While working from home has its benefits -- and is an increasing trend -- people often miss the social interaction that comes with working in an office. The Open Office is a co-working environment designed to provide temporary and permanent work environments for people who don't want their homes or local coffee shops to also serve as their main workspaces.

"Since 2005 there has been growth in just about every city," says founder Andrew Auten of the co-working concept. "Pe... Read more >

The Fund for Our Economic Future has awarded $5.3 million in grants to six regional economic development organizations collaborating to improve Northeast Ohio's economic competiveness. The Fund has been awarding these year-long grants since 2004.
"Part of what we do through grant making is develop a system in Northeast Ohio that we know hits on things that work," says Brad Whitehead, president of the Fund. "The purpose is to advance the economic agenda in Northeast Ohio." ... Read more >

Researchers at CWRU have invented a polymer coating that can repair itself. Stuart Rowan, CWRU professor of macromolecular science and engineering, along with his team and researchers from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland and the Army Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, has spent the last three years developing a rubber-like protective coating that heals itself when an ultraviolet light is shined on it for just a few seconds.

"The idea was... Read more >

More than 750 people turned out at the new home of Shaker LaunchHouse last week to welcome the business incubator and celebrate entrepreneurial business in the region. Speakers included Senator Sherrod Brown, Shaker Heights Mayor Earl Leiken, author and entrepreneur Ratanjit Sondhe, Benoy Joseph and Dick Pogue. Brown is the author of the Business Incubator Promotion Act and has spearheaded efforts to reduce brain drain in Ohio. Sondhe, founder of Poly-Carb in Solon, spoke about th... Read more >

Within3 has created a way for health professionals to communicate and consult with each other, no matter where they are or with whom they are affiliated. The Cleveland-based company builds online communities for health systems, medical associations, research institutions and health professionals. Within these communities, members can access advice and research that was previously unavailable. These communities provide networking opportunities with other health professions, informa... Read more >

Progressive Insurance in Mayfield Village plans to hire 125 customer service representatives in its Cleveland call center by the end of June. The company is the fourth largest auto insurer in the nation and aims to be the largest, according to spokesperson Brittany Senary.

"We're recruiting because the number of policyholders we have continues to grow," says Senary. "In fact, our auto policies are up six percent year over year right now and our special-lines policies are ... Read more >

The Center for Public History and Digital Humanities at Cleveland State University has made Cleveland history easily accessible with the launch of Cleveland Historical 2.0. The free mobile app is a combination of archival footage of Cleveland neighborhoods in the 1930s and 1940s as well as a comprehensive oral history. "Imagine Cleveland as a living museum and we're trying to curate it," says Mark Tebeau, associate professor of history and co-director of the Center for Public Hi... Read more >

For 26 years, Nanofilm has been creating formulas for cleaning products and optical coatings in Valley View. Similarly, SDG Inc. in the Cleveland Clinic's Innovation Center has spent the last 16 years developing nanotechnologies in the medical and healthcare fields. Until recently, the two were unaware of the each other's existence. Then, at a nanotechnologies networking meeting run by Polymer Ohio, Nanofilm's president and CEO Scott Rickert and SDG co-founder and senior vice pr... Read more >

MedWorks in Shaker Heights was quick to come to the rescue of those ravaged by the tornado in Joplin, Missouri, this week. MedWorks, a non-profit organization that provides free healthcare clinics for the under insured and uninsured in Ohio, sent a truck full of medical supplies to Joplin just 24 hours after the disaster. The MedWorks team was at WKYC Channel 3 on Tuesday for an unrelated meeting. While there, a Facebook friend of reporter Eric Mansfield volunteered to put them ... Read more >

New Life Community and Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Cleveland (IHN) have come together to form Family Promise of Greater Cleveland, the largest organization in Greater Cleveland focused exclusively on helping homeless families transform their lives and achieve long-term stability while helping families remain together. The two organizations officially merged on May 1. For the past two years, the organizations have worked to integrate staff, resources and programming... Read more >

As a law student at CSU's Cleveland Marshall College of Law, Art Geigel noticed a flaw in the way he and his fellow students took notes in class. Almost everybody took notes using their laptops and Microsoft Word, compiling seemingly endless documents with no way of organizing the information.

