In 2010, MetroHealth began testing a surgical solution for high blood pressure, became the only Ohio hospital chosen to participate in the Major Extremity Trauma Research Consortium to benefit injured servicemen and women, launched MetroExpressCare to address the needs of urgent care patients, and provided resources for the identification of the first gene associated with age-related cataracts.

All the while, the hospital system has kept its eye on sustainable business practices that resulted in a budget surplus last year. MetroHealth currently has about 6,000 employees.

Revenue over expenses for MetroHealth in 2010 totaled $27 million, and operating income decreased from $37.7 million in 2009 to $23.8 million last year. These numbers are in keeping with the health system's goal of maintaining sustainable business practices, which, according to MetroHealth CEO and president Mark Moran, means being able to support the hospital's mission of providing high-quality and affordable care.

Throughout 2011, MetroHealth will be addressing challenges that include a continuing decline in inpatient volumes and rising charity care. The total cost of charity care provided by MetroHealth last year was up $9 million over the previous year.


SOURCE: MetroHealth
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

Increasing the college attainment rate in Northeast Ohio by just one percent would mean an additional $2.8 billion for the region's economy. That statistic, courtesy of CEOs for Cities, a national civic lab composed of urban leaders, was part of the impetus for leaders of the Cleveland Scholarship Program to change the name of the 40-year-old organization and renew its focus to make college attainable for teens and young adults.

College Now Greater Cleveland, as the organization is officially now known, will continue to assist more than 20,000 students annually through advising, financial aid counseling and scholarship services. Some partners of the organization have stepped in to provide additional funding or opportunities. The PNC Foundation, for one, awarded a grant to College Now for advising services. PNC will also provide financial education programming, and Cleveland Clinic will offer college preparatory programs aimed at minority and disadvantaged students who want to attend college and pursue careers in science, medicine and business.

Other partners of College Now include the City of Cleveland, Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD), Cleveland State University and Tri-C.

College Now connects with local educational institutions to bolster higher education resources. According to Eric S. Gordon, chief academic officer for CMSD, College Now's strengthened focus meshes well with CMSD's own efforts to boost college attendance by graduates of the city's high schools. "CMSD is excited to continue our partnership with College Now to ensure high quality college counseling is available to all juniors and seniors as part of our Cleveland Goes to College program," Gordon says.


SOURCE: Eric S. Gordon
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

The Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education (NOCHE) is moving forward with its goal of making the region a top-notch talent pool through higher learning. In December of last year, NOCHE held a summit on the Northeast Ohio Talent Dividend, an action plan to increase college attainment. The Talent Dividend is a national endeavor to increase college attendance and graduation in cities, motivated by research indicating that 58 percent of a city's success based on per capita income can be attributed to post-secondary attainment.

According to NOCHE, the Northeast Ohio Talent Dividend has three goals:
1) Improve college readiness
2) Increase retention to degree completion
3) Increase degree attainment among adults with some college but no degree

NOCHE plans to help the region attain these goals by focusing on existing local resources, which include dozens of higher education institutions and 160,000 companies with employment opportunities for college students and college graduates. According to Ann Womer Benjamin, NOCHE's executive director, increasing the talent dividend in Northeast Ohio by one percent can result in $2.8 billion in new income per year, which helps both individuals and the region.

Womer's current mission is to bring awareness of the Talent Dividend and its initiatives to educators and businesspeople in Northeast Ohio. A steering committee for the Talent Dividend consists of a number of education- and business-focused professionals, including Roseann Canfora of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Edward Hill of Cleveland State University and Shana Marbury of the Greater Cleveland Partnership. NOCHE will track ongoing progress of the Talent Dividend on its website.


SOURCE: NOCHE
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

Northeast Ohio's ingenuity in polymers and advanced materials is having a positive impact on the region's production of flexible electronics products for the global market. FlexMatters, a cluster of businesses, suppliers, service providers and institutions within the flexible electronics industry, has attracted a significant amount of capital from public and private sources in the last several months.

NorTech, which launched FlexMatters to address low-cost manufacturing of electronic devices printed on flexible plastic materials, recently released information on funding for members of the cluster. In all, FlexMatters members garnered $14 million in capital, according to NorTech.

The funds were offered at a variety of stages and for different purposes. Cleveland's Blue Spark Technologies, for example, received a $6 million private equity series B investment, which will be used to accelerate new applications for thin, printed, disposable batteries.

