What has been a lifelong love of comics and video games for Tamar Medina has turned into an interesting business. Medina and his co-founders developed J-Lynn Entertainment in 2011, which makes video game comics -- interactive comics where the reader controls the outcome of the comic or an entire series of comics.
 
In July, Medina began test marketing the video game comics at conventions. “The feedback we got at the comic conventions was great,” says Medina.
 
But at the conventions Medina also got an unexpected reaction. Parents and teachers approached him to say his video game comics would be a helpful tool for children with autism. After some research into autism, Medina and his team discovered their games were perfect for cognitive training, collecting performance data, and research in autism spectrum disorders.
 
“Kids with autism have trouble reading and comprehending certain words,” Medina explains. “But reading a comic and seeing what’s going on with pictures, the kids really adhere to technology.” Because the comics are interactive, they also help autistic children develop their social and decision-making skills.
 
Medina went to top experts for help in developing a line of games specific to kids with autism. “At the end of the game, we put statistics on the social choices they made,” says Medina of one feature he’s incorporated. “We wanted to have it be fun and be interactive.”
 
J-Lynn Entertainment is still developing its regular line of video game comics and is talking to investors. The company has five employees. Medina says they are hoping to bring on a full-time programmer, and envisions J-Lynn will employ 25 to 50 people within the next five years.
 
“The passion is awesome and we think our product will be great, not only in improving the autism condition, but also identifying it,” says Medina. “I believe we have the ability and skills for growth. J-Lynn is currently polishing its prototype and hopes to release it this fall for android.

 
Source: Tamar Medina
Writer: Karin Connelly

Cotton, a high-end linen store recently launched by Plantation Home owner David Stein, joins an impressive list of new businesses opening in Lakewood. The store sells mid- to high-end sheets, duvets, tablecloths and linens. It also offers tableware and "one-of-a-kind" ladies handbags, according to Stein.

Cotton opened in the ornate stone building where Kucinich once maintained a district office. The rehabbed storefront at 14400 Detroit Avenue boasts new landscaping and signage. The interior features a dramatic, high-ceilinged layout.

The new business appears to be in good company. According to Dru Siley, Director of Planning for the City of Lakewood, at least 20 new businesses have opened or are breaking ground this year in and around the downtown Lakewood core.

New downtown businesses include Humble Wine Bar, World of Beer, Avalon Exchange, Pizza Bogo, Falafel Express, Get Go, and Bob Evans (which is breaking ground this year and will open in 2014). Additionally, Paisley Monkey recently doubled in size and Eddie n' Eddie rebranded as Cerino's Casual Italian.

Outside of the downtown district, new businesses include El Carnicero, Barrio, Discount Drug Mart, Vosh, That's Nutz, G.V. Art and Design, Stem Handmade Soap, Cleveland Pickle (opening in November), Crossfit Birdtown and Sushi Raxu.


Source: Dru Siley, David Stein
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Lakewood is looking for a few entrepreneurs to join its business community through its third annual Ideation Challenge. Anyone with a business idea is welcome to submit a business plan for consideration. “We make it really simple,” says Mike Belsito, director of Ideation for Startup Lakewood and co-founder of e-Funeral. “All it takes is a simple two- to three-page summary. And if people qualify we invite them to give a quick elevator pitch.”

Applicants have until Friday to submit their summaries. Four finalists will be chosen to give a two-minute elevator pitch in front of an audience and a panel of judges at a Startup U event on August 27. Two winners will be announced at the September Startup U event.
 
The theme of this year’s challenge is “access,” as in access to resources often out of reach to new entrepreneurs. The winners of the challenge will receive a lunch meeting with Lakewood mayor and entrepreneur Michael Summers; a half hour meeting with investor Christopher Celeste; an elevator pitch session with Belsito, SociaGram co-founder Ryan O’Donnell and DecisionDesk co-founder John Knific; a scholarship to a nine-week Bad Girl Ventures course; and other useful tools to get their businesses started.
 
All applicants are invited to ask for feedback on their business plans. While only one of the winners must be a Lakewood resident, the hope is that both winning businesses will set up shop in the city. “We hope that some of these businesses get started in Lakewood, but it’s all about helping people,” says Belsito. “The goal of the competition is to help people take the next step with their ideas for new products or businesses.”

 
Source: Mike Belsito
Writer: Karin Connelly

Recent grants awarded to the Collinwood and St. Clair Superior neighborhoods are allowing them to proceed with arts- and culture-based projects each hopes will revitalize their communities and boost their economies. The efforts are part of a larger national movement known as creative placemaking.

You can add one more to the list of artisan businesses choosing North Collinwood as the place to launch and grow. Fears' Confections, a sweet shop specializing in scratch-made brownies and candies, has opened in the former Arabica space at 818 E. 185th Street.

