Douglas J. Guth
Stories by: Douglas J. Guth
Douglas J. Guth is a Cleveland Heights-based freelance writer and journalist. In addition to being senior contributing editor at FreshWater, his work has been published by Crain’s Cleveland Business, Ideastream, and Middle Market Growth. At FreshWater, he contributes regularly to the news and features departments, as well as works on regular sponsored series features.
A healthcare industry vet and resident of Cleveland since 1982, Jim Bennett was hired in April by developer MMPI Inc. to oversee the $465 million medical mart and convention center. The complex is expected to draw 200,000 visitors annually, add thousands of new jobs, and generate about $50-$75 million in economic impact per year.
Thanks to game-changing, large-scale architectural efforts largely absent during the recession, Cleveland steadily is catching up to other similarly sized cities in terms of design. Long known as a "brick city," Cleveland's recent and forthcoming high-profile projects are adding progressive new materials to the mix.
It took 305 straw bales harvested from a nearby farm to build one couple's fairly tale home. The three-bedroom, 1,800-square-foot "Asian Craftsman-style" house in Cleveland Heights is the only one like it in Greater Cleveland. Unlike the straw house in The Three Little Pigs, this is one built to withstand rain, wind, snow and the Big Bad Wolf.
Like most of the country, Northeast Ohio was slammed hard by the tidal wave of the most recent recession. But thanks to an increasingly diversified economic strategy -- one that saw a transition from traditional manufacturing (steel, tires) to modern forms of manufacturing (healthcare equipment, polymers) -- the region is emerging from those damaging waters stronger than it has in the past, say area advocates.
The Cleveland Plus Marketing Alliance is celebrating its fifth birthday promoting Northeast Ohio as a vigorous regional entity. Like any proud parent, Cleveland Plus executive director Rick Batyko is eager to show off the campaign's accomplishments over its first five years of life. Fresh Water writer Douglas J. Guth spoke with Batyko about the campaign's successful past as well as the Wadsworth native's hopes for the region's future.
While the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority has no direct involvement in the sexy new downtown development taking place, the independently run agency's emphasis on vital infrastructure improvements is no less important to the region's bottom line, says president and CEO William Friedman.
Video games no longer are child's play. A multi-billion dollar industry, video game development seduces countless wannabes, each hoping to design the next Call of Duty. Helping to train those people is Cleveland Institute of Art, which recently launched its Game Design program. Combining classes in 3D modeling, game mapping, screenwriting and sound design, this challenging program is no child's play either.
The prevailing impression of regionalism that has been bandied about Northeast Ohio for the better part of a decade is all wrong, says a collaborative group of area nonprofits. While the consolidation of countless municipalities is useful, it is not intrinsically regionalism. True regionalism, they argue, is defined by economic activity -- not political boundaries.