The FlexMatters cluster connects member organizations with funding, revenue and technology partnership opportunities. "We are building a robust innovation cluster in Northeast Ohio that is going to put our region at the forefront of the global flexible electronics industry," says Rebecca Bagley, NorTech president and CEO.

SOURCE: NorTech
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

Winners of a new entrepreneurial contest will have the opportunity to develop a novel idea or product that embodies the innovative spirit described in President Obama's State of the Union address. Cleveland's recently launched Manufacturing Mart has announced a competition called "The Export Experiment," a new-product competition designed to grow business for American component manufacturers.

To be eligible, a product must be manufacturable in the United States and designed for a niche market in a foreign country. In addition, it must solve a scalable problem and be patent-pending or patented.

The cost to enter the competition is $25, and the deadline is April 30, 2011. See additional details here.

A commercialization grant worth $5,000 will be awarded to the top three winners. The grant can be used for a number of development services outlined by the Manufacturing Mart. One free year of exhibition space at the Manufacturing Mart, a landing page on the mart's website and two press releases are also part of the awards package.

The Manufacturing Mart opened its doors at The Galleria on December 1 of last year. Currently, the mart occupies 3,500 square feet of exhibiting space for manufacturing resources; another 6,000 square feet are scheduled to open later this year. The mart caters to engineers, inventors and business professionals who want to locate innovative manufacturing options in Greater Cleveland.


SOURCE: The Manufacturing Mart
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

A drug that has shown promise in the treatment of cardiovascular disease will now be evaluated for effectiveness in healing wounds, thanks to a joint capital investment. SironRX Therapeutics has received a $500,000 investment from Cleveland Clinic and JumpStart Ventures. The money will allow SironRX to continue evaluations on its lead drug, JVS-100, which contains an engineered version of a naturally occurring molecular factor called Stromal cell-Derived Factor-1 (SDF-1). SDF-1 promotes tissue repair.

"This investment will allow SironRX to make significant progress toward initiation of a Phase II clinical study evaluating the potential for JVS-100 to accelerate dermal wound repair and reduce scarring," says Rahul Aras, CEO of SironRX. "JVS-100 is already being evaluated for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, and it is exciting to broaden the scope of therapeutic potential for this drug."

SironRX is an offshoot of Juventas Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company developing regenerative therapies to treat life-threatening diseases. Juventas licensed JVS-100's intellectual property from Cleveland Clinic in 2007. Aras also serves as CEO of Juventas.

SOURCE: Rahul Aras
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

The same day that President Obama unveiled Startup America to boost entrepreneurship in the United States, Jumpstart Inc. came out with its own impressive launch: JumpStart America.

The operating structure for JumpStart America will be set up over the next few months, with Ray Leach, CEO of JumpStart Inc., also serving as the leader for this new entity. JumpStart America will be a 501c(3) nonprofit and will act independently of JumpStart Inc. New staff members are not likely to be added to JumpStart Inc. because of this new venture, according to Leach.

JumpStart America's work will be different than that of JumpStart Inc., Leach adds. "JumpStart's programmatic work in Northeast Ohio focuses on supporting entrepreneurs and investing in their companies, and collaborating with other organizations in the entrepreneurial ecosystem."

"JumpStart America will be raising and aggregating public, private and philanthropic dollars to fund the development and implementation of plans in regions across the country -- plans that will enable these regions to leverage their existing strengths and fill gaps in their ecosystems that help entrepreneurs grow their companies," Leach explains.

Nevertheless, the success of JumpStart Inc. in helping to grow local companies has cast a positive light on the organization and the region it serves, which in turn lends credibility to the JumpStart America program. "It's the successes of the companies and entrepreneurs with which JumpStart has worked that have helped Northeast Ohio earn national recognition as a growing entrepreneurial hotbed," Leach says.

"JumpStart America is credible in pursuing its mission because policy makers, foundations and investors across the country are learning that Northeast Ohio is one of the best entrepreneurial ecosystems in the country."


SOURCE: Ray Leach
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

Two weeks ago, we told you about the many jobs likely to develop in the area over the next several years thanks to a wind turbine project on Lake Erie. Lorry Wagner, Ph.D., president of Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo), which is overseeing the project, says that Cleveland's growing expertise in the wind energy industry could reach well beyond the local shores.

The wind turbine pilot project, which is in its infant stages, will be a learning process for those involved, according to Wagner, but will likely establish Cleveland and Northeast Ohio as the source for wind energy expertise.