The business, launched by Cassandra and Jeremy Fear, uses "sweets to die for" as its tagline. The bakery and confectionery offers "thick, fudgy, decadent creations made from scratch using only the freshest ingredients," its Facebook page says.

The Fears launched their business in January 2009 when Cassandra was laid off from her engineering job. What started as a part-time obsession has blossomed into a real business, even though she has since found gainful employment again. This is Fears' Confections first brick-and-mortar location (they also do catering).

Brownies became their specialty when they discovered that there was less competition in this space than in the ever-trendy cupcake and cookie category. The range of flavors includes dark chocolate orange, raspberry, peanut butter and jelly, lavender and pumpkin blondies. The candies take an hour to cook and are all hand-cut and hand-dipped.

Fears' Confections opens at 6:30 a.m. and serves Troubador Coffee out of Fairview Park. The space is shared by Simply Sweet Cupcakes, also based in Fairview Park.


Source: Fears Confections
Writer: Lee Chilcote

An annual study conducted by CSU’s Center for Economic Development at the Levin College of Urban Affairs shows that start-up companies in Northeast Ohio contribute significantly to the economy. The study surveyed tech-based companies that received assistance, either financially or in services, through JumpStart or the North Coast Angel Fund.
 
The 127 companies who participated in the study generated $211 million in economic benefits in Northeast Ohio in 2012, $270 million state-wide. These companies helped create and retain 1,100 in-state direct jobs, with a total Ohio employment impact of 2,140. The companies and their suppliers also increased total Ohio household earnings by $125 million and contributed nearly $12 million in state and local tax impact.
 
As the early-stage companies grow, their impact increases, according to the study. Among those surveyed, 44 companies participated over three years -- from 2010 to 2012, showing 53 percent job growth and a 36 percent increase in economic impact over those three years.
 
“These numbers quantify the impact small companies made,” says Cathy Belk, JumpStart COO. “Small companies make a big difference.  It’s exciting to see the impact the companies we see every day are having. We see how hard these companies are working.”
 
With all of the organizations in Cleveland that support start-ups, in addition to support from Ohio Third Frontier, which provides funding to organizations like JumpStart, the region is ideal for new businesses.

“We continue to believe that Northeast Ohio is the best place in the country to have a small business or a new business,” says Belk. “We have such a robust ecosystem for startups and small business.”

 
Source: Cathy Belk
Writer: Karin Connelly

Welcome to Cleveland, an artists' visitation weekend hosted by Northeast Shores CDC and the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, drew about a dozen artists to Cleveland, many of whom have signed leases and are expected to move here.

"The weekend exceeded our expectations by far," says Brian Friedman, Executive Director of Northeast Shores. "We didn't know they'd be so ready to go."

The artists were impressed not only by Cleveland's affordability but also by the accessibility of the rich arts scene here, Friedman says. "For them it was really the connectedness -- there's a much stronger ability for artists to network and connect here than in many of the communities where they're from."

The artists came from Brooklyn, Boston and Atlanta, among other locations. They were responsible for getting to Cleveland, but the nonprofit partners put them up in a hotel and covered most of their costs once they got here. The group spent the weekend on a whirlwind tour of North Collinwood, Slavic Village, St. Clair Superior, Ohio City, Tremont and Detroit Shoreway. Activities included a visit to the Cleveland Museum of Art and brunch at the Beachland Ballroom.

Northeast Shores and CPAC marketed to 12,000 artists nationally for the Artist-in-Residence program. Friedman says that since launching the effort a few years ago, he's seen 83 artists move to Cleveland, open a business, or do a project here.

Some of the artists who responded to the visitation weekend weren't sure if it was real. "They weren't sure if we would try to sell them a timeshare," says Friedman. "We told them, 'Really, just come. We want you to come be creative in Cleveland.'"

Once the artists move here, the nonprofit partners will help connect them to arts organizations and community efforts in their new neighborhoods. "We'll make sure that they get connected to the fabric of what's going on," says Friedman. "We anticipate that's the beginning of developing deeper roots in Cleveland."


Source: Brian Friedman
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Zack Bruell used to watch PlayhouseSquare office workers sit outside at Star Plaza and eat sandwiches in the park. He thought, They could be my customers. Now, thanks to Dynomite, a new fast-casual burger shack in the Star Plaza kiosk, many of them are.

During its first week, Dynomite frequently had lines 30-people deep and ran out of hamburger buns by 3 p.m. (don't worry, they ordered more). Bruell hopes this is an omen.

