Downtown
business traveler covers westin hotel and land studio's local art program
Business Traveler covers the Westin Cleveland Downtown innovative program to bring local art into the soon-to-open hotel. The hotel is partnering up with LAND studio, a local nonprofit, to select area artists.
"Artwork from established and emerging Cleveland artists will adorn the hotel’s 484 guestrooms, lobby and public spaces. The program’s main event will be a signature large scale artwork from local artist Sarah Kabot in the lobby. The piece is slated for a February 2014 installation."
LANDStudio is working with Sage Hospitality, which owns the Westin Cleveland Downtown.
Read the rest here.
"Artwork from established and emerging Cleveland artists will adorn the hotel’s 484 guestrooms, lobby and public spaces. The program’s main event will be a signature large scale artwork from local artist Sarah Kabot in the lobby. The piece is slated for a February 2014 installation."
LANDStudio is working with Sage Hospitality, which owns the Westin Cleveland Downtown.
Read the rest here.
Cleveland, like most American cities, has had its challenges regarding segregation. But emerging patterns of desegregation can significantly advance our city's position as a center of innovation. This represents a key opportunity to reconstitute a new American neighborhood model by harnessing the potential of diversification.
rta healthline praised for cost/benefit ratio in forbes
In a Forbes feature titled “Bus Rapid Transit Spurs Development Better Than Light Rail or Streetcars: Study,” contributor Jeff McMahon writes of an upcoming report by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy that explores the cost/benefit ratio of various types of urban transportation.
“For example, Cleveland’s Healthline, a BRT project completed on Cleveland’s Euclid Avenue in 2008, has generated $5.8 billion in development -- $114 for each transit dollar invested. Portland’s Blue Line, a light rail project completed in 1986, generated $3.74 per dollar invested.”
The report goes on to discuss the many variables going into the study and its relation to the urban environment.
Read the full piece here.
“For example, Cleveland’s Healthline, a BRT project completed on Cleveland’s Euclid Avenue in 2008, has generated $5.8 billion in development -- $114 for each transit dollar invested. Portland’s Blue Line, a light rail project completed in 1986, generated $3.74 per dollar invested.”
The report goes on to discuss the many variables going into the study and its relation to the urban environment.
Read the full piece here.
JumpStart’s Burton D. Morgan Foundation Mentoring Program offers young companies a little additional insight into running a successful business. Each participating startup is assigned between one and four mentors.
“It really depends on the stage the company is at and what their needs are,” says Anthony Hughes, director of the program. “No one mentor is going to have all the skill sets needed as these companies take their ideas to fruition.”
Companies do have to be involved with JumpStart to enroll. Currently, 38 mentors are involved in the program and they have assisted 33 companies since it was launched in March of 2012. The program currently has 21 companies active.
“The companies have generated or raised $2.9 million in capital," says Hughes. "Startups with access to mentors and advisers are seven times more likely to raise capita and three and a half times as likely to gain customers. We are responsible for creating serial entrepreneurs and polishing the diamonds in this ecosystem. They’re really flying blind without access to people who have been there, done that.”
The mentors come from virtually every industry and background -- from Fortune 500 companies to venture capitalists, to leaders of nationally-know startups. “We’ll entertain anyone, but through a stringent evaluation process. We use mentors who are experienced and knowledgeable,” says Hughes. “Mentors are invitation-only. We’re not trying to be elitists or exclusive.”
Source: Anthony Hughes
Writer: Karin Connelly
“It really depends on the stage the company is at and what their needs are,” says Anthony Hughes, director of the program. “No one mentor is going to have all the skill sets needed as these companies take their ideas to fruition.”
Companies do have to be involved with JumpStart to enroll. Currently, 38 mentors are involved in the program and they have assisted 33 companies since it was launched in March of 2012. The program currently has 21 companies active.
“The companies have generated or raised $2.9 million in capital," says Hughes. "Startups with access to mentors and advisers are seven times more likely to raise capita and three and a half times as likely to gain customers. We are responsible for creating serial entrepreneurs and polishing the diamonds in this ecosystem. They’re really flying blind without access to people who have been there, done that.”
The mentors come from virtually every industry and background -- from Fortune 500 companies to venture capitalists, to leaders of nationally-know startups. “We’ll entertain anyone, but through a stringent evaluation process. We use mentors who are experienced and knowledgeable,” says Hughes. “Mentors are invitation-only. We’re not trying to be elitists or exclusive.”
