Downtown

'this is downtown cleveland' video a viral hit
The latest video in the "Downtown is Moving" series by Downtown Cleveland Alliance is, as they say, blowing up on the web. The artfully directed and produced short film by Cleveland-based Fusion Filmworks already has been viewed approximately 40,000 times in under a week. That's more than previous DCA videos have been viewed in one or two years, given the film.
 
Give it a look-see right below.



take it outside: public art transforms the urban canvas
Once the province of sculptors, public art has evolved into an essential element of urban placemaking and social engagement. From murals on vacant buildings to art in laundromats to edible art installations that are as mouthwatering as they are aesthetically pleasing, we take a look at how public art is transforming our cities.
planning organization charts new path to more sustainable transportation projects
“We’re shifting because the times are shifting,” says Grace Gallucci of NOACA, adding that the planning agency will shift its focus to multimodal transportation, developing a fix-it-first approach that prioritizes existing infrastructure over new road projects, and basing funding decisions on their regional economic development impact.
hotcards to match fiery growth with flaming guinness world record-setting attempt
Earlier this year, Hotcards CEO John Gadd moved the local printing and marketing company's headquarters to the former Futon Factory at 2400 Superior Ave., expanding from 14,000 to 22,000 square feet and giving the company the opportunity to do a ground-up renovation of new offices.

"We were able to do it from scratch, the way that we wanted, in order to reflect the culture we're trying to build," says Gadd, who has injected new life into Hotcards since he bought the company a few years ago.

The new space features 15-foot ceilings, expansive windows and walls adorned with tons of Cleveland artwork. Eleven people work in the Cleveland office. The company also has offices in other parts of Ohio as well as a Columbus manufacturing facility.

Gadd says the company's growth can be attributed to its "customer-obsessed" culture, which "takes care of people we serve" with utmost attention to detail.

Now Gadd aims to make the company burn even hotter -- and seek some thrills and raise money for worthwhile charities in the process -- by setting 20 people ablaze along the banks of the Cuyahoga River in a Guinness World Records-setting attempt.

"It's a magical spectacle to watch -- people lit on fire look like an art display," he says. "Because we’re Cleveland, we'll turn a negative [burning river thing] into a positive. We'll also raise a bunch of money for charity and make some news."

Gadd has brought in stunt expert Ted Batchelor of Chagrin Falls to manage the event. He says it's so safe it almost takes the excitement out of it. The current record is 17 people set on fire at one time, a feat that Batchelor himself pulled off in 2009.

The event will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 19, at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, with spectators invited to watch from Shooters (tickets start at $15). The fire department and Coast Guard will be on hand in case of emergency. Local YouTube superstar Madi Lee will sing the national anthem before the big burn.

Gadd isn't sure how much money he'll raise for charity, since the event costs about $50,000 to produce. But any additional proceeds will go to the Cleveland Foodbank and Brick by Brick, a nonprofit group that builds schoolhouses in South Africa.


Source: John Gadd
Writer: Lee Chilcote
recipe for success: food-based startups face unique challenges
Starting a successful food-based business takes more than a great idea and the ability to cook. Like any entrepreneurial venture, food startups require planning, money and a willingness to be flexible. But those who do dive in have found there's plenty of guidance, support and collaboration in the local food startup community.
ramble on: local filmmaker plans documentary on glory days of wmms
WMMS "The Buzzard" reached the largest radio audience in the history of Cleveland media. A new film hopes to document the glory years when a charmed roster of on-air talent introduced national rock acts like Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Joe Walsh to the people of Cleveland and the rest of the country.
cle extends a welcoming hand to immigrants
In a New York Times article titled "Ailing Midwestern Cities Extend a Welcoming Hand to Immigrants," writer Julia Preston highlights cities that have launched programs like Global Cleveland to attract immigrant newcomers and their work skills.
 
"Other struggling cities are trying to restart growth by luring enterprising immigrants, both highly skilled workers and low-wage laborers," she writes. "In the Midwest, similar initiatives have begun in Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Lansing, Mich., as well as Detroit, as it strives to rise out of bankruptcy."
 
"We want to get back to the entrepreneurial spirit that immigrants bring,” said Richard Herman, a Cleveland immigration lawyer who advises cities on ideas for development based on attracting and retaining newcomers.
 
Read the rest here.

100 years in, the metroparks looks to expand and improve in significant ways
During much of its 100-year existence, the Metroparks has been a system of parks largely disconnected from the urban core. But that's beginning to change as the park rolls out its Emerald Necklace Centennial Plan, which will expand its footprint, strengthen connections between sites, and add a renewed focus on sustainability.
cle and pit battle it out on bicycles
In a Pittsburgh NPR story titled “Bike Pittsburgh Ahead in Competition with Cleveland Cyclists,” Jessica Nath reports on the friendly cycling competition between the two cities in the National Bike Challenge.
 
