The City of Cleveland has developed a plan to create bike lanes along Detroit Avenue between West 25th and West 75th streets to cater to the growing number of two-wheeled commuters using the thoroughfare.

The idea was developed as a temporary alternative to the stalled West Shoreway project, but has now taken on a life of its own. City officials say that even if more money is found to complete multi-modal paths along the Shoreway, the Detroit bike lanes are here to stay.

"This really is a new day in the City of Cleveland for cycling," Planning Director Bob Brown told the audience at a recent public meeting. "For decades, Cleveland put the priority on cars and cyclists were treated as second class citizens. The big change was the complete and green streets ordinance -- now it's the law of the land that every time we plan a roadway project, bikes have to be a priority."

"If we want to create a mode shift [away from driving and towards cycling], then we need to create the facilities to do it," added Jacob Van Sickle, Executive Director of Bike Cleveland. "Bike Cleveland will continue to push the city."

The complex project, which will span 1.7 miles and cost $76,000, includes a mixture of bike lanes and sharrows (painted arrows in the roadway indicating that cars must share the road with bikes). The five foot lanes allow for on-street parking while providing enough room for cyclists to avoid the "door zone" (the area where they could be hit if the driver of a parked car opens the door).

The long-term goal, Brown said during the meeting, is to create a network of bike lanes on major streets throughout the city. Planners are working on eventually extending the bike lanes along the Detroit-Superior bridge and Superior.


Source: Bob Brown, Jacob Van Sickle
Writer: Lee Chilcote

In recent years, Cleveland Municipal School District has opened 14 new high-performing public schools rated Excellent or Effective by the State. The Cleveland Plan, approved this summer by state legislators, will pave the way for even more improvements to the district's schools, making it more likely that urban parents will choose to remain in the city.

Ingenuity Fest 2012 will take place this weekend, September 14 to 16 at Cleveland Lakefront Docks 30 and 32, in 120,000 square feet of warehouse space. Aside from music and artistic performances, the festival will showcase the work of local inventors working on some fun and interactive projects.
 
“It ranges from DIY aesthetic things to engineers,” says director of programming James Krouse. “We have inventors or people who are beta testing a product or are in academic engineering programs. This is a place to display these innovations.”
 
The Make Space area of the festival will include the Lorain County Community College Fab Lab and the Cleveland MC2 Stem School Mobile Fab Lab -- a NASCAR trailer equipped with computers, software and lasers for creating 3-D images.

“It’s just a collection of designer software and laser cutters,” says Krouse.
 
A CWRU engineering graduate student will have a display of solar-powered fireflies that mimic the algorithm of fireflies’ communication. A panel of local chefs and sustainability advocates will speak on Friday about local food and sustainability. A series of talks on Saturday will examine the history of flight -- from the Wright brothers all the way through the Mars Curiosity expedition.

 
Source: James Krouse
Writer: Karin Connelly

Bad Girl Ventures will host its third business education series that culminates with the chance for female participants to win a $25,000 loan. The nine-week session begins on September 19 at the Lakewood campus of University of Akron.
 
Classes cover everything from legal and accounting to business plans and marketing to improving credit scores to resources available for financing.

“We try to hit on everything on the mind of the small business owner,” explains Reka Barabas, director of BGV Cleveland. Emphasis is placed on access to capital, which is sometimes a challenge for female business owners. “Only a small segment of women-owned businesses -- about five percent -- are accessing the capital available to small business owners,” says Barabas.
 
Since its initial launch in Cincinnati, BGV has educated over 400 women, awarded over $190,000 in low-interest loans and helped secure over $1,000,000 in outside funding for female entrepreneurs throughout Ohio. 
 
Past finalists have gone on to find success in their businesses. For instance, Paula Hershman, founder of Storehouse Tea Company, just got into a new store with her product and Kelley Hynds of Hyndsight Productions just finished a video for a client, which was screened in the White House.

The application deadline for the classes is Aug. 31.

 
Source: Reka Barabas
Writer: Karin Connelly

COSE is looking for a few good startups. The organization’s second annual business pitch competition will be held on Thursday, October 18 at Pickwick and Frolic. Competition finalists will outline their ideas to a panel of experts, including Jeff Hoffman, founder of Priceline.com.
 
“So many small business owners just starting out with a new idea need more than money and someone to talk to,” says Megan Kim, COSE director of education and programs. “We’re challenging the business owner to think about their business in a new way, think about why their business is so unique.”
 