Source: Anthony Hughes
Writer: Karin Connelly
Kelli Hanley Potts has lived in Denver and Albuquerque, where she got involved in the slow food movement, replaced her front lawn with a vegetable garden, and worked for some of those cities' top chefs. When she got the urge to move back home to Cleveland, she knew she wanted to do something food-related.
That's when she stumbled upon a business idea. Despite the rise of the local food movement, most people had no idea how to cook kale, make jam or preserve food. She asked 18 female friends if they knew how to make a pie from scratch, and only two said yes.
Additionally, many people in the local farming movement have trouble explaining and marketing their products to customers, who are largely unfamiliar with them, she explains.
There are no cooking schools in Cleveland that did what she wanted to do -- connect people back to the land and back to their grandmothers' kitchens by teaching them the age-old skills of home economics -- so she decided to create one.
"I didn't want to watch a chef in front of me and drink wine," says Hanley Potts. "I wanted to learn something. I wanted to reconnect people to the lineage of the table, help them build their own table culture."
She recently launched the Agrarian Collective, an earth-to-table lifestyle school. Her mobile cooking school is offering classes this fall that cover topics like roasting your own coffee, fermented and cultured foods, and discovering local apples, among others. She'll be teaching students how to make the perfect pesto at this weekend's Cleveland Flea.
She was aided by a $5,000 low-interest loan from Bad Girl Ventures, which enabled her to purchase supplies and begin reaching out to chefs and farmers as partners.
"This is like home ec, but not quite as official and nerdy," she says. "It's about reconnecting people. All these things we once learned and were taught, they're missing. We're teaching people the 'how' of home."
Source: Kelli Hanley Potts
Writer: Lee Chilcote
That's when she stumbled upon a business idea. Despite the rise of the local food movement, most people had no idea how to cook kale, make jam or preserve food. She asked 18 female friends if they knew how to make a pie from scratch, and only two said yes.
Additionally, many people in the local farming movement have trouble explaining and marketing their products to customers, who are largely unfamiliar with them, she explains.
There are no cooking schools in Cleveland that did what she wanted to do -- connect people back to the land and back to their grandmothers' kitchens by teaching them the age-old skills of home economics -- so she decided to create one.
"I didn't want to watch a chef in front of me and drink wine," says Hanley Potts. "I wanted to learn something. I wanted to reconnect people to the lineage of the table, help them build their own table culture."
She recently launched the Agrarian Collective, an earth-to-table lifestyle school. Her mobile cooking school is offering classes this fall that cover topics like roasting your own coffee, fermented and cultured foods, and discovering local apples, among others. She'll be teaching students how to make the perfect pesto at this weekend's Cleveland Flea.
She was aided by a $5,000 low-interest loan from Bad Girl Ventures, which enabled her to purchase supplies and begin reaching out to chefs and farmers as partners.
"This is like home ec, but not quite as official and nerdy," she says. "It's about reconnecting people. All these things we once learned and were taught, they're missing. We're teaching people the 'how' of home."
Source: Kelli Hanley Potts
Writer: Lee Chilcote
As millenials, empty nesters and other demographic groups flock to downtowns across Ohio, business improvement districts -- or BIDs -- are playing an important role in ensuring that these areas are clean and safe and that residents, office workers and property owners have the amenities they need to thrive.
A business improvement district is a defined area in which property owners pay an additional tax in order to fund projects and services that enhance the area. Downtown Cleveland has a BID, and the organization provides basic "clean and safe" services, organizes events and markets downtown to prospective residents, visitors and businesses.
This week, Downtown Cleveland Alliance, which manages the downtown BID, organized the first all-Ohio BID conference, bringing together BID leaders from across the state to network and learn about issues they share in common.
"It came from the idea that there's not a unifying organization or conference for BIDs," says Anna Beyerle with DCA. "We can learn a lot from other BIDs across Ohio. The idea was to get in the same room and throw out ideas and best practices."
Topics included food truck legislation, downtown transportation, farmers markets, placemaking, and office and retail recruitment strategies.
Participants also enjoyed several tours of downtown Cleveland and the surrounding area and had a chance to learn from Cleveland's redevelopment.
Beyerle says the conference will help BIDs, such as the one in downtown Cleveland, to become more effective. "We're up for renewal in a couple years, and we're looking at how we can improve."