"I was basically opening it so that we could bring more people to the area," says the restaurateur, who owns five other venues in Cleveland (Parallax, Chinato, Table 45, Cowell and Hubbard, L'Albatros). "I wanted to see more street traffic. This is one of the great neighborhoods in the city, and it's in transition."

You can think of Dynomite as a kind of Zack Bruell burger clearinghouse. Modeled after the legendary Shake Shack in New York City, the venue offers four kinds of burgers that are also available at Parallax, L'Albatros, Chinato and Cowell and Hubbard. Each is different and unique. Additionally, Dynomite offers a killer chicken sandwich, regular burger, vegan burger, hot dog and chili dog.

Sides include fries, chili fries, chili, pickles and soft serve ice cream. The most expensive things on the entire menu are the signature burgers, which are priced at $8.

"We're just doing basic food, but we're doing it right," says Bruell. "We're using the same products that we're working with in all of our restaurants."

Dynomite will soon have a full liquor license. Bruell expects the revamped Star Plaza -- which is nearly complete and includes additional outdoor seating, a fire pit and concert stage -- to look and function like a downtown beer garden.

The venue is the latest addition to PlayhouseSquare, which has in recent years been evolving into a dining destination and vibrant 24-7 neighborhood.


Source: Zack Bruell
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Currently, visitors to the Carnegie-West branch of the Cleveland Public Library find an underutilized park across the street. But soon they'll stumble upon a literary wonderland of peanut butter sandwich boats with sails, spaghetti tubes and a stone soup mural.

Inspired by children's books, a love of reading and the ambition to bring families and community members together, Literary Lots will kick off Saturday, August 3rd in Novak Park in Ohio City and run for two consecutive weeks.

"This idea started with saying, 'We have a great anchor in the library, books are inspiring and we want an educated, engaged community,'" says Kauser Razvi, an Ohio City parent who has served as Project Manager for Literary Lots. "Tons of kids come to the library. Let's do this work together and offer it in a single place."

"Hopefully soon, the park is a place where people stop and say, 'What are those three sandwich boats doing there?' says Razvi, an urban strategist. "Then they want to come in and take part in a poetry slam or start doing some spaghetti art."

Programming will be offered daily at Novak Park, which is located north of Lorain on W. 38th, including art and writing events, author nights and movie nights.

The idea behind the event is to engage kids and families in reading and building a sense of community together. "The city needs to do more things for kids and families, because that's how you're going to help the city grow," says Razvi.

Project partners include Cleveland Public Library, Ohio City Writers, Art House and LAND Studio. Funders include The Cleveland Colectivo, Councilman Joe Cimperman, Neighborhood Connections and the George Gund Foundation.

Literary Lots will kick off this Saturday with community mural painting with artist Julia Kuo. Community members will help illustrate the classic story Stone Soup.


Source: Kauser Razvi
Writer: Lee Chilcote

When Gordon Daily founded BoxCast in 2008 after a funeral director asked his business partners to create a way for family members to privately observe funeral services at his chapel, he had no idea the concept of simple, live streaming video would be so popular.
 
Today, business is booming, especially in the church and on athletic fields. BoxCast allows anyone with a camera to stream live video to BoxCast’s cloud-based service. Users can then watch the video anytime, anywhere.
 
“We have eclectic audiences looking to do things they’ve never been able to do before,” explains Daily. “It’s simple and affordable because no one has to be a technical expert to stream live video.”
 
With JumpStart’s recent $250,000 investment, things are moving even more quickly. “The JumpStart funding was the jump start of our company, it really was,” says Daily. “Until we had the funding, we couldn’t do what we really needed to do.”
 
What BoxCast needed to do was hire the right people to implement and market the company’s technology and build the right business relationships. “Now, it’s all happening,” says Daily. “The pieces are coming together. A lot of partnerships are coming together.”
 
Daily says a lot of high schools, colleges and churches are interested in BoxCast for their sporting events and other activities. But he says he’s also seen a lot of unique potential customers surfacing. “There are a lot of neat ideas -- interesting and unique entertainment venues that never had video,” he says. “People with specific, eclectic interests that didn’t realize they could do it.”
 
BoxCast has grown to 12 employees and Daily is looking for an administrative person to help around the office. To accommodate the growth, BoxCast recently moved into a 4,000-square-foot office at Burke Lakefront Airport.

 
Source: Gordon Daily
Writer: Karin Connelly

Campbell's Sweets, a homegrown business that has three stands at the West Side Market and a store on W. 25th Street, is set to explode across Cleveland, with an additional shop in Lakewood, a production facility in Slavic Village and an east side store in the works.

"It's been two years this August since we opened the W. 25th Street store, and it's gone really well," says owner Jeff Campbell. "We predicted that we'd steal business from our market stands, but that hasn't happened. Last year, we grew 40 percent from 2011 to 2012. This year, we're headed to do that again."