"This year, Bike Cleveland challenged Bike Pittsburgh (BikePGH) to see which city could log the most points in the National Bike Challenge, and with four days to go, BikePGH is in the lead."

Bicyclists earn a point for every mile they ride and 20 points for every day they ride. The friendly competition began May 1 and finished up earlier this week.

“There’s really no city that we have a more storied rivalry with than Cleveland, and it seemed to make the most sense demographically -- we really match up really well with them,” said Lou Fineberg, BikePGH program director. “Of course, the big difference is we’re incredibly hilly and Cleveland is very flat.”
 
Cleveland was lagging in the competition, and it looks like victory went to our rivals to the east. However, there's always next year!
 
View the entire story here.

latest NEOSA survey reveals tech industry is optimistic about future growth
NEOSA’s latest quarterly survey of 80 to 90 tech companies in Northeast Ohio reveals an industry that continues to be optimistic about future business growth and success in the region. Sixty-nine percent of the respondents reported business performance was good or very good for the second quarter of 2013.

Hiring expectations continued to be strong, with two thirds of the companies reporting that they planned to increase staff in the next year. “We’ve seen really high level of demand for more than two years,” says NEOSA director Brad Nellis. “There is no other two-year period where we’ve seen such high continued demand for talent.” NEOSA has conducted its quarterly survey since 2007.
 
However, the same companies that plan to increase staff also report having challenges in finding the talent they are looking for. Seventy percent reported having some difficulty or a hard time hiring, while only eight percent said they had no problems. The demand for IT talent in Northeast Ohio also is nothing new, says Nellis.
 
“We’re not seeing any let up in that demand,” says Nellis. “The unemployment rate across the country is below four percent.” He said plans are underway for a nationwide push to attract new and returning IT talent to the area. Global Cleveland, for instance, is planning a road show on the coasts to lure potential employees to Cleveland. “They are going to reach out to ex-pats and tell them about the great things going on here,” says Nellis.
 
However, despite the demand for talented employees, Nellis says the problem is not hindering the roughly 2,500 Northeast Ohio tech companies from succeeding in the marketplace. “It’s not a crippling problem,” he says. “They are still able to compete, they are still able to grow and get their products out the door.”

 
Source: Brad Nellis
Writer: Karin Connelly
developer breaks ground on custom home project in the flats
A veteran urban developer has broken ground on a three-unit, single-family development on Columbus Road in the Flats. Phase I of the project is sold out, and the owner is planning three additional high-end, custom-built homes on an adjacent parcel.

David Sharkey of Progressive Urban Real Estate, who is both the sales agent and a developer of the Columbus Hill project, says the development is unlike anything else currently on the market. The homes mesh with the topography of the Columbus Road hillside to offer outstanding views of downtown, the Cuyahoga River and the Flats.

"It's a very unique spot down there," says Sharkey. "It's in the middle of nowhere and the middle of everything at the same time. The amount of development will be limited because there isn't much land, but you can walk to West 25th Street."

The homes, just up the hill from Hoopples bar and the Columbus Road bridge, feature living rooms with 12-foot ceilings, 3 or 4 bedrooms, attached garages and massive roof decks. They are selling in the upper $300,000s. Tremont-based developer Civic Builders is spearheading Columbus Hill.

Asked if Cleveland's high-end new construction market is on the rise, Sharkey says, "Absolutely. The biggest thing holding it back right now is appraisals. We had a hard time getting the first unit appraised... I hear that other developers are holding back because of that. Right now, the market's topping out at 400."

The buyers primarily are empty-nesters from out of town who wish to customize their finishes and are willing to wait 9 to 12 months for the new homes to be built.
 
 
Source: David Sharkey
Writer: Lee Chilcote
ny post explores the local scene, lauds city's 'revival'
In a New York Post feature titled “Cleveland is Seeing a Revival,” writer Jennifer Ceasar explores some of Cleveland’s attractions, which increasingly are garnering attention outside of Northeast Ohio.
 
“If you were an Ohioan back in the early ’80s, you might remember 'New York’s the Big Apple, but Cleveland’s a Plum,' an ad campaign to rebrand the failing Rust Belt town. Though it never stuck, today’s Cleveland is earning laurels for its homegrown talent, like Iron Chef Michael Symon, along with farm-to-table eateries, award-winning craft breweries and cool art spaces.”
 
Some of the writer's many stops included Ohio City, home of Flying Fig, Great Lakes Brewing Company and the Transformer Station, Tremont, which houses some of the city’s best eateries, and University Circle, where many of Cleveland’s top cultural attractions reside.
 