Source: Anna Beyerle
Writer: Lee Chilcote
A business improvement district is a defined area in which property owners pay an additional tax in order to fund projects and services that enhance the area. Downtown Cleveland has a BID, and the organization provides basic "clean and safe" services, organizes events and markets downtown to prospective residents, visitors and businesses.
This week, Downtown Cleveland Alliance, which manages the downtown BID, organized the first all-Ohio BID conference, bringing together BID leaders from across the state to network and learn about issues they share in common.
"It came from the idea that there's not a unifying organization or conference for BIDs," says Anna Beyerle with DCA. "We can learn a lot from other BIDs across Ohio. The idea was to get in the same room and throw out ideas and best practices."
Topics included food truck legislation, downtown transportation, farmers markets, placemaking, and office and retail recruitment strategies.
Participants also enjoyed several tours of downtown Cleveland and the surrounding area and had a chance to learn from Cleveland's redevelopment.
Beyerle says the conference will help BIDs, such as the one in downtown Cleveland, to become more effective. "We're up for renewal in a couple years, and we're looking at how we can improve."
Source: Anna Beyerle
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Are you sustainable, Cleveland? That's the question environmentally conscious city officials are asking heading into the fifth annual Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit. The initiative to build "a green city on a blue lake" is at the halfway mark, and Cleveland's new chief of sustainability believes Northeast Ohio is meeting the metrics set out a half decade ago.
travel writer swoons over cleveland visit
In a Huffington Post travel feature titled "The American Grandeur of Cleveland," contributor Sally Fay was so smitten by our city that she writes, "There are many reasons to visit Cleveland, enough to swing the vote right into moving there!"
She writes that "Cleveland has a character that appreciates its past while embracing the renewal of the future. In 2013, the city has a different kind of American grandeur than it did in its industrial heyday of the early 20th century, but rather than get stuck in the past and not learn the lessons from it, Cleveland has aged well into a modern, global and down-to-earth city."
Stops on her exhaustive visit through town included Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland Cultural Gardens, Cleveland Art Museum, Severance Hall, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland Institute of Music, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, PlayhouseSquare, West Side Market and many other stops.
She closes out the piece with this resounding endorsement:
"If you are looking for opportunities, reasonably priced real estate, cultural diversity, high culture, top medicine, professional sports and mid-western charm, pack your bags and discover the American grandeur and quality of life of Cleveland has going for it!"
Read the rest right here.
She writes that "Cleveland has a character that appreciates its past while embracing the renewal of the future. In 2013, the city has a different kind of American grandeur than it did in its industrial heyday of the early 20th century, but rather than get stuck in the past and not learn the lessons from it, Cleveland has aged well into a modern, global and down-to-earth city."
Stops on her exhaustive visit through town included Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland Cultural Gardens, Cleveland Art Museum, Severance Hall, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland Institute of Music, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, PlayhouseSquare, West Side Market and many other stops.
She closes out the piece with this resounding endorsement:
"If you are looking for opportunities, reasonably priced real estate, cultural diversity, high culture, top medicine, professional sports and mid-western charm, pack your bags and discover the American grandeur and quality of life of Cleveland has going for it!"
Read the rest right here.
As summer transitions into fall, we wanted to take a moment to look back on a season filled with family, friends and festive neighborhood gatherings. Throughout it all, Fresh Water photographer Bob Perkoski has been attending and shooting the best summer festivals. This slideshow features captured images from a dozen events.
clinic's cosgrove aims to improve health of residents and city
In a lengthy Forbes feature titled "City Surgeon: Can The Cleveland Clinic Save Its Hometown?" writer Matthew Herper reports on Delos “Toby” Cosgrove's tenure at the Cleveland Clinic and his efforts to leverage healthcare to improve the Clinic's neighborhood and the region's economy.
"The rough old neighborhood is a distant memory, replaced by a gleaming testament to modern medicine stretching out over 46 buildings and covering 167 acres. Protected by a dedicated 141-trooper force of state police, there is a conference center, a fancy hotel and a farmers’ market. Over Cosgrove’s tenure the clinic’s revenues have nearly doubled to $6.2 billion."
But Cosgrove's biggest brainstorm was to build a "giant mall for hospital buyers."
