Downtown
“It’s a Cleveland pride thing,” says Phoenix CEO and self-described superbarista Sarah Wilson-Jones. “We thought it was time to have a coffee that is uniquely Cleveland.” The name reflects the Cleveland airport code.
The coffee, which originated as an espresso blend, is a combination of Brazilian, Columbian, Costa Rican and Sumatran coffees and is a medium body blend with floral aromas and touches of vanilla and a chocolate finish. The blend has its own logo – a CLE baggage tag.
Introduced in July, CLE Blend tempts travelers as they enter or leave the airport’s C concourse. It’s also available at Phoenix locations around Northeast Ohio and online. “It was designed to celebrate our relationship with the airport,” says Wilson-Jones. “It’s designed for Clevelanders by Clevelanders.”
Wilson-Jones says Auntie Anne’s approached Phoenix because they wanted a local connection for their coffee products.
“There’s a popular demand for local coffee in the airport,” she says. “And that’s what drove Auntie Anne’s to call us.”
Source: Sarah Wilson-Jones
Writer: Karin Connelly
"Latest timetables show the Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati opening at Broadway Commons in spring 2013, a year after a Horseshoe Casino opens in Cleveland. Hollywood Casinos will open in Toledo in the first half of next year and in Columbus in the latter half."
Delays caused by the recent state tax budget fight are to blame for pushing back the opening of the Cincinnati casino. Because the Cleveland casino is a renovation rather than new construction, the delays were less detrimental.
"Until the tax dispute last spring, Cincinnati was on track to open its casino in late 2012. But Rock Gaming halted construction at its casinos in Cincinnati and Cleveland while a settlement was worked out, delaying the opening here until spring 2013. Cleveland was less affected. Unlike Cincinnati, where a new building is rising from the ground, Cleveland is renovating an existing structure for the opening phase of its casino."
The article adds that Rock Gaming officials in Cleveland have already begun hiring staff, including dealers and managers.
"Once destined to be the last to open due to site difficulties, [Cleveland] city officials convinced Rock Gaming early this year to open the Cleveland casino in two phases, putting it first."
Read the rest here.
The two came together again when they realized they most liked forming businesses, and wanted to put their knowledge to work helping others do the same.
“I spent a lot of time in my career helping people bring ideas to market,” says Celeste. “One on the things I realized I wanted to do is help other people create businesses.”
So the two created Hatch Partners, which stands for Help At The Critical Hour. The company helps entrepreneurs all over Northeast Ohio bring their ideas to life, whether it’s through mentoring, advising or financing.
“The idea behind Hatch is that every entrepreneur has that moment of Should I pursue this idea?" explains Celeste. “We like being at the moment if inception when an idea is really coming to life.”
While Hatch occasionally provides capital to its portfolio of startups, its underlying function is to encourage other entrepreneurs. “We have no interest in becoming venture capitalists,” says Celeste. “The idea is really being an advisor and coaching.”
Unlike other business incubators in the area, Hatch is focused on coaching. “We’re neither place-based nor institutional,” says Celeste. “We’ve had a lot of good fortune in our lives. There were always key people who said, ‘Yes you can. You can build this business.’”
Source: Christopher Celeste
Writer: Karin Connelly
"Newly graduated and ready for a change of scenery? The best city for recent grads is Hartford-New Haven, Conn. On its heels are Cleveland, Boston and Denver."
CareerRookie and Apartments.com ranked the cities based on the population of young adults between the ages of 20 and 24, number of jobs requiring less than a year of experience, and the average rent of a one-bedroom apartment.
Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Cleveland is $695.
See the rest of the ranking here.
The company, which has grown from eight to 80 employees in two years, just completed an $18.4 million Series B financing round with Excel Venture Management and HealthCare Ventures, both out of Boston.
The investment will allow Cleveland HeartLab to expand -- both in employees and market acceptance. In addition to its current offerings, the company plans to introduce additional diagnostic tests in 2012. "The goal is to eliminate the threat of vascular inflammation," he says.