To get in front of the panelists, entrants must put together an executive summary and a two-minute video pitch. Applicants must be in business less than two years and have less than $250,000 in gross annual revenue.
 
Twenty semi-finalists will be chosen to give a 15-minute presentation and answer questions from the panel. From there, four finalists will be chosen to present at Pickwick and Frolic. The winner will receive $20,000, while second place gets $10,000 and third and fourth places receive $5,000 each.
 
The competition is designed to both encourage and educate small business owners in the area.

“It’s so great to see so many people with the entrepreneurial bug,” says Kim. “People who start their own businesses don’t always know where to go or what questions to ask. This competition gives them someone to talk it through with, it gives them connection and the chance to find their roots.”
 
The deadline to submit the executive summary and video pitch is Tuesday, Sept. 4 by 5 p.m.

 
Source: Megan Kim
Writer: Karin Connelly

An innovative software program developed by the Center for Urban Poverty at Case Western Reserve University is helping Cleveland neighborhood development practitioners reinvent their urban communities in strategic, data-driven ways.

NEO CANDO, a publicly accessible database, provides one-stop-shopping for anyone looking to research property information in their neighborhood. The site allows users to go beyond researching individual properties and look at snapshots of neighborhoods -- including which properties are at risk of foreclosure and which have been condemned. The site also contains social, economic and census data.

"In the past, information was collected from multiple websites, and by the time it was assembled, it was out of date," says Mike Schramm, a Research Associate in the Center on Urban Poverty in the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at CWRU. "We bring data together across domains. Our mission is to democratize data and to create data-driven decisions by both nonprofits and government."

In practice, NEO CANDO is used by foreclosure prevention agencies to research which properties are in danger of going into foreclosure. Armed with this info, grassroots groups can knock on the owner's door and attempt to intervene, thus hopefully preventing another vacant, bank-owned home in the neighborhood.

The information is also used to focus on areas with strategic assets in an effort to better protect them. "You need to know that the house across street from that recently rehabbed home is in foreclosure -- and then do something about it."

Projects like NEO CANDO are helping to facilitate a shift within the community development field towards creating more strategic, placemaking investments.


Source: Mike Schramm
Writer: Lee Chilcote

High-profile projects like a wind turbine and solar panels combined with aggressive recycling and composting programs give the Tribe a green leg up on much of the competition. By using their standing in the community, the Indians are getting people to think about sustainability, alternative energy, and recycling.

Mario Schulzke has always been fascinated with the spirit and drive behind entrepreneurs. The Plettenberg, Germany native came to America on his own at age 16, went to college and ended up in advertising in Los Angeles.
 
“I always wanted to be an entrepreneur but I couldn’t because of my work permit,” Schulzke recalls. So in 2009, he launched IdeaMensch, a vehicle to celebrate and learn from entrepreneurs. “I’d always admired entrepreneurs and people who brought their ideas to life. The original idea was to learn more from these people.”
 
This year Schulzke, now 31 and with his green card, decided to take his search on the road. He and a few friends are traveling across the country, inviting local entrepreneurs to share their stories. “People with ideas truly live everywhere,” Schulzke says. “I figured there was no better way to start this than to go on a road trip and try to learn from these people in person.”
 
The group is organizing 50 events in 48 states in 115 days. This past week they were at Quicken Loans Arena. The entrepreneurs featured were Eric Wobser of Ohio City Inc., Joe Pulizzi of Content Marketing World, Laura Bennett of Embrace Pet Insurance, David Levine of Wireless Environment and Deb Papes-Stanzak of Ronwear. Each entrepreneur gave a 15-minute speech about how and why they brought their ideas to life, followed by a brief Q&A.
 
Schulzke’s goal is to get other would-be entrepreneurs to act on their ideas. “The goal is to encourage and inspire people to bring their ideas to life,” he says. “If I could get one person to say ‘I have this idea and I’m going to get started on it,’ I’ll be happy.”

 
Source: Mario Schulzke
Writer: Karin Connelly

Northeast Ohio's 80-plus young professional organizations play a critical role in plugging new talent into Cleveland. Research shows that there’s a 90-day window from when people move to a city to influence them and give them reasons to stay. Once plugged in, these YPs are helping to reshape the city’s future.

When musician educators with Roots of American Music hold workshops in Cleveland public schools, it almost goes without saying that they are entering a place that doesn't have a full-time music teacher. Most cannot afford to hire full-time music staff, so they rely on part-time faculty and visiting artists.

The 14-year-old nonprofit organization educates more than 15,000 students throughout Northeast Ohio each year, teaching social studies, financial literacy and health education through music.