"Think about the things that go into a hospital. Shades, televisions, chairs, tables, wall coverings, all the medical gear, the operating tables, you name it,” Cosgrove is quoted in the piece.
"What is emerging is an Epcot Center for med tech. GE Healthcare, Siemens, Philips Health Care and Cardinal Health are among the 22 confirmed tenants in the soon-to-be-completed center. Next door, Bennett has already booked conventions that will bring 89,395 attendees this year and 100,400 next. By the end of 2016, he says, bookings should be enough to pay back the $465 million it took to construct both buildings."
“It will begin to influence the city as it comes back and make it a destination medical city,” Cosgrove predicts.
Read the rest of the article here.
"The rough old neighborhood is a distant memory, replaced by a gleaming testament to modern medicine stretching out over 46 buildings and covering 167 acres. Protected by a dedicated 141-trooper force of state police, there is a conference center, a fancy hotel and a farmers’ market. Over Cosgrove’s tenure the clinic’s revenues have nearly doubled to $6.2 billion."
But Cosgrove's biggest brainstorm was to build a "giant mall for hospital buyers."
"Think about the things that go into a hospital. Shades, televisions, chairs, tables, wall coverings, all the medical gear, the operating tables, you name it,” Cosgrove is quoted in the piece.
"What is emerging is an Epcot Center for med tech. GE Healthcare, Siemens, Philips Health Care and Cardinal Health are among the 22 confirmed tenants in the soon-to-be-completed center. Next door, Bennett has already booked conventions that will bring 89,395 attendees this year and 100,400 next. By the end of 2016, he says, bookings should be enough to pay back the $465 million it took to construct both buildings."
“It will begin to influence the city as it comes back and make it a destination medical city,” Cosgrove predicts.
Read the rest of the article here.
Nine local biomedical companies were named to this year’s Inc. 5000 list, a tally of the fastest growing companies in the country in terms of jobs and revenue. Inc. measured revenue growth from 2009 to 2012.
The list represents companies across every industry, but the number of area biomed companies named to the list is encouraging to the growing biomed industry in Cleveland.
“It’s a very exciting time right now in Northeast Ohio for the biomedical industry," says Aram Nerpouni, president and CEO of BioEnterprise. “It’s a little bit of validation here that you can really grow and thrive in the region.”
Nerpouni says the list reflects a combination of young startups and more established companies. Cleveland-based Bravo Wellness, founded in 2008, ranked 888 overall on the Inc. 5000 list. The company, which provides health insurance consulting, ranked 68 on the top 100 health companies. Bravo added 94 jobs in the past three years.
Twinsburg-based CoverMyMeds ranked at the top of the Ohio healthcare companies at 96 on the Inc. 5000 list. The company added 32 employees in the past three years.
“You’re beginning to see a lot of young companies looking at the area,” says Nerpouni of the Health Tech Corridor, located between University Circle and the Campus District. “We should start seeing more and more activity.” Already, 500,000 square feet have opened up in the area in the last six months, with 80 percent occupancy.
In 2012, 43 Cleveland biomedical companies raised $227 million in equity funding.
Source: Aram Nerpouni
Writer: Karin Connelly
The list represents companies across every industry, but the number of area biomed companies named to the list is encouraging to the growing biomed industry in Cleveland.
“It’s a very exciting time right now in Northeast Ohio for the biomedical industry," says Aram Nerpouni, president and CEO of BioEnterprise. “It’s a little bit of validation here that you can really grow and thrive in the region.”
Nerpouni says the list reflects a combination of young startups and more established companies. Cleveland-based Bravo Wellness, founded in 2008, ranked 888 overall on the Inc. 5000 list. The company, which provides health insurance consulting, ranked 68 on the top 100 health companies. Bravo added 94 jobs in the past three years.
Twinsburg-based CoverMyMeds ranked at the top of the Ohio healthcare companies at 96 on the Inc. 5000 list. The company added 32 employees in the past three years.
“You’re beginning to see a lot of young companies looking at the area,” says Nerpouni of the Health Tech Corridor, located between University Circle and the Campus District. “We should start seeing more and more activity.” Already, 500,000 square feet have opened up in the area in the last six months, with 80 percent occupancy.
In 2012, 43 Cleveland biomedical companies raised $227 million in equity funding.