"I kept thinking to myself, 'There's a better way to do this than to keep taking notes in one constantly growing Word document,'" says Geigel.

That "better way," says G... Read more >

What started as a business plan competition at Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 2003 has today turned into a thriving pet insurance business for CEO Laura Bennett and chief marketing officer Alex Krooglik. Embrace Pet Insurance offers comprehensive insurance plans for pets with a focus on customer service.

"It came about when a friend's cat got sick," explains Bennett. "She spent $5,000 to take care of it. We saw pet insurance had huge poten... Read more >

The John Carroll University Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team recently won the SIFE regional competition for community outreach projects. They then traveled to the national contest in Minneapolis, where the team competed with 100 other teams from around the country.

SIFE is a global, non-profit organization that brings together a diverse network of university students, academic professionals and industry leaders around the shared mission of creating a better, mor... Read more >

Explorys has formed one of the largest healthcare databases in the world, helping medical professionals provide better patient care and diagnoses. Spun off from the Cleveland Clinic in 2009 by Charlie Lougheed and Stephen McHale, Explorys has become one of the world's largest data platforms with over three billion clinical events and partner agreements with major healthcare systems that span over 10 million patients nationwide.

In its short life, Explorys has gotten six m... Read more >

COSE members will bring their causes to Columbus on Wednesday, May 25, for COSE Day at the Capitol. For the past five years, COSE members have used the day to meet with policy makers, network and bring their issues to the table.

"People don't have to be political," says Brynn Allio, director of government and external relations for COSE. "They just have to be willing to share their stories."

About 50 participants will board a bus in Cleveland at 6:30 a.m. at the ... Read more >

Adheris, the largest provider of direct-to-patient medication adherence programs, has chosen Cleveland-based CellepathicRx as its mobile platform provider. The partnership expands Adheris' delivery of its adherence-focused programs beyond mail to all mobile technology platforms -- text, email, web, and more.

"Medical adherence is a $300 billion a year problem," says Greg Muffler, CEO of CellepathicRx. "Our technology is a mobile platform that creates an ongoing intimate ... Read more >

As president and CEO of NorTech, a nonprofit technology-based economic development organization serving 21 counties in Northeast Ohio, Rebecca Bagley is always looking for ways for her Cleveland-based company to be more competitive regionally and nationally. Her recent appointment to the U.S. Department of Commerce Innovation Advisory Board by commerce secretary Gary Locke will further her mission.

Bagley and 14 other board members will conduct a study of U.S. economic co... Read more >

It's the Chinese year of the rabbit and the St. Clair Superior Development Corporation is celebrating by displaying 24 fiberglass bunny sculptures, painted and decorated by Northeast Ohio artists. Each sculpture is sponsored by a local business. They are being installed around the neighborhood today.

This is the sixth year the organization has hosted the public art event. The installation celebrates Cleveland's Asian, artistic and business communities in the St. Clair-Sup... Read more >

Sharie Renee finds the beauty in what most people would deem garbage. As founder and CEO of Cosmic Bobbins in the St. Clair-Superior District, she takes old paper materials -- such as magazines or brochures -- and transforms them into fashionable accessories.

Cosmic Bobbins puts an emphasis on social awareness. As the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of funeral directors, Renee would contemplate on the meaning of life and the importance of giving back.

"Whe... Read more >

Kionte Watkins began riding the RTA HealthLine bus rapid transit to work about a month ago to save money on gas. On Friday, April 29, she received more than just a little savings at the pump from RTA when she became the HealthLine's 10 millionth rider.

As number 10,000,000 Watkins received a free one-year pass. "I was just about to buy a weekly pass after work," says Watkins. "It was very exciting. It just topped off my week."

Watkins also received tickets to the... Read more >