Shaker Heights
When it opens in early February in a renovated car dealership, LaunchHouse will symbolize a new direction for the City of Shaker Heights and the Chagrin-Lee neighborhood. The 22,000-square-foot building will be a headquarters for start-up companies, providing space for offices, collaboration efforts and conferences.
LaunchHouse has already created quite a buzz in and around Shaker Heights. The business incubator and seed capital investment company has to date incubated 12 companies by providing funding, facilities, operational support and networking events. Todd Goldstein, who along with business partner Dar Caldwell, established the venture in 2008 (originally named Goldstein Caldwell & Associates), made the push for a move from Cleveland to Shaker Heights, where he has been a longtime resident.
The City of Shaker Heights saw this as a chance to establish an entrepreneurial hub in an inner-ring suburb. The city and LaunchHouse formed a five-year public-private partnership in which Shaker Heights granted LaunchHouse the use of the building at 3558 Lee Road.
"I really look at this opportunity as the cornerstone of our economic development," says Tania Menesse, director of economic development for Shaker Heights. In addition to the start-ups that Launch House will be nurturing, Menesse says the facility will cater to home-based businesses in the area that crave local resources.
LaunchHouse plans to add as many as 15 start-ups to its existing portfolio of 12 over the next year. Goldstein envisions the Shaker facility to quickly "create a community of innovation and entrepreneurship."
SOURCE: City of Shaker Heights, Launch House
WRITER: Diane DiPiero
LaunchHouse has already created quite a buzz in and around Shaker Heights. The business incubator and seed capital investment company has to date incubated 12 companies by providing funding, facilities, operational support and networking events. Todd Goldstein, who along with business partner Dar Caldwell, established the venture in 2008 (originally named Goldstein Caldwell & Associates), made the push for a move from Cleveland to Shaker Heights, where he has been a longtime resident.
The City of Shaker Heights saw this as a chance to establish an entrepreneurial hub in an inner-ring suburb. The city and LaunchHouse formed a five-year public-private partnership in which Shaker Heights granted LaunchHouse the use of the building at 3558 Lee Road.
"I really look at this opportunity as the cornerstone of our economic development," says Tania Menesse, director of economic development for Shaker Heights. In addition to the start-ups that Launch House will be nurturing, Menesse says the facility will cater to home-based businesses in the area that crave local resources.
LaunchHouse plans to add as many as 15 start-ups to its existing portfolio of 12 over the next year. Goldstein envisions the Shaker facility to quickly "create a community of innovation and entrepreneurship."
SOURCE: City of Shaker Heights, Launch House
WRITER: Diane DiPiero
slashfood says our urban farms take root
Slashfood, a popular online magazine devoted to food and drink, recently touted Cleveland's efforts to combat health, economic and foreclosure problems by launching multiple urban farming projects.
Citing the just-announced $1.1 million pilot program to fund the Cleveland Urban Agriculture Incubator Project, the writer notes that "Cleveland is planting seeds to counter the serious problems of obesity, food deserts and urban blight."
Supported by the USDA, the City of Cleveland, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio State University Extension Service, the new six-acre plot in the Kinsman neighborhood will be tended to by 20 local residents.
The farm will be two short miles from chef Doug Katz' Fire Food and Drink, the story points out. "I absolutely would love to use what they grow, and will promote that it's grown here in the City of Cleveland, right in our backyard," says Katz of the program.
Read all the juicy details here.
Citing the just-announced $1.1 million pilot program to fund the Cleveland Urban Agriculture Incubator Project, the writer notes that "Cleveland is planting seeds to counter the serious problems of obesity, food deserts and urban blight."
Supported by the USDA, the City of Cleveland, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio State University Extension Service, the new six-acre plot in the Kinsman neighborhood will be tended to by 20 local residents.
The farm will be two short miles from chef Doug Katz' Fire Food and Drink, the story points out. "I absolutely would love to use what they grow, and will promote that it's grown here in the City of Cleveland, right in our backyard," says Katz of the program.
Read all the juicy details here.
The marriage of high-tech design and high-end dining is proving a win-win for diners, local restaurateurs and Epstein Design Partners, a Shaker Square-based design firm.
The Civic Commons is a modern-day marriage of online technology, citizen journalism, and civic collaboration. The mission? To inform, engage and lead local residents to action on any number of weighty topics. Our guides: Dan Moulthrop and Noelle Celeste.
recent college grads-turned-entrepreneurs make a 'CnXn' with student athletes
Brian Verne and Mike Eppich graduated from Oberlin and Rollins colleges,
respectively, in 2009, and found themselves without job prospects. The
two Shaker Heights High School alum decided to take matters into their
own hands: They founded CnXn (short for Connection), an apparel company that seeks to unite people through athletics.
This year, CnXn has produced athletic wear for Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights and Cleveland Central Catholic high schools, as well as youth football and cheerleading teams.
"The branding strategy involves using an area code logo, beginning with 216, to create a shared element for individuals who reside in the same city or geographic region," explains Verne, who was a starter on the Oberlin baseball team. (Eppich was a pitcher at Rollins.)