Source: Aram Nerpouni
Writer: Karin Connelly
cleveland among top metros for college grads
In a The Atlantic report titled “The Best U.S. Metros for Recent College Grads Looking For Work,” writer Richard Florida shares a lengthy report on which areas in the United States offer the best opportunities for the newly minted young and educated looking to start life in the “real world.”
While the standard San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, and Austin metros continue to receive high marks, others such as New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles leave much to be desired for they younger generation.
Cleveland may not have broken the Top 10 just yet, but it does place in the Top 20, and is on the move.
“The good news is that Rust Belt metros like Detroit, Pittsburgh and Cleveland appear to have turned the corner. These metros have a lot to offer highly educated recent grads: affordable housing, a low cost of living, authentic neighborhoods, and revitalizing cores, as well as a relatively high level of job openings for in fast-growing highly-educated fields.”
Enjoy the complete report here.
While the standard San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, and Austin metros continue to receive high marks, others such as New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles leave much to be desired for they younger generation.
Cleveland may not have broken the Top 10 just yet, but it does place in the Top 20, and is on the move.
“The good news is that Rust Belt metros like Detroit, Pittsburgh and Cleveland appear to have turned the corner. These metros have a lot to offer highly educated recent grads: affordable housing, a low cost of living, authentic neighborhoods, and revitalizing cores, as well as a relatively high level of job openings for in fast-growing highly-educated fields.”
Enjoy the complete report here.
the atlantic praises new online rust-centric magazine
In The Atlantic, a story titled “A New Magazine Takes on Old Rust Belt Stereotypes” and written by Bonnie Tsui shares information on a new Cleveland-focused “Rust Belt Chic” online magazine titled Belt.
"Rust Belt Chic is a movement," the piece begins. "That’s according to a new online magazine out of Cleveland, Belt, that aims to address the highly specific and often superficial attention paid to a wide swath of deindustrialized America."
In a meaty interview, editor Anne Trubek says the publication will focus on what they can do consistently well: intensely and well-edited long-form journalism, commentary, and first-person essays.
“Our first issue is queued up and ready to go, and it’s fantastic," she explains. "We have a deep dive on the Anisfield-Wolf Awards, a 78-year-old Cleveland-based book award for works that address issues of racism, which has an incredibly high caliber of past and present awardees and famous jurors but an oddly low profile in town and the nation. And we have a hilarious essay, 'S&M in the CLE' by novelist Alissa Nutting, whose book Tampa has been the talk of the literary world this summer.”
Check out the full piece here.
"Rust Belt Chic is a movement," the piece begins. "That’s according to a new online magazine out of Cleveland, Belt, that aims to address the highly specific and often superficial attention paid to a wide swath of deindustrialized America."
In a meaty interview, editor Anne Trubek says the publication will focus on what they can do consistently well: intensely and well-edited long-form journalism, commentary, and first-person essays.
“Our first issue is queued up and ready to go, and it’s fantastic," she explains. "We have a deep dive on the Anisfield-Wolf Awards, a 78-year-old Cleveland-based book award for works that address issues of racism, which has an incredibly high caliber of past and present awardees and famous jurors but an oddly low profile in town and the nation. And we have a hilarious essay, 'S&M in the CLE' by novelist Alissa Nutting, whose book Tampa has been the talk of the literary world this summer.”
Check out the full piece here.
As the nation's first freshwater offshore wind project cranks up off the coast of Cleveland, thousands of people are pledging to pay a little more for a power source that supporters say will improve the environment, create local jobs and advance the nation's energy security.
The historic Colonial and Euclid Arcades in downtown Cleveland suffered from 40 percent vacancy last year, yet this year they added a slew of new shops and have gone from half-empty to nearly completely full.
Renamed the 5th Street Arcades, the once-moribund properties have been turned around by Dick Pace of Cumberland Development, who has breathed new life into the spaces by luring entrepreneurial tenants with fresh concepts and excitement about downtown.
"Step by step, we're getting there," says Pace, who has focused on locally themed retail that serves downtown residents and office workers. "Each month, there's something new going on. Our tenants cross-market and help each other."
Last year, a retail grant competition netted Soulcraft Furniture Gallery, which opened earlier this year, and Pour Cleveland, which will open by November 1st.
Several of the businesses in the 5th Street Arcades will soon add outdoor seating, including Pour, Sushi 86 and a yet unnamed food tenant that Pace is working with.
