts,’” he recalls. “Why can’t I just go to one site? And Aj said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
 
Thanks to that bike ride, the first concept of Widdle took shape. The first version, called Nest, was simply an app that amassed all social networking sites in one place. Two years later, and after going through the LaunchHouse accelerator program, Strayer and Mihalic are preparing to launch Widdle in March.
 
The current version not only groups sites like Facebook and Twitter into one place, the app also pares down user content to the most relevant posts. “You can 'widdle' down the posts that don’t matter without removing or unfriending your contacts,” explains Strayer. “It’s like the Pandora Radio of social networking.”
 
Strayer says most of the past year and a half has been spent assembling the right management team. In addition to himself and Mihalic, Widdle employs Stephen Hatch and Cory Breed in development and wordsmith Meghan Norcross.
 
“It’s been a long time in the making but we’re finally comfortable with it,” says Strayer. “It had to be able to adapt as you change.”
 
Widdle users can set the app to download all their social media feeds, turn off certain sites, or select what content to show. “If you feel posts you want are being widdled, or the app is making bad decisions, you can go back and re-train the algorithm,” explains Strayer. “We put that feature in there because five years ago, I wasn’t interested in business at all. Now, it’s 90 percent of what I do.”

Strayer and his team currently are taking reservations for the app on the Widdle site.

 
Source: Matt Strayer
Writer: Karin Connelly

The City of Cleveland has installed 40 recycling bins downtown as part of its "ongoing efforts to increase recycling bins and materials diverted from landfills," according to a press release from the Office of Sustainability. The bins, which are being funded by Cleveland’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program, are being rolled out as part of the Year of Zero Waste, which is part of Mayor Jackson's Sustainable Cleveland initiative.

“The presence of recycling bins downtown is a visible way for residents, employees and tourists to understand that Cleveland is committed to sustainability and to do their part by recycling,” said Jenita McGowan, Chief of Sustainability, in a release. “These bins not only provide opportunities for the public to recycle in high traffic areas downtown, but also increase the City’s recycling rates. We look forward to collecting metric information from these bins to inform future expansion of recycling in public spaces.”

The blue-lidded recycle bins have been placed next to existing waste receptacles. They are located between West 9th Street and East 12th Street from Lakeside Avenue to Prospect Avenue, and there are also some locations on Euclid Avenue near Playhouse Square and Cleveland State University.

For more information on the Year of Zero Waste, click here.


Source: Jenita McGowan
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Christian Ostenson says that he wants to do for Slavic Village what Sam McNulty did for Ohio City. He's emulating that successful entrepreneur by opening Thee Six5 Bistro, a 5,000-square-foot restaurant in a renovated, historic bank building in the Warszawa District on E. 65th. And while Slavic Village isn't Ohio City -- and isn't necessarily striving to be -- the new venue seems destined to add to the area's hidden charm.

Ostenson says Six5 will be an affordable, all-American bistro with frequent Polish and Slovenian specials in a nod to the area's rich ethnic heritage. It will have an open floor plan, large push-open windows and a rooftop deck and bar. Situated directly across from St. Stanislaus Church in the heart of the historic district, the building offers great views in an area with plenty of foot traffic.

"We want to make Slavic Village a destination, to bring people back to see what the area has to offer," says Ostenson, who steered clear of pricier real estate in Tremont or Ohio City because he wanted a spot where he could be a "pioneer."

Ostenson, a custom home builder who also runs Best of Both Worlds catering, purchased the building a few years ago with his wife Sarah for just $31,000, according to county auditor records. The second floor ceiling had caved in, and the roof dated back to the 1930s. "The building had seen better days," he notes.

But the builder has completely renovated the place from top to bottom, blowing through his $15,000 plumbing budget and spending more than four times that amount instead. But he's not complaining -- this is a project of passion as much as profit, he says. "I plan on being here awhile, so I don't need to make it all in a minute."

While he won't yet reveal the name of the chef on the project, he promises fresh, upscale cuisine at affordable prices. "We don't even have a freezer in the restaurant."

Ostenson will launch a Kickstarter campaign to help fund his pizza ovens before Thee Six5 Bistro opens in April. He promises that the rewards will be stellar.

This spring, the City of Cleveland will spend nearly $9 million rehabilitating nearby Fleet Avenue as one of the city's first complete-and-green streets.

Thee SixFive Bistro was financed by Key Bank, the City of Cleveland Storefront Renovation Program and the Economic and Community Development Institute.


Source: Christian Ostenson
Writer: Lee Chilcote

An innovative art installation that transformed empty homes in Columbus into day-long art galleries is coming to Slavic Village.

Rooms to Let: CLE will take place Saturday, May 17 on Forman Avenue. The event promises not only temporary art installations that transform vacant homes into interpretive displays, but also a block party and street tour featuring live music on porches and activities for the whole family.

Ben Campbell, Commercial Development Officer with Slavic Village Development, says he got inspired to bring Rooms to Let to Cleveland after seeing the impact it made in Columbus. He also loves the idea of hiring mostly local artists to help transform the houses. So he partnered with other SVD staff, Zygote Press and Rooms to Let: Columbus to bring the project to vacancy-pocked Slavic Village.

Rooms to Let isn't just an art show in an empty house; the project transforms the house itself into an art installation, transforming telltale signs of abandonment like broken drywall into symbols of fortitude, loss and renewal.

"Among the 11 installations created by 28 artists, visitors will find fabric pushing out of holes in walls, kitchen images painted on the walls of a demolished kitchen and a giant hole in a floor exposing a message on floor joists," Jim Weiker wrote last year in a Columbus Dispatch article. "Structural issues that would have been major flaws in a gallery have been seized upon as artistic opportunities."

Several curators -- Westleigh Harper and Michael Horton of MAKER design studio, Barbara Bachtell of Broadway School of Music & the Arts and artist Scott Pickering -- will select specific artists interested in transforming the abandoned and foreclosed homes. The houses are located in the area surrounding the Slavic Village Recovery project, and they're all slated for eventual rehabilitation.

"Given the larger context of Slavic Village’s unique history and the national attention received in the wake of the American foreclosure crisis, Rooms to Let: Cleveland creates an opportunity to see one of Cleveland’s most historic neighborhoods in new light," touts the project's Facebook page.

Rooms to Let: CLE is supported by a Cuyahoga Arts and Culture project grant.


Source: Ben Campbell
Writer: Lee Chilcote