Check out the full piece here.

bad girl ventures readies launch of fall business plan competition
Micro-lending organization Bad Girl Ventures (BGV) wants Cleveland to connect with the next generation of entrepreneurs and small business owners. That hopefully beautiful friendship will begin on Thursday, October 3, when BGV Cleveland hosts its kickoff event introducing the 10 finalists of its fall business plan competition.

The 10 women will present themselves at Battery Park Wine Bar, pitching their ideas to an audience before embarking on BGV's nine-week course to help tweak their fledgling enterprises. The final class will be in mid-November, with the winner of BGV's $25,000 low-interest loan announced during a "graduation ceremony" the following month.

Financing and mentorship are just two of the benefits for program participants, says Reka Barabas, director of BGV Cleveland.

"Networking is a huge motivating factor for them," she says. "These women are not just sitting in a stuffy classroom, but extending their professional network."

This autumn's class represents a wide range of industries and specialty areas. There's a children's party bus, granola bar company, match-making business, and more.

BGV Cleveland offers business education courses and financing twice per year to help women-owned startups launch, manage and market their businesses. In May, custom cake baker Sugar Plum Cake Company earned the business group's $25,000 loan. Two other ventures -- Journey Art Gallery  and The Agrarian Collective  -- each received $5,000 loans from a private giving circle. 

"We're exposing these businesses to as many resources as possible," says Barabas. "There's a huge value in that."

 
SOURCE: Reka Barabas
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
noaca director touts bikes, multi-modal transportation in annual address
Speaking last week at the annual meeting of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), the regional transportation planning agency for Northeast Ohio, Executive Director Grace Gallucci promised a more strategic distribution of money for projects and greater emphasis on multi-modal transportation options.

"We want more choices; that's what freedom -- being an American -- is about," she said. "NOACA is not trying to vilify the automobile; we're trying to attract the best and the brightest. Bicycling is increasingly popular, and more communities are integrating bike plans. Americans are driving less for the first time in a generation, and that trend is clearly led by the Millenial generation."

NOACA also has launched a far-reaching plan to assemble information on the condition of every highway, road and street in five counties, and use this information to make objective decisions about transportation spending. "Making decisions in an objective, data-driven way is more important now than ever. If there ever was a time to make decisions make economic sense, the time is now."

Gallucci touted NOACA's new Regional Bicycle Transportation Plan, a $15 million investment in the City of Cleveland's W. 73rd Street Extension Project and the Clifton Boulevard streetscape project among NOACA's recent, big ticket investments.

Peter Rogoff, Federal Transit Administrator, gave the keynote address. He argued that transit-oriented development projects can spark urban revitalization if done right, citing Cleveland's bus-rapid transit along the Euclid Corridor as one example of success.

Cleveland is a "national model for doing" with the Euclid Corridor project, Rogoff stated, because the project cost a lot less than light rail but resulted in big ridership gains and major economic development along the corridor. Other cities are studying how Cleveland did it and replicating our success, he added.


Source: Grace Gallucci, Peter Rogoff
Writer: Lee Chilcote
local designer has shot to take it all in martha stewart maker awards
If you've shopped at Banyan Tree, CLE Clothing Co., Bizaare Bazaar or Native Cleveland -- and you have an eye for design -- than you doubtless have spotted the work of Brian Andrew Jasinski. His design-minded line of prints and social stationery, which are sold under the brand Grey Cardigan, feature an instantly recognizable aesthetic that is clean, modern and timeless.
 
For the past couple weeks, Jasinski has been on a social media blitz to drum up support for his participation in the American Made Audience Choice Awards, where Martha Stewart and the editors of Martha Stewart Living are spotlighting the next generation of great American makers.
 
Well, it's worked, as the designer has made it to the finalist round, where he is one of just six, whittled down from a beginning pool of more than 2,000 nominees. His category, Design, joins Food, Style, Craft, Garden and Technology.
 
"To make it as one of six finalists in a competition with 2,000-plus nominees is an honor and an accomplishment," says Jasinski , a graduate of Cleveland Institute of Art. "Friends and fans truly stepped up to the plate daily in their voting and promoting."
 
The final round of voting, which runs now through September 29, pits Jasinski up against the other five finalists. The grand prize winner will receive $10,000 for their business, a feature spread in Martha Stewart Living, a feature on her popular radio show, and an audience with the Domestic Goddess herself.
 
"To win this competition would bring my work to an incredible spotlight that its connection with Martha Stewart would offer," says Jasinski.
 
To support Jasinski and his quest, vote up to six times a day right here.

techpint event touches on lessons learned from business failures
"Failure" is a tough word, particularly for entrepreneurial types throwing so much of their lives into a venture that might go belly up within a few months. However, Paul McAvinchey, creator of TechPint, believes valuable lessons can be learned from disappointment.