Additional businesses that will open this fall include Herron Starr Apparel (a shoe store), The Tea Lab (a tea shop run by Bob Holcepl of City Roast), The Olive and the Grape, and a take-out vendor called C'mon Let's Eat (CLE).
Finally, Sushi 86 is expanding to create space for banquets and cooking classes, and Alphonso's, a men's and women's accessories shop, will open later this year.
"Tenants are drawn here because this is becoming known as a retail area, an area for shopping," Pace says. "That says a lot about downtown and what's happening."
Source: Dick Pace
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Renamed the 5th Street Arcades, the once-moribund properties have been turned around by Dick Pace of Cumberland Development, who has breathed new life into the spaces by luring entrepreneurial tenants with fresh concepts and excitement about downtown.
"Step by step, we're getting there," says Pace, who has focused on locally themed retail that serves downtown residents and office workers. "Each month, there's something new going on. Our tenants cross-market and help each other."
Last year, a retail grant competition netted Soulcraft Furniture Gallery, which opened earlier this year, and Pour Cleveland, which will open by November 1st.
Several of the businesses in the 5th Street Arcades will soon add outdoor seating, including Pour, Sushi 86 and a yet unnamed food tenant that Pace is working with.
Additional businesses that will open this fall include Herron Starr Apparel (a shoe store), The Tea Lab (a tea shop run by Bob Holcepl of City Roast), The Olive and the Grape, and a take-out vendor called C'mon Let's Eat (CLE).
Finally, Sushi 86 is expanding to create space for banquets and cooking classes, and Alphonso's, a men's and women's accessories shop, will open later this year.
"Tenants are drawn here because this is becoming known as a retail area, an area for shopping," Pace says. "That says a lot about downtown and what's happening."
Source: Dick Pace
Writer: Lee Chilcote
Bad Girl Ventures recently was honored by the SCORE Foundation as Outstanding Non-Profit Organization for its work with entrepreneurs in starting their businesses. BGV works with SCORE mentors in its business education classes.
“BGV has been using SCORE mentors and services since 2010,” says Reka Barabas, director of BGV Cleveland. “We tap into their expertise and we match up our finalists with SCORE mentors.”
Additionally, BGV is now a Kiva Zip trustee, meaning it can recommend businesses for zero-interest loans for up to $10,000 through that organization. “Bad Girl Ventures is the first Kiva Zip trustee in Ohio,” says Barabas. “We have a two-pronged approach to helping female-owned businesses. We provide education, and if they have a strong business plan and are ready to go, they have access to capital. Having these partnerships really helps our mission.”
Two BGV Cleveland graduates already have been identified as candidates for the Kiva Zip loan. Anne Hartnett received a 2012 $5,000 BGV loan for Harness Cycle, which is opening this fall in Ohio City. Paula Hershman, owner of Storehouse Tea Company, is one of the first Cleveland graduates of the BGV program and will use the Kiva Zip loan to expand her business. One more graduate will be endorsed this year.
BGV business education courses also offer the opportunity to receive a $25,000 low-interest loan. The application deadline for the fall session is September 1.
Source: Reka Barabas
Writer: Karin Connelly
“BGV has been using SCORE mentors and services since 2010,” says Reka Barabas, director of BGV Cleveland. “We tap into their expertise and we match up our finalists with SCORE mentors.”
Additionally, BGV is now a Kiva Zip trustee, meaning it can recommend businesses for zero-interest loans for up to $10,000 through that organization. “Bad Girl Ventures is the first Kiva Zip trustee in Ohio,” says Barabas. “We have a two-pronged approach to helping female-owned businesses. We provide education, and if they have a strong business plan and are ready to go, they have access to capital. Having these partnerships really helps our mission.”
Two BGV Cleveland graduates already have been identified as candidates for the Kiva Zip loan. Anne Hartnett received a 2012 $5,000 BGV loan for Harness Cycle, which is opening this fall in Ohio City. Paula Hershman, owner of Storehouse Tea Company, is one of the first Cleveland graduates of the BGV program and will use the Kiva Zip loan to expand her business. One more graduate will be endorsed this year.
BGV business education courses also offer the opportunity to receive a $25,000 low-interest loan. The application deadline for the fall session is September 1.
Source: Reka Barabas
Writer: Karin Connelly
Len Gray, a young attorney and Memphis native, has relocated to Cleveland to launch his legal startup Inlaw.me, an online recruiting aid that connects legal employers with candidates. What attracted him was the local business community's spirit of collaboration and enthusiasm.
