Hyland Software has "strong management, a clear strategy, happy customers and a vertical-market focus." That, according to the IT research and advisory company Gartner, is part of the reason Hyland Software is on its list of leaders in the enterprise content management (ECM) industry. Gartner's Magic Quadrant 2010 puts Hyland Software in good company, as it shares the title "leader" with the likes of Microsoft, Oracle and IBM. The annual Magic Quadrant is used by the IT industry t... Read more >

Cleveland's Eaton Corporation is accelerating its presence in the electric car market thanks to a new collaboration with Mitsubishi Motors North America and Best Buy. Eaton will be providing the Level 2 home-charging mechanism for Mitsubishi's i MiEV electric vehicle, which goes on sale in the fall of 2011. Eaton also will provide infrastructural support and Level 2 chargers to all of Mitsubishi's North American dealerships.

Level 2 charging stations are installed in a ho... Read more >

Health Information Technology (HIT) is a rapidly emerging field that will likely grow much faster than the average jobs, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Midwest Community College HIT Consortium is designed to ready a trained workforce for jobs in the HIT sector.

The consortium is comprised of 17 large community colleges in 10 Midwest states, and is being led by Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C). Last month, the consortium launc... Read more >

Whether it's an empty nook in their attic or a corner table at the local Starbuck's, home-based businesspeople are constantly searching for the ideal spot to do research, make phone calls or meet with clients. Come June of 2011, East Side entrepreneurs will be able to take advantage of specially designed space at the Shaker Heights Public Library's main branch on Lee Road.

The Community Entrepreneurial Office -- CEO for short -- will be a pilot program featuring workspace... Read more >

It's not that they want people to get sick, but University Hospital's Ahuja Medical Center in Beachwood is poised to capture a sizable patient population when it officially opens in January 2011.

Part of the attraction to patients obviously will be the quality care, but the 144-bed hospital also will likely turn heads with its technology. And not just for the comprehensive imaging center or state-of-the-art catheterization labs.

With input from physicians, nurses... Read more >

If things seem a little brighter in East Cleveland these days, it may be because of the new streetlights gleaming along a block of Noble Road. General Electric bestowed its first local LED lighting installation on East Cleveland, where GE Lighting has had its headquarters for the past 100 years.

The GE Evolve LED Street Lights could reduce East Cleveland's energy use by several million watts a year, according to the lighting manufacturer. And because the LED lights shine... Read more >

A refocused business strategy seems to have helped Datatrak International get back on track. The technology and services company, which helps clients streamline the clinical trials process, enjoyed a cash increase in third quarter 2010 over the previous quarter. Laurence Birch, chairman and CEO of the company, says that the $1.8 million in revenue and $11.4 million backlog are due in part to Datatrak's recent investment in additional resources. These included hiring a vice preside... Read more >

It's possible that the success of a company can be measured by the amount of work it actually has to put on hold in order to make room for more pressing client projects. Such is the case with Sideways, a Cleveland-based producer of multimedia, multi-touch digital productions for the iPad, iPhone and other mobile devices.

Sideways had recently launched an experimental magazine, called Sideways, which is authored specifically for the iPad. The idea was to create a monthly m... Read more >

The JumpStart Entrepreneurial Network has added a new funding resource as part of its group of entrepreneurial support organizations. The Wooster Opportunities Fund, developed by the City of Wooster and Wooster Growth Corporation, in collaboration with the JumpStart Entrepreneurial Network, will offer loans up to $35,000 for early-stage, high-growth technology companies.

The new loan source is part of an ongoing effort to expand the entrepreneurial community in Wooster, a... Read more >

Each year, the Golden 30 awards recognizes 15 established and 15 emerging top-performing companies in Erie, Huron and Lorain counties. This year's winners represent a panoply of Northeast Ohio businesses serving consumers, healthcare professionals, military and manufacturing.

Among the 15 emerging companies who received 2010 Golden 30 awards on November 16 were Synapse Biomedical, Inc., maker of the NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System, which is used in the treatment of chronic ... Read more >

Remember when your youthful imagination turned a large cardboard box into a race car or a castle? Mike Welsh does, and now he has started a company that gives kids the stuff they need to create the playhouses of their dreams.

Build a Dream Playhouses is a newly launched producer of corrugated cardboard boxes that can be painted, colored and decorated to make one-of-a-kind playhouses. Welsh, a father and an established entrepreneur, thought of the idea and recruited two re... Read more >

Experts estimate that the global flexible electronics market will grow to $250 billion by 2025. Northeast Ohio wants to ride that wave of innovation and market growth, and a recently unveiled plan for the region to become a global epicenter for the flexible electronics industry will play a part in realizing that goal.

Developed by NorTech, a technology-based economic development organization, The Northeast Ohio Flexible Electronics Road Map outlines strategies and initiat... Read more >

Laurence Gartel, considered a pioneer in digital media, lectured a fall semester VMCAD class via "telepresence," working with students remotely to create and design 3D models of high-end automobiles. Gartel makes use of modern technology to provide instant instruction and instant feedback to students, even though he is hundreds of miles away.

"The interaction between students and artist in real time is the wave of the future," says Gartel. "Students can send files and get... Read more >

MDG Medical has been a two-country company for the last nine years. But by March 31, 2011, the developer of automated pharmacy technology equipment and software will have completely moved its R&D group from Lod, Israel, to its Aurora location. The company will begin electromechanical assembly at the Aurora facility in 2011 or 2012.

Mark Saffran, president and CEO of MDG, says consolidating the company operations into one facility in Northeast Ohio is in direct respons... Read more >

When it opens in early February in a renovated car dealership, LaunchHouse will symbolize a new direction for the City of Shaker Heights and the Chagrin-Lee neighborhood. The 22,000-square-foot building will be a headquarters for start-up companies, providing space for offices, collaboration efforts and conferences.

LaunchHouse has already created quite a buzz in and around Shaker Heights. The business incubator and seed capital investment company has to date incubated 12... Read more >

Some things do get better with age. GrafTech International has been a part of Cleveland's manufacturing scene for 130 years. The producer of advanced carbon and graphite materials has stayed current with the times and technology to stay viable and profitable.

GrafTech, which among other things produces a micro-thin, flexible graphite used to dissipate heat on everything from laptops to flat-screen TVs, saw its nets sales increase 55 percent year-over-year in the third qua... Read more >

Nine square dice adds up to 54 sides, making them ideal for displaying a full deck of cards: 52 regular cards plus two jokers. Lakewood's Heartland Consumer Products is betting that its unique new dice/card game, Square Shooters, will be a hit when it is finally unveiled before this year's holiday season.

The award-winning Square Shooters uses the dice as a twist on traditional card games, including poker, rummy and a bevy of original and challenging games. Heartland Co... Read more >

The day after the Cavaliers' exciting upset of the reigning championBoston Celtics, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert celebrated by announcing a newcommitment to his adopted city: He's bringing his Detroit-based Bizdom U program to Cleveland.

Bizdom U is a non-profit "boot camp" for entrepreneurs established byGilbert in his native Detroit in 2007. Participants receive four to sixmonths of intensive training in marketing, sales, finance and otherfundamentals, all at no charge. Durin... Read more >

There seems to be no stopping Aclara RF Systems from growing and adding jobs in Northeast Ohio. Last year, the Beachwood-based company moved to a larger facility in Solon. So far in 2010, Aclara RF Systems has hired 25 new people to prepare for the release of its Acendant Network, a multipurpose wide-area network (WAN) that manages data between utilities, diverse networks and devices. Aclara's 2011 budget allows for even more hirings next year.

Aclara RF Systems is an arm... Read more >