The idea comes from a trend of professional athletes to display their area code somewhere on their equipment or body. (Professional football player Reggie Bush can often be seen with the numbers 619 written into his eye black.)
Verne and Eppich have made giving back a major part of the CnXn business plan. "We take 15 percent of the profit from each sale and donate it back to student-athletes who reside in the area code that is on the apparel," Verne says. "The consumer will constantly be reminded that his purchase can have a positive impact on a young student athlete in his hometown."
Right now, Verne and Eppich are actively looking for additional seed money to produce all of the performance wear in the CnXn collection.
Source: Brian Verne
Writer: Diane DiPiero
This year, CnXn has produced athletic wear for Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights and Cleveland Central Catholic high schools, as well as youth football and cheerleading teams.
"The branding strategy involves using an area code logo, beginning with 216, to create a shared element for individuals who reside in the same city or geographic region," explains Verne, who was a starter on the Oberlin baseball team. (Eppich was a pitcher at Rollins.)
The idea comes from a trend of professional athletes to display their area code somewhere on their equipment or body. (Professional football player Reggie Bush can often be seen with the numbers 619 written into his eye black.)
Verne and Eppich have made giving back a major part of the CnXn business plan. "We take 15 percent of the profit from each sale and donate it back to student-athletes who reside in the area code that is on the apparel," Verne says. "The consumer will constantly be reminded that his purchase can have a positive impact on a young student athlete in his hometown."
Right now, Verne and Eppich are actively looking for additional seed money to produce all of the performance wear in the CnXn collection.
Source: Brian Verne
Writer: Diane DiPiero
intergenerational school again named 'ohio school of promise', grows employee and student base
The Intergenerational School
(TIS) is doing its best to keep its promise of offering academic
excellence in Cleveland. For the fourth year in a row, the private, free
K-8 school has been named an Ohio School of Promise by the Ohio
Department of Education for excellence in reading and math.
"Identifying schools in this way reinforces the fact that all children can learn when given the opportunity in a quality educational setting," says Brooke King, executive director of TIS.
TIS began in 1998 with a three-person staff in a two-room facility. These days, the school occupies a 20,000-square-foot building on the campus of Fairhill Partners, a nonprofit organization focused on successful aging, located in the Buckeye-Larchmere neighborhood of Cleveland. As of this fall, TIS had 29 employees and more than 200 students.
Each classroom at TIS is composed of 16 students of multiple ages. Mentors and community partners work with the students to provide a multigenerational environment.
In addition to the Ohio School of Promise designation, TIS has received a number of awards from organizations dedicated to the elderly. For example, TIS was the recipient of the National MindAlert Award from the American Society on Aging for its mental fitness programs for older adults.
Source: Brooke King
Writer: Diane DiPiero
"Identifying schools in this way reinforces the fact that all children can learn when given the opportunity in a quality educational setting," says Brooke King, executive director of TIS.
TIS began in 1998 with a three-person staff in a two-room facility. These days, the school occupies a 20,000-square-foot building on the campus of Fairhill Partners, a nonprofit organization focused on successful aging, located in the Buckeye-Larchmere neighborhood of Cleveland. As of this fall, TIS had 29 employees and more than 200 students.
Each classroom at TIS is composed of 16 students of multiple ages. Mentors and community partners work with the students to provide a multigenerational environment.
In addition to the Ohio School of Promise designation, TIS has received a number of awards from organizations dedicated to the elderly. For example, TIS was the recipient of the National MindAlert Award from the American Society on Aging for its mental fitness programs for older adults.
Source: Brooke King
Writer: Diane DiPiero
pittsburgh's pop city spreads the word about fresh water
In last week's issue of Pop City (yes, it's a sister IMG publication), writer Deb Smit reported on our dear publication.
"Fresh Water launches this month with the goods on Cleveland, news as it pertains to innovation, jobs, healthcare, lifestyle, design and arts and culture," she writes." The bubbly, blue homepage comes to life each Thursday with a fresh issue featuring vibrant photography and stories on the people shaking things up and the great places to visit."
Smit even encourages smitten Pittsburghers to subscribe. Thanks, Pop City!
Read all the news that's fit to pop here.
"Fresh Water launches this month with the goods on Cleveland, news as it pertains to innovation, jobs, healthcare, lifestyle, design and arts and culture," she writes." The bubbly, blue homepage comes to life each Thursday with a fresh issue featuring vibrant photography and stories on the people shaking things up and the great places to visit."
Smit even encourages smitten Pittsburghers to subscribe. Thanks, Pop City!
Read all the news that's fit to pop here.
saveur and the sterns gobble up northeast ohio
In the world of road food, Jane and Michael Stern are widely regarded as the First Couple. Through their decades of work for magazines like Gourmet, radio programs like The Splendid Table, and their own catalogue of food travelogues, the Sterns report on all that is delicious and important.
This month, reporting for Saveur magazine, the Sterns turn their tasteful gaze to Northeast Ohio.