If all goes as planned, an ambitious new supper club with two stages for live music and outdoor dining will open on the west bank of the Flats next spring. Pursuing that dream are Mike and Colleen Miller, marketing and concert industry vets who lived in Chicago before moving back to Cleveland.
detroit transit draws more inspiration from rta health line
In a Detroit Free Press story titled “Metromode: From freeway to busway? The call for bus rapid transit,” writer Kim North Shine details Detroit’s M1 light-rail line, which is set to begin construction shortly.
Shine writes of the inspiration Detroit’s BRT drew from cities such as Denver, Las Vegas, Portland, and Cleveland.
“We were very impressed. We came away thinking if Cleveland can do it, so can we.” [Southeast Michigan Council of Governments transportation planner] Carmine Palombo says. “When you were on it, it felt like a bus, but it looks more like a rail vehicle. Most importantly, it ran quickly. Getting on or getting off was much different than a bus. There are much larger doors, no steps, curb boarding. You could see the economic development. It was clean. You sort of got the best of both worlds there. … You could see how it would work for us.”
Check out the complete article here.
Shine writes of the inspiration Detroit’s BRT drew from cities such as Denver, Las Vegas, Portland, and Cleveland.
“We were very impressed. We came away thinking if Cleveland can do it, so can we.” [Southeast Michigan Council of Governments transportation planner] Carmine Palombo says. “When you were on it, it felt like a bus, but it looks more like a rail vehicle. Most importantly, it ran quickly. Getting on or getting off was much different than a bus. There are much larger doors, no steps, curb boarding. You could see the economic development. It was clean. You sort of got the best of both worlds there. … You could see how it would work for us.”
Check out the complete article here.
Leslie Friend will be the first person to tell you that what she does is dangerous, but it's also a real thrill and great workout. She teaches aerial silks classes, best known as the acrobatic art form of Cirque du Soleil, at two different locations in Cleveland, the Studio Cleveland and Sokol Greater Cleveland.
"It utilizes every aspect of the body: core strength, balance and flexibility," says Friend. "Most importantly for most people, it builds confidence. A lot of people have a fear of doing stuff off the ground, and this builds up their confidence."
Aerial silks athletes climb and perform acrobatic maneuvers on nylon fabrics that are rigged to the ceiling. Friend starts class participants low to the ground, and as they advance in ability, she allows them to climb higher into the air to perform tricks. She's never had an accident, although participants sometimes do get tangled.
"We've had to build a tower of mats to reach them," she says. "We always tell people, 'If you're ever in doubt, back yourself out, lower yourself to the floor.'"
In Friend's classes, silks climbers can reach heights of up to 20 feet in the air. They entwine themselves in the silks to perform spins and hang upside down.
Although aerial silks classes are growing in popularity, there still are very few places in Ohio where you can even try it. Friend's classes have become so popular this year that she's introduced software on her websites allowing people to sign up in advance.
Classes typically cost between $15 and $20, with discounts available for five-class packages. All of the classes are open to beginners as well as more advanced aerial silks athletes.
Source: Leslie Friend
Writer: Lee Chilcote
"It utilizes every aspect of the body: core strength, balance and flexibility," says Friend. "Most importantly for most people, it builds confidence. A lot of people have a fear of doing stuff off the ground, and this builds up their confidence."
Aerial silks athletes climb and perform acrobatic maneuvers on nylon fabrics that are rigged to the ceiling. Friend starts class participants low to the ground, and as they advance in ability, she allows them to climb higher into the air to perform tricks. She's never had an accident, although participants sometimes do get tangled.
"We've had to build a tower of mats to reach them," she says. "We always tell people, 'If you're ever in doubt, back yourself out, lower yourself to the floor.'"
In Friend's classes, silks climbers can reach heights of up to 20 feet in the air. They entwine themselves in the silks to perform spins and hang upside down.
Although aerial silks classes are growing in popularity, there still are very few places in Ohio where you can even try it. Friend's classes have become so popular this year that she's introduced software on her websites allowing people to sign up in advance.
Classes typically cost between $15 and $20, with discounts available for five-class packages. All of the classes are open to beginners as well as more advanced aerial silks athletes.
Source: Leslie Friend
Writer: Lee Chilcote