"We do a lot of songwriting about topics that are important to kids," says Kevin Richards, ROAM's Director. "They work with authentic artist-educators who not only can teach but are also bluesmen, Cajun zydeco artists or rappers."

Richards likens ROAM's educational approach to parents who disguise healthy foods to get their kids to eat them. In general, the artists have little trouble convincing kids to participate. "Kids don't realize they're getting an academic message at the same time as they're fooling around with traditional music."

ROAM's curriculum has changed as educational goals have evolved. When Richards created the organization, the focus was on teaching social studies. Today, such staple courses are supplemented with programs about financial literacy and health education (the latter is in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic).

One popular program called "On the Move" teaches students in the Central neighborhood of Cleveland about migration patterns throughout history. Students learn the song "Kansas City" and change the lyrics to fit their family's story.

Roots of American Music will host its 13th annual Benefit for Education on Saturday, October 6th at the Beachland Ballroom. Multi-award-winning Austin singer-songwriter Guy Forsythe is the headliner. The tickets are $125 for VIP access including dinner and preferred seating, or $15 for the concert only.


Source: Kevin Richards
Writer: Lee Chilcote

To build off of the growing economic and residential development taking place downtown, Old Stone Church and the YMCA of Greater Cleveland are launching a new preschool on Public Square.

The preschool will be located in Old Stone Center, next to the church, and will accommodate up to 55 children. Early-bird registration opportunities will be available to downtown residents, church members and YMCA members. Drop-off and pick-up parking during the peak periods when downtown traffic is at its busiest have been arranged with the aid of Downtown Cleveland Alliance.

Mark Giuliano, Pastor of Old Stone Church, believes that the new preschool will address the lack of educational offerings downtown. This is an oft-cited reason why young families leave downtown, says Giuliano, who also is a downtown resident and President of the Downtown Cleveland Residents Association. Having a preschool will encourage more young families to remain downtown, he says.

"The partnership between the Old Stone Church and the YMCA gives parents and their children opportunity to access a creative, program-based preschool right on Public Square,” Giuliano said in a news release.


Source: Mark Giuliano
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Thrive Cleveland, a new grassroots "happiness incubator," wants to amaze you. The goal is to provide experiences that are "surprising," "boundary expanding" and "beyond your comfort zone," according to cofounder Scott Simon.

"What we’re doing is creating what you could call a happiness gym," says Simon. "It will be a series of ongoing, curated experiences for Clevelanders. We want to get them to meet other people, be creative and hear from the best and brightest in Cleveland."

The group is composed of 13 Clevelanders who are volunteering their time to create happiness-inducing events aimed at engaging the city's residents.

The first experience, entitled "WTF? (What's That Food?) -- A Local Farm-to-Table Exploration," will take place on Saturday, August 25th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Participants will meet at Cafe Benice and then travel as a group to the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Farmers Market, where they'll meet with farmers, taste just-picked produce, and learn how fresh food contributes to happiness and well-being. Afterwards, the group will return to Cafe Benice to participate in a hands-on cooking experience utilyzing the farm-fresh foods. 

According to Simon, the event is part of a national movement towards fostering greater happiness in cities across the country. He cites the Happiness Institute in San Francisco and Life Labs NYC in Brooklyn as two comparable organizations.


Source: Scott Simon
Writer: Lee Chilcote

When Earl Pike of the Cleveland Leadership Center helped design the new Civic Engagement Boot Camp, he tapped the popular national trend of half marathon benefits as a wellspring of inspiration.

"People want to be challenged," he says. "We didn't want to do the typical thing of getting a bunch of young people in a room to listen to an old person pontificate. We wanted to ask people to do something really hard and put their hearts and souls into it."

The result? A one-day civic engagement half marathon, if you will. The Boot Camp starts at 6:30 a.m. and runs until 9 p.m.

"At the end, you'll be exhausted and probably smell bad and be a little frayed," says Pike. "But you'll see every major sector of Cleveland and you'll be engaged in a way that changes you, challenges you."

In June, participants held a behind-the-scenes meeting with the editorial board of the Plain Dealer, worked out with an 82-year-old woman, dug in the dirt at Ohio City Farm, went on a bike tour of Cleveland, and honed their improv skills at Cleveland Public Theatre. And that was just part of the day. It concluded with a meeting of area foundation leaders at the Terminal Tower Observation Deck.

The next installment of Boot Camp, titled "Cleveland from dawn to dusk -- like you've never seen it before," will take place Thursday, October 4th. The cost is $500.