"As offshore wind develops on the Great Lakes, many of our services can be exported," Wagner says. "Canada, for example, has a huge plan for offshore wind development, but it will only have a 50 percent Canadian content requirement. That gives us tremendous incentive to develop our industry here."

In addition to Canada, Michigan and New York are reviewing opportunities for wind energy along the Great Lakes.

"If Ohio doesn't become the biggest in the world, the fact is we are the first in the region to do this, and if we develop the infrastructure, it will help us to serve the entire Great Lakes region," Wagner says.

To get there, Cleveland needs to leverage the talents and resources it already has and encourage other companies and individuals to join the wave. "We have to develop the expertise so that wherever this alternative energy occurs, we will be able to provide the most cost effective and the technologically best service," Wagner says.


SOURCE: Lorry Wagner
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

The Experience Lakewood app recently launched, linking users to information on businesses, dining, shopping and recreation in the city. The app can be downloaded from iTunes for free on any Apple-compatible device.

While business and shopping apps are becoming more plentiful, Experience Lakewood's focus on one particular city makes it unique, according to Barb Cagley, president of Cleveland's SCK Design, which created the app for Lakewood Alive, in partnership with the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce. "Regional apps are a newer trend," she says.

Another factor setting the Experience Lakewood app apart is that the content is controlled by the individual businesses. "The common platform for apps is to pull data that is generic and available to the public or provided by the user. This twist of control by businesses allows them to update their message, specials and events in real time," Cagley says.

Creating user-, community- and business-friendly apps has become more of a focus for the six-member SCK team, which has also built a reputation in creating websites, custom content management and SEO programs for the likes of Bedford Labs  and Cleveland Clinic Pharmacy. Last fall, SCK unveiled Experience Tremont. A Shop Legacy app for Legacy Village was recently released, and SCK is currently working on an Experience Kamm's Corners app.

No estimate is available on how many people may take advantage of the Experience Lakewood app. "The only data we can draw from is the Experience Tremont app," Cagley says. "After six months, over 5,000 people have downloaded it."


SOURCE: Barb Cagley
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

When Holly Harlan first started talking to people about Entrepreneurs for Sustainability (E4S) ten years ago, "people looked at me like I had three eyes. But I said, 'I think they're going to get this and they're going to love it.'"

Today, Harlan notes that the E4S network has been growing by more than 20 percent every year since it was founded. "We've attracted nearly 10,000 people from all sectors," Harlan says. "We've helped over 50 companies create a strategic plan for sustainability." The organization has also created a foundation on which Greater Cleveland can build a successful approach to sustainability. "We've gotten much better known since Mayor Frank Jackson has stepped in and held sustainability summits the last two years," Harlan says.

E4S is a networking organization that unites professionals interested in sustainability for their businesses and their community, but its scope goes beyond that. "We're an economic development group that sees sustainability as way to create value in the world," Harlan says.

Harlan steps down from the post of president and founder of E4S in mid-February to take on new projects. Mike Dungan, president and CEO of Bee Dance, a Cleveland business that repurposes materials classified as waste, will take over as interim president of E4S.

Harlan looks forward to visiting other cities and gauging their take on Cleveland's sustainability efforts. "We were one of the first business networks in the country focused on sustainability," she says. "The buzz is that Cleveland is known for innovative sustainability ideas, particularly in the area of local foods."


SOURCE: Holly Harlan
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

Last year, 12 companies brought their business to Northeast Ohio, thanks in part to efforts from the nonprofit regional business attraction agent TeamNEO. The companies brought with them more than 670 jobs and about $40 million in annual direct payroll, according to information recently released by TeamNEO.

Among the companies that have opened offices or relocated to the region are Rosetta, a strategy, marketing and technology services company; NI Medical, a privately held biotech company that manufactures a device to detect concealed cardiac disease; and Explorys, which was formed in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic to provide a secure cloud-computing platform for research and product development.

Tom Waltermire, CEO of TeamNEO, points out that six of the new companies are international and two are minority-owned. Five of the companies are related to healthcare, which will continue to be a focus of TeamNEO's efforts in recruiting businesses and jobs to Greater Cleveland, according to Waltermire.

SOURCE: TeamNEO
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

In the so-called Internet Age, the public library has taken on a broader role. More than a place to grab a novel, photocopy a letter, or scour a thick resource book, the library has also become a hub for computer use, digital resources, and social and professional gatherings.