Such is the theme of this fall's TechPint conference, a casual gathering for entrepreneurs and investors in Internet technology. Coordinator McAvinchey expects more than 250 of the region's most innovative tech pacesetters to attend the quarterly-held event taking place tonight (September 26) at Sterle’s Slovenian Country House. Speakers John Gadd of Hotcards.com, Kendall Wouters of Reach Ventures and Phil Brennan of Echogen Power Systems will touch on how businesses can bounce back from seemingly crushing setbacks.

"It's a fact that you must fail many times before you see success," says McAvinchey, who moved to Cleveland from County Tipperary, Ireland, in April 2012 to lead product innovation for MedCity Media. "If you're failing, that means you're trying. That's a good thing."

Even stories of tremendous achievement, like the billion-dollar acquisition of Instagram, began on a rocky road of risk and false starts, McAvinchey points out.

"Failure will work for you if you learn from it," he says.

The informal get-together is designed to connect the region's tech thinkers over a couple pints of beers, says McAvinchey. TechPint's moniker this month is "Techtoberfest," in appreciation of this suds-filled season of the year.

Autumn also is a time for scary stories, and attendees will hear a few frightening business-related tales at TechPint. "It's important to celebrate failure," McAvinchey says. "This is a way to bring positive attention to it."

 
SOURCE: Paul McAvinchey 
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
thriving startup community means jobs aplenty... for the right candidates
The large number of open jobs in the startup community indicates these companies are doing well and growing. But working for a young startup has unique challenges. Recruiters and employers discuss some of the critical qualities required for those looking for a good fit with a startup.
men's journal drops into cleveland for a visit
In a Men's Journal travel feature titled "Visiting Cleveland, on Purpose," writer Robert Reid manages to enjoy himself during an action-packed visit to town -- and also manages to trot out a few hackneyed affronts as well.
 
"Spread out on the south shore of Lake Erie, 'The Forest City' -- called the 'mistake by the lake' by the sort of people who talk like that -- is a pleasant surprise for visitors who actually make the trip," Reid writes. "Just the names of the neighborhoods, including Slavic Village, Little Italy, and Asiatown, are a tribute to the city’s melting-pot roots, which manifest in great fusion cuisine."

In the piece, Reid mentions Happy Dog, Beachland Ballroom, the Orchestra, Big Fun, MOCA, Melt and others.
 
Read the rest of the (back-handed) compliment here.

medical innovation summit will draw more than 1,000 to cleveland
The Cleveland Clinic’s annual Medical Innovation Summit will be the first event held at Cleveland’s brand new Global Center for Health Innovation. The event will be held October 14-16, and organizers expect it to draw more than 1,200 people.
 
"We’ll have CEOs from major companies, investors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs,” says Gary Fingerhut, acting executive director and general manager of information technology commercialization at the Clinic. “Deals come out of this summit. Past innovation deals have been made on the buy-side and in research.”
 
More than 1,000 jobs and $700 million in investments have been created from the regional spinoff companies.
 
On the first day, 12 startup healthcare companies will have a chance to pitch their companies to a panel of executives. “The winner gets a year engagement with StartUp Health Academy."

The theme this year is Finding Balance through Innovation: Obesity, Diabetes and the Metabolic Crisis. Fingerhut says the topic was chosen because of the growing international concern about diabetes. "Clearly, it's an economic problem in the world," he says. Demonstration and panel discussions will focus on the impacts of type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Mike Roizen and a panel of experts will discuss the Clinic's top 10 medical innovations for 2014. Fresh Water readers can receive a discount to the summit. Go to the registration page and use promo code FRE2013 for a special $500 rate on registration.

Source: Gary Fingerhut
Writer: Karin Connelly
ny times gives ink to new rust belt mag 'belt'
In a New York Times Arts Beat post titled “New Magazine Celebrates ‘Rust Belt Chic,’ With a Wink,” writer Jennifer Schuessler details her conversation with Belt magazine editor Anne Trubek about a new publication dedicated to fostering a new journalistic beat in Cleveland.
 
"The decaying cities of the post-industrial Midwest can sometimes seem like a museum of things America used to make: cars, refrigerators, steel, televisions. But if a start-up in Cleveland gets its way, the region may help rebuild the market for another endangered product -- long-form magazine journalism," Schuessler writes.
The magazine offers up a collection of essays and reporting that seeks to explore the regional identity that is known as the Rust Belt.
 
“I cringe at words like ‘authentic,’” Trubek says in the article. “But the rust belt aesthetic isn’t about the ephemeral global economy, it’s about boots on the ground and things hidden in grandma’s attic. We want to explore that.”
 
Check out the full interview here.