"It doesn't really matter what people do: We love seeing people inspired and getting active in whatever domain they choose," says Pike, who says the long-term goal is combining civic engagement with personal growth. "Now we're beginning to look at the coaching that might come after the experience."


Source: Earl Pike
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) last week awarded CWRU a $64.6-million, five-year grant for the continuation of a collaborative effort to bring medical research to hospitals, clinics and doctors’ offices, improving the health of patients in the region. The federal grant is the largest in Northeast Ohio history.
 
The NIH founded the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) six years ago to accelerate the transition of medical ideas to medical applications. “Five years ago the NIH decided a program was needed to help bring basic decisions from the science lab to patients,” says Pamela B. Davis, CWRU School of Medicine dean and principal investigator. 
 
Cleveland is one of 61 institutions in the country to have a CTSA. Along with CWRU, the program is a collaborative effort between the Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth System, University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center.
 
In addition to Davis, Richard A. Rudick, MD, vice chair of the Neurological Institute at Cleveland Clinic, serves as the effort’s co-principal investigator. The two applied for the original $64 million grant five years ago, which at the time was the largest in the region’s history.
 
More than 1,300 individuals have participated in CTSA-related efforts in the past five years in three categories: community engagement, teaching and mentoring, and acceleration of medical research and discovery.
 
For instance, doctor education on type 2 diabetes resulted in lowering three-month blood sugars in patients by an entire percentage point. “That’s enough to change the risk of complications,” says Davis. “It gives us the ability to make a real impact.”
 
Other efforts included retaining children with high blood pressure to run a portion of the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, resulting in significant long-term drops in blood pressure.
 
“We’re trying to reach into the community and make a difference,” says Davis. “We have done a lot of partnerships in town, and we’re looking forward to expanding that.”

 
Source: Pamela B. Davis
Writer: Karin Connelly

In 2011, Trevor Shaw was working in sales and marketing for an industrial parts distributor, searching through Google AdWords accounts when his wandering mind struck upon an idea. “I was bored and thinking about the previous weekend and all the fun I had,” Shaw recalls. “So I started thinking.”
 
Shaw’s thinking led to Barkudo, an iPhone app that allows bar managers to input daily drink specials so customers within a five-mile radius can redeem them on their phones.
 
“The bar manager goes to the Barkudo website, logs in to their merchant account and creates deals throughout the week,” explains Shaw. “Users open the app within five miles of that bar and will see the specials.”
 
Barkudo differs from deal sites like Groupon in that users do not prepay for the special, and bar owners do not have to wait for their money. “The bar owners receive their money at the point of sale, up front from the customer,” says Shaw.  “There’s no printout. You just have to be at the location to get the deal.”
 
In just a few weeks -- Barkudo launched at the end of July -- Shaw has commitments from Panini’s on Coventry, The Cedar Lee Pub and Grill, The Fairmount Martini and Wine Bar, and the Blind Pig. More bars are on the way in Ohio City, Tremont and Akron.

“In the next month we expect to be moving quickly as everything starts trickling in and moving week by week," adds Shaw.
 
Right now, Shaw works with a programmer to help him launch. He expects to hire a technical person and sales reps as the business grows.

 
Source: Trevor Shaw
Writer: Karin Connelly

Jeff Griffiths launched Hands On Northeast Ohio in 2007 to "train and equip volunteers to be at the center of change in their communities." In 2011, the startup nonprofit organization helped connect nearly 5,000 volunteers with hundreds of worthy projects throughout the Cleveland area.

Last weekend, volunteers prepped bikes at the Ohio City Bike Co-op, served meals to the homeless, delivered meals to seniors, cleaned cat cages, and lended a hand at the Cleveland Botanical Garden.

Hands On Northeast Ohio offers accessible, well-managed opportunities to serve throughout the community. Volunteers attend an orientation session and sign up for opportunities on the group's website. With a point and a click, they can read descriptions of opportunities, find out which ones are available, and sign up.

"People wanted to help, but oftentimes accessing volunteer opportunities was filled with barriers -- the commitment was unrealistic, the training was too cumbersome, or the agency didn't have a way to recruit or train volunteers at all," says Griffiths. "By us managing projects, we make both parties happy."

In addition to 35-plus managed projects per month, Hands On also manages one-day national events such as the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance.

Griffiths says the organization is part of a national network of similar groups. "We saw a need, took a proven model and adapted it locally to our needs here," he says.


Source: Jeff Griffiths
Writer: Lee Chilcote