With this in mind, the main branch of the Cleveland Public Library (CPL) is getting a 21st-century facelift. Among the enhancements will include a centralized location for computers and technology, a first-floor display for popular and rare collections, room for community events, and a new indoor garden.

The Downtown Destination Campaign, as the $12 million redevelopment plan is being called, seeks to make the main library a center of activity and learning and to connect the library with the surrounding downtown area. The first phase involves creating Tech Central.

According to Thomas Corrigan, president of the CPL board of trustees, public-access computers are currently dispersed throughout the library. Tech Central will create a one-stop source for computers and technology, with trained staff on hand. Phase One will cost an estimated $1.2 million.

Centers for family and children's discovery, sports research and career connections will be established in the main library to encourage patrons to take full advantage of the library's offerings.

Cosmetic enhancements to the exterior and interior will also be part of the campaign, with the intent of connecting the historic library with the immediate neighborhood.

CPL was ranked one of the top five libraries in the country last year by the Library Journal.


SOURCE: CPL
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

Recent news of a lease option for offshore submerged land in Lake Erie created waves of excitement for longtime proponents of wind turbines along our Great Lake. We'll likely be seeing the blades of five giant wind turbines twirling high above the shore by mid-2012, bringing with them about 600 new jobs.

A study commissioned by NorTech last August revealed that those 600 jobs are just the beginning. Moving beyond the five-turbine pilot project and into a proposed 5,000 megawatts of wind energy by 2030, the State of Ohio could sustain as many as 15,000 jobs. About 8,000 of those would likely be located in our region.

"Because the equipment is so large, you'll have to do the work very close to where it's being commissioned," says Dave Karpinski, vice president of NorTech who heads NorTech Energy Enterprise, an initiative focused on Northeast Ohio's advanced energy industry. New skill sets for divers and drillers will be created. Legal and regulatory experts will be needed. The development of a vast maritime industry, with towing ships, specialized vessels and crews, could also take the region to new heights in advanced energy, he adds.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. With this, the first least option to be issued in the Great Lakes, Cleveland will see an initial upsurge in engineering jobs and permitting work, according to Karpinski. By the middle of next year, manufacturing and geotech work will be in greater demand, he adds.

Orders will begin for the five initial wind turbines this year. The momentum of what they will bring to Cleveland is just starting to be felt.

SOURCE: Dave Karpinski
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

The team at Idea Engine could feel the wheels turning when they met with local innovator Dave Petno, who approached Idea Engine with a web application he was interested in having developed: a custom tool that allows high school sports scores and statistics to be submitted to the media as well as to family and friends of the sports program.

The business communication solutions company saw the potential in this idea, and ScoreFeeder was born. The way ScoreFeeder works is that a team coach or rep enters scores and stats from a game onto the site, and that information is sent via email to media outlets chosen by the team. Schools also have the opportunity to receive instant updates of scores from their conference. The service is free and can be used by high school teams across the country. ScoreFeeder is currently available for basketball, with other sports to be available soon, according to Dan Carbone, chief technology officer for Idea Engine.

The seven-member Idea Engine team is working with an iPad developer to see if the application can be used on the iPad as well.

Carbone says that the ScoreFeeder concept allowed Idea Engine to develop a custom web application that goes beyond the traditional website or e-commerce site. "ScoreFeeder.com adds a counterpart to social networking by providing an interactive tool focused on a particular audience and particular interest," he says.


SOURCE: Idea Engine
WRITER: Diane DiPiero

The accounting firm SS&G expanded its presence in the Midwest late last year by merging with Chicago-based Ahlbeck & Company. In doing so, Cleveland-headquartered SS&G added 22 members to its 400-plus staff and helped the firm to concentrate more intently on its growing base of Chicago clients. SS&G also has offices in Cincinnati, Columbus and Erlanger, Kentucky.

SS&G, which provides tax, assurance, employee benefit, payroll and consulting services, was named one of the top 50 accounting firms in the country to work for in 2011 by Vault, an online resource for career management and job search information. The firm was listed in the top 20 in individual categories, including overall diversity, culture, compensation, business outlook and manager relations.

"Providing our employees with a great place to work contributes to the overall success of our firm," says Gary Shamis, managing director of SS&G.

SS&G also continued to grow its Cleveland presence by further developing its SS&G Healthcare Consulting and SS&G Wealth Management entities. For example, Flourish: Women and Wealth Management, was launched as a product of the SS&G Wealth Management division. Flourish hosts events and offers strategies specifically geared to female investors.


SOURCE: SS&G
WRITER: Diane DiPiero