In the article titled "The Best Places to Eat in Northeast Ohio," the hired tasters praise the region's "local traditions and ethnic enclaves," which, they lament, are fading away all too fast elsewhere in the country.
Special attention is bestowed upon Shaker Square's Balaton Restaurant, Parma's Little Polish Diner, and Cleveland's West Side Market, about which the Sterns say, "It's a feat to get out of Cleveland with any appetite at all if you spend time grazing around the city's sprawling, century-old West Side Market."
Read the entire mouthwatering article here.
This month, reporting for Saveur magazine, the Sterns turn their tasteful gaze to Northeast Ohio.
In the article titled "The Best Places to Eat in Northeast Ohio," the hired tasters praise the region's "local traditions and ethnic enclaves," which, they lament, are fading away all too fast elsewhere in the country.
Special attention is bestowed upon Shaker Square's Balaton Restaurant, Parma's Little Polish Diner, and Cleveland's West Side Market, about which the Sterns say, "It's a feat to get out of Cleveland with any appetite at all if you spend time grazing around the city's sprawling, century-old West Side Market."
Read the entire mouthwatering article here.
What's it like to be a Cleveland locavore? Spend a day with Dan Scharf, an attorney who smokes meat, cures ham, and raises chickens, and you'll find out. Hint: It involves a lot of shopping.
The main entrance resembles an unrolled Torah. The color scheme
throughout the building is inspired by vegetation mentioned in the
Bible.
Every detail within the new Fuchs Mizrachi School in Beachwood has significance, whether it's about Jewish faith and culture or the latest in high-tech design. More than 400 preschool through high school students walked through the doors of the school on August 30, marveling at the architecture, the amenities and the space--something that had been dearly lacking for years.
In fact, Fuchs Mizrachi occupied two separate buildings in order to accommodate its students. Now, they all gather under one roof in a state-of-the-art setting.
Fuch Mizrachi is an Orthodox Jewish, Religious Zionist college prep school that seeks to grow students into young men and women who are capable of "swimming in all waters." The school was founded in 1983 as Bet Sefer Mizrachi of Cleveland and later renamed for major donors Leonard and Susan Fuchs.
Shaker Square's Bialosky + Partners designed the 100,000-square-foot school to consolidate the two existing campuses. In addition to respect for Jewish heritage, the campus design incorporates eco-friendly details: an advanced lighting control system, high insulation values, a geothermal HVAC system and energy recovery ventilators to improve fresh-air transfer from the outside. The project earned LEED Gold Certification.
Students may not immediately recognize the sustainability features in and around their new school. But they will drink in the beautiful beit midrash, or "hall of study," with its three-tiered ceiling and dramatic use of beams and pendant lighting. The new school also boasts two gymnasiums, a large music room and a theater.
On the day the school building was dedicated, Leonard Fuchs said that Fuchs Mizrahi "has become part of my body and soul." With a new location and a fresh look, the school will no doubt become an important part of its students' formative years.
SOURCES: Fuchs Mizrachi, Bialosky + Partners
WRITER: Diane DiPiero
Every detail within the new Fuchs Mizrachi School in Beachwood has significance, whether it's about Jewish faith and culture or the latest in high-tech design. More than 400 preschool through high school students walked through the doors of the school on August 30, marveling at the architecture, the amenities and the space--something that had been dearly lacking for years.
In fact, Fuchs Mizrachi occupied two separate buildings in order to accommodate its students. Now, they all gather under one roof in a state-of-the-art setting.
Fuch Mizrachi is an Orthodox Jewish, Religious Zionist college prep school that seeks to grow students into young men and women who are capable of "swimming in all waters." The school was founded in 1983 as Bet Sefer Mizrachi of Cleveland and later renamed for major donors Leonard and Susan Fuchs.
Shaker Square's Bialosky + Partners designed the 100,000-square-foot school to consolidate the two existing campuses. In addition to respect for Jewish heritage, the campus design incorporates eco-friendly details: an advanced lighting control system, high insulation values, a geothermal HVAC system and energy recovery ventilators to improve fresh-air transfer from the outside. The project earned LEED Gold Certification.
Students may not immediately recognize the sustainability features in and around their new school. But they will drink in the beautiful beit midrash, or "hall of study," with its three-tiered ceiling and dramatic use of beams and pendant lighting. The new school also boasts two gymnasiums, a large music room and a theater.
On the day the school building was dedicated, Leonard Fuchs said that Fuchs Mizrahi "has become part of my body and soul." With a new location and a fresh look, the school will no doubt become an important part of its students' formative years.
SOURCES: Fuchs Mizrachi, Bialosky + Partners
WRITER: Diane DiPiero
When we talk about "big thinkers," Marc Canter ranks right up there with Jobs, Gates, and whomever it was that invented the Buffalo chicken wing. Tech nerds of a certain age may not know him by name, but we most certainly know his work: Director, the first computer authoring tool that enabled people to create multimedia content. Now Canter wants to save Cleveland by creating high-tech jobs. He also wants a little nosh.