"The funding allows the company to double in size again," says Jake Orville, president and CEO. "And we've just committed to moving off [the Clinic's] campus to the Health Tech Corridor."
Orville predicts the company will double again in the next two years, adding positions in management, sales, marketing, and research and development. He attributes his company's growth to a talented, dedicated staff.
"We have the gift of really good novel technology," he says. "Combine that with really good people and a really good business plan."
Source: Jake Orville
Writer: Karin Connelly
And they aren't done yet, says Spitz. "We’d like to be known as the next national staffing agency,” he says. “Our goal is to open one to two offices every quarter.”
EverStaff has three staffing specialties: Professional, manufacturing and retail. Services include everything in the hiring process, from pre-screening to interviewing to providing references. “We provide the resources to every client to assist them with the hiring process,” explains Spitz.
Spitz credits EverStaff’s success with its close attention to client needs. “We consider ourselves different than other people in the industry because we get to know our clients and customize our services to them,” says Spitz. “We provide a customized service to our clients and, more importantly, we listen to them.”
Spitz started his career with an accounting degree and four years at Robert Half International. “It was a great starting ground for me,” he says. “But I was at a point in my life where I always had an entrepreneurial mindset and decided to out on my own.”
EverStaff has twice been in the Weatherhead 100 and Inc. Magazine’s 500/5000 list of fastest growing companies.
Source: Danny Spitz
Writer: Karin Connelly
Content Marketing World, a first-ever national conference that will take place at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, aims to help businesses and nonprofits place storytelling at the center of their work and to create their own marketing channels to reach consumers rather than relying on traditional media.
"To create and attract customers, marketers need to create valuable, relevant, timely content," says Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute, a company headquartered in Cleveland, and organizer of the event. "Customers are bombarded by marketing all day long -- more companies realize they need compelling content during all parts of the buying cycle."
The event will feature more than 50 speakers from around the country, including bestselling authors David Meerman Scott and Sally Hogshead. Comedian and filmmaker Kevin Smith, who bucked Hollywood with the independent release of his early films and is set to release "Red State" this fall, is also part of the lineup.
Given the rich history of marketing and custom publishing firms rooted in the city, Pulizzi hopes to shine a spotlight on Cleveland's content marketers -- and to tout the city as a great place to do business.
"You don't have to be in Hollywood or on Madison Avenue anymore to tell a good story," he says. "Why not Cleveland?"
Content Marketing World takes place from Sept. 6th-8th.
Source: Joe Pulizzi
Writer: Lee Chilcote
"Sometimes a company's future growth is contingent on landing angel investment funding," the article's author writes. "The challenge is to find the right angel investor who is passionate about your business."
"You can get started with this resource list of the largest angel investing firms in the U.S., according to the Angel Capital Association, a trade association of investment groups," he offers.
With a roster of 180 angels, Cleveland's North Coast Angel Fund, which invests in Ohio-based technology startups, claims the sixth spot. Columbus-based TechAngel Funds, with 282 angels, is the number one group. This group supports early-stage Ohio-based information technology, advanced materials, and medical technology companies.
Read the rest here.
Jackson says that Cleveland must do what it takes to bring about LEEDCo's goal of planting a 20-megawatt wind energy pilot project seven miles offshore from downtown. More than just an overblown science experiment, the project will be the country's first freshwater wind farm, creating approximately 600 initial jobs and the potential for 8,000 long-term wind-energy jobs.
Calling on all private and public sector parties to set aside short-term interests in favor of long-term benefits, Jackson says, "If we don't take advantage of this opportunity, someone else will. Some other city will build the first offshore wind farm. Some other region will create thousands of new green-collar jobs."
Read the Mayor's impassioned appeal here.
“Downtown is where the action is,” says Alex Cortes, an attorney who lives in the Warehouse District. Cortes is one of the 10,000 people who call downtown home. But to reach the 20,000-resident figure that boosters say Cleveland needs to truly become a vibrant neighborhood in the city, more retail, green space, and housing options will have to come online.
