Cleveland Heights sisters Maya and Nina Serna haven’t even completed high school, and keep a busy academic and social schedule, but in their spare time they've spent the last two years developing an app specifically to help students who are homeschoolers like themselves.

LaunchHouse's annual Bootstrap Bash will have an extra spark in 2019, thanks to the introduction of its new Spark Award. Presented in conjunction with the Better Business Bureau, The Spark Award will recognize a millennial-owned business that consistently displays character, culture, and community values.

Chances are you’ve felt a wave of panic after hitting “send” on an email. Ian Charnas has felt it too, and that’s precisely why he came up with Email Strategy Cards—a deck of cards with suggestions on how to navigate the tricky waters of effective email communication.

While The Land looks toward the future with a boom in growth and development, many Clevelanders are turning towards the past with a growing interest in crafts dating back thousands of years. Cases in point: MidTown's burgeoning Glass Corridor, and the trendy-by-accident Cleveland Blacksmithing.

St. Edward High School's newly-unveiled Lowe Institute for Innovation is already driving students to give back to Cleveland with an ambitious project: transitional, affordable housing for the homeless in the form of upcycled school buses.

Cities like Austin and San Francisco are typically top of mind when it comes to startup hubs, but thanks to the impact of programs like Venture for America, Cleveland may soon have an indelible spot on that list.

The skin care struggle can be real, but Clevelanders Bethany Hilt and Sandra Bontempo have channeled their frustrations into inspiration—tossing aside traditional regimens to create their own products. Hilt turned to the knowledge she learned from making homemade facial and body care products with her grandmother, while Bontempo looked to her beloved chickens for a solution to her son’s eczema. The result? Two thriving local companies.

From 107 applicants to the lucky final seven, the second installment of Cleveland Chain Reaction has reached its exciting conclusion. This morning at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Fox 8’s Kenny Crumpton announced the seven winning businesses chosen to receive over $700,000 in investment (more than $200,000 over the initial commitment). The announcement also foreshadows the next wave of economic development in Old Brooklyn, this year’s Chain Reaction neighborhood.

Meet the new wave of makerspaces, where communal workshops for tinkerers of all backgrounds foster ideas and turn dream projects into reality. While the usual suspects of California and New York lead the way, Ohio is no slouch—hosting the world’s largest makerspace in Columbus, as well as a growing ecosystem right here in Cleveland championing innovation and entrepreneurship. 

It’s only been one week since Linda McFadden opened Lee Road Dog Grooming, but she has already built a customer base and potential customers are stopping in. After all, it’s hard to miss the hand-painted pictures of a ladylike pup donning a flowered hat and the pink and purple hues that adorn the small storefront on one of the newest additions to the Cedar-Lee District.

Ten years from now, employment industry experts estimate that 50 percent of Millennials will be earning their livings as freelancers. That's no surprise to Impel Creative founders Stacie Ross and Doug Crouch—who've been helping to set the trend by hiring freelancers for the past 10 years.

After four years of planning, Western Reserve Distillers is set to take its spot as one of just a handful of certified organic distilleries in the country. The family-owned business—run by husband-and-wife team Ann and Kevin Thomas—celebrated its grand opening in early September.

Move over, traditional antiques dealers and auction houses—there’s a new kid on the block. Veteran antique dealer Ronald Greenwald and Aspire Auctions co-founder Cynthia Maciejewski have joined forces to open Neue Auctions, a one-stop online auction house and art gallery geared at Millennials and women.

Barbershops offer much more than traditional haircuts in Old Brooklyn—where barber chairs double as school desks, as psychologists’ couches, as job counselor offices, and as safe spaces. 

Lakewood may be a huge hub for the “shop small” movement, but the personalities of the city’s emergent local businesses are anything but small. This summer, the city has welcomed two niche stores: Coven and Cleveland Curiosities. Catering to those with interests that may be off the beaten path, Coven focuses on all things witchy, while Cleveland Curiosities is packed with oddities that can’t be found anywhere else.

For Euclid residents, Lake Erie has always been something of a shimmering mirage: a beautiful resource always within sight, but perpetually just out of reach. After all, Euclid—one of six lakefront communities in Cuyahoga County—has four miles of shoreline, but 94 percent of that number is privately held by homeowners.

However, that elusive status is about to change after the Euclid City Council’s vote to move forward with Phase II of its Waterfront Improvement Plan.

Cleveland's small business community is buzzing with the opening of Beauty Shoppe, a 24-hour coworking and office space designed to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses, and the accompanying Foyer coffee shop. Both entities are located in the burgeoning Seymour Building, which was originally constructed in 1876 and now springing back to life via the Snavely Group.

Now that Old Brooklyn has been chosen as the site for the second iteration of Cleveland Chain Reaction, who are the businesses that will set up shop on its streets? This week’s Business Pitch Showcase took Chain Reaction hopefuls one giant step closer to answering that question. With the field narrowed down from 107 initial applicants, the remaining 18 semi-finalists took center stage at COSE’s downtown headquarters to give their “Shark Tank”-style pitches for why they should be one of five businesses chosen to receive at least $100,000 of investment.