Last January, a group of religious and community leaders got together under one common goal: To make Cleveland a better place to work and live. The Greater Cleveland Congregations (GCC) was born. A united front of 40 religious and community organizations began collecting input on what the city needed to do to improve.
“Between January and March we asked participating organizations, ‘What makes life better for you and your family in Cleveland?’” explains Ari Lipman, GCC lead organizer. Four hundred participants came up with five areas to focus on: education, healthcare, jobs, criminal justice and sustainable food.
GCC officially kicked off its mission in June with a founding assembly. More than 2,000 Clevelanders attended to put their heads together and come up with a collective bargaining of sorts to improve the living standard.
“Each of the five areas has started action teams,” notes Lipman. “For jobs, we’re looking at job training -- jobs that exist that you can support a family on and primarily on jobs creation.”
The GCC is part of the Industrial Areas Foundation, the nation’s first and largest network of multi-faith coalitions. Lipman cites success stories in other chapters around the nation as proof that the same kind of team power can work in Cleveland.
"In Washington state, the group figured out a way of expanding the number of green jobs,” says Lipman. “They signed up people to get their houses winterized, got 1,000 people signed up and created over 100 jobs.”
While the group is still in the research phase, they plan to unveil their action plan this winter. “By 2012 we’re going to have interesting and exciting ideas,” says Lipman. “We’re going to need some people to help implement them.”
Source: Ari Lipman
Writer: Karin Connelly
A vacant Euclid Avenue storefront has now become a community hub thanks to East 4th Yoga, a new studio that offers free yoga classes and aims to enhance the sense of community downtown.
The studio, which launched last month, offers complimentary, donation-based classes on Saturday mornings at 10 in the former Bang and the Clatter Theatre space at 244 Euclid. While geared towards downtown residents, anyone is welcome to attend. Organizer Tammy Oliver, an East 4th resident, says the studio creates a community gathering space and promotes downtown living.
“There aren’t many opportunities for this kind of gathering space downtown,” says Oliver. “The more opportunities we provide people to live, work and play, the more likely they’ll be to live downtown. We’re trying to create a neighborhood.”
To fund the program, Oliver secured a sponsorship from Oasis Health Care. Additionally, MRN Ltd. has donated the former theatre space, and yoga instructors from across the city volunteer their time. Finally, MVP Valet offers free valet parking for individuals traveling from other parts of the city.
Oliver, who organized the yoga classes as a volunteer, is also the leasing agent for East 4th Street. She says the idea was generated through discussions with friends who can’t afford to take regular yoga classes, and through brainstorming with downtown residents about other amenities that are needed downtown.
“It’s not enough to provide nice living spaces, we need places to shop, hang out and meet our neighbors,” says Oliver. She adds that MRN Ltd. is actively working on plans to recruit additional retailers to the East 4th and Euclid Avenue area.
The funds raised from class donations will be used to purchase equipment such as yoga mats and blocks that will be donated to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD). Oliver is hoping to work with a group of yoga instructors and CMSD to create a yoga program that is geared towards urban youth.
“We can use yoga to enrich and bring peace to young people’s lives,” she says.
Source: Tammy Oliver
Writer: Lee Chilcote
The $1.6 million first phase of the project, which was completed last fall, removed sunken areas that were considered unsightly and unsafe because they provided places for individuals to hide. Funding for this phase came from the City of Cleveland, Downtown Cleveland Alliance, businesses and foundations.
The $1.3 million second phase that is now underway includes new seating, trees, plants, art and a trellis along E. 12th Street. Construction for this phase stems from the $20 million sale of the Convention Center to Cuyahoga County.
The Perk Park project was originally designed in 2003 during Mayor Campbell's administration, but was not constructed at that time due to lack of funding. The nonprofit organization ParkWorks led the redesign process. Landscape architects Thomas Balsley of New York and James McKnight of Cleveland designed it.
The new park adds to the number of redeveloped green/public spaces that exist in downtown Cleveland. There are nearly 3,000 residents living within a three-minute walk of the park, according to Downtown Cleveland Alliance. The Erieview District, as it's called, has the second largest concentration of downtown residents (the Warehouse District is first). The location is also a major hub for office jobs.
Source: Downtown Cleveland Alliance/ParkWorks
Writer: Lee Chilcote
To be held Saturday, August 27, the Crawl will utilize public transportation to ferry attendees from urban location to urban location, with stops Ohio City, University Circle, Little Italy, Larchmere/Shaker Square and E.4th Street. The day-long event steps off at 1 p.m. and winds down in Ohio City at 8 p.m.
"The purpose of the RTA Bar Crawl is to show Clevelanders and our suburbanite friends that our public transit system is a safe mode of transportation to get around the city," Baur explains. "It's also my hope that people will come away from the crawl envisioning life living in Cleveland proper. Walking, riding a bike or taking public transit to work, being part of the ongoing revitalization and knowing your fellow Clevelanders instead of going from boxed house to box car to office, back home to fall asleep and repeat."
Baur says the inspiration for the event came to him after listening to the "Mike Trivisonno Show," when the host said he would never step foot on the RTA, adding that downtown is filled with people who can't afford to live in the suburbs.
"Meanwhile, I'm laughing to myself," he adds, "because I fought like hell to get out of the suburbs!"
The event will also benefit the charity We Run This City.
For more info, click here.
Beginning August 29, 92.3 FM will switch formats from alternative rock to Cleveland's first and only FM sports talk radio station. Owned by CBS Radio, Sports Radio 92.3 The Fan (WKRK-FM) will feature locally produced programs hosted by familiar Cleveland voices, along with headline updates every 20 minutes and a full lineup of NFL and college football play-by-play coverage.
"CBS has done this across the country with terrific results," says market manager Tom Herschel. "We saw the opportunity in Cleveland and we're taking it."
On-air personalities will be made up of local and national names. Nationally-known talent Kevin Kiley will team up with Cleveland's own Chuck Booms weekday mornings for the area's only local morning drive sports-talk show. Adam "The Bull," formerly of WFAN in New York, will fill the afternoon drive time slot. Andy Roth has been named as program director and joins the station from Buffalo's WGR. He also has experience at stations in New York and WIP in Philadelphia.
The remainder of The Fan lineup will be announced at a later date. The new station will produce openings in a variety of areas, from on-air positions to back office jobs. "We're filling the other day parts with great talent and many people with local Cleveland sports ties," Herschel says. "The new station will result in a significant amount of hiring. The numbers will develop as we go along, but it will definitely be a jobs boost for the area."
Source: Tom Herschel
Writer: Karin Connelly
The five companies represent the diversity of enterprises in Northeast Ohio -- from retail and publications to business products and services to social media. The companies are: All Points Connect, Mindset Digital, iGuiders, Bonitas International and Your Teen magazine.
"Build it Big identifies companies that already have successes and want to achieve that next milestone," explains Katie Gage, manager of programming for Springboard. "It's a chance to plug them in to the entrepreneurial community."
Twelve companies applied to participate in the Build it Big: Cleveland program. After a 10-minute presentation and 15 minutes of Q & A, the five companies were chosen. "They are now meeting with Springboard partners in advisory sessions to address strategies for growth," says Gage.
The Springboard partners include KeyCorp, Meaden & Moore, and Thompson Hine. Since January, 2000, Springboard has helped over 400 women-led companies raise more than $5 billion in equity financing, including 8 IPOs, and legions of high value M&As. Eighty percent of Springboard companies are still in business, generating $4 billion in revenues and creating tens of thousands of newjobs.
Source: Katie Gage
Writer: Karin Connelly
The article reports that the four-week filming schedule is for a pivotal -- and explosive -- scene in the Marvel Comics superhero flick.
"Word is that a big battle will be shot [in Cleveland]. Odds are it will be the biggest battle of the film and appear toward the end."
"A movie like this is guaranteed to have a big battle," the article continues. "But now it seems we can pinpoint it to Cleveland, so it ought to be especially fun to watch filming there. Apparently there will be lots of explosions in the downtown."
Read the rest here.