In Lakewood, Campbell's will soon occupy a corner storefront at Detroit and Warren Roads. The 2,000-square-foot store will feature a tin ceiling, clay brick display wall, open production area and upcycled doors. The exterior will feature eye-catching new awnings with pictures of popcorn and cupcakes. Big storefront windows will allow passersby to see into the facility.

Campbell intends to open the store this fall. Although he's put a possible University Circle location on hold until he proves out the Lakewood store, he's actively looking for a production facility on Fleet Avenue in Slavic Village. "We're outgrowing our W. 25th space and it's challenging to keep up," he says. "We can still double our production, but we're headed to five to six times our production in the next 12 to 18 months. Fleet Avenue has us very intrigued because of the redevelopment happening there in 2014 [with the streetscape]."

Campbell's also now sells its popcorn in seven Giant Eagle stores, where it's visibly displayed in the fruit and produce area. Yet the Market District of Ohio City always will remain home. "Ohio City is the nucleus and we grow out," he says. "We're not going to go way out [into the suburbs] until we've saturated our market here."


Source: Jeff Campbell
Writer: Lee Chilcote

John Farina and Adam Tully have been collecting art for years, and like many collectors, they've always wanted to open a gallery to showcase work of artists they love. That idea will become a reality next month as The Maria Neil Art Project opens up on Waterloo.

"There are a lot of artists in Cleveland who are either unrepresented or underrepresented," says Farina, who also recently bought a home in North Collinwood with Tully. "This work should be known. Having a space with low overhead, we can show off emerging artists that haven't been shown off before."

The cozy gallery at 15813 Waterloo will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday starting September 6th. The first exhibition will feature artist Michaelangelo Lovelace, known for his gritty, whimsical portraits of street life in the city. Frameworks in Bedford, a framing shop, will offer framing in the space.

Farina says that the Waterloo Arts District is definitely becoming known as a good community for artists, with multiple galleries now located on the street, artists buying houses in the neighborhood and arts groups setting up shop here.


Source: John Farina
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Over the next few months, a handful of next-gen businesses will begin to open in the Striebinger Block, a prominent building at the intersection of Detroit and W. 29th. Billed as the Hingetown development, the project will act as the hinge between existing Cleveland assets like Ohio City, Gordon Square, and downtown.

Hemingway Development and Geis Companies have completed the third building of the MidTown Tech Park campus at 6555 Carnegie Avenue. The $9 million project brings the campus to a total of 242,000 square feet of new office space.

"When we arrived in MidTown, we wanted to develop one building a year, and we have exceeded that with the opening of this building,” said Fred Geis, a Hemingway principal, in a press release. "With the growth of the MidTown Tech Park campus, we have been able to create a real community where our tenants can interact and grow their businesses."

Radio One, a national urban media company with four radio stations in Northeast Ohio, is one of the first new tenants. Regional Vice President Jeffrey Wilson says the developer's experience and the area's redevelopment attracted the firm.

"When I first looked at it, you might have thought I'd lost my mind, but we put our trust in Fred Geis," says Wilson of the building, which was raw prior to completion. "Now it's one of the most exciting spaces in all of Radio One."

The company will occupy 12,000 square feet on the first floor, including four main broadcast studios, production studios, a mix studio and a talk studio. Geis worked with Radio One to construct a 180-foot tower alongside the building, which will make it easier to transmit audio to the company's transmitter locations.

"To partake in the rebirth of the MidTown area really fulfills our creed," says Wilson. "We take a sense of pride in contributing to the rebirth of the area."

Talis Clinical, a Cleveland Clinic spinoff, is also leasing office space in the building. Geis says that the building will support 150 jobs and generate $300,000 in annual payroll taxes. The City of Cleveland provided $4.5 million in low-interest loans.


Source: Jeffrey Wilson, Fred Geis
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Slavic Village Recovery, an ambitious effort to provide an extreme neighborhood makeover to a 530-acre chunk of the east side, has begun the process of purchasing 40 homes that will be rehabbed.

Two of these properties already have been put on the market with new mechanicals and other finishes for a mere $60,000, says Marie Kittredge, Executive Director of Slavic Village Development, a partner in the project along with Forest City Enterprises and Safeguard Properties.

"The model is: If my kids are 20-somethings buying their first house, what would that first house look like and what would be attractive to them?" explains Kittredge. "We have to build demand by telling the story. We believe our demographic is people who are already familiar with the neighborhood and ready to buy."

Slavic Village Recovery's innovative model focuses on renovating a majority of the vacant homes on a multi-block area around Mound Avenue and E. 54th Street, where 20- to 30-percent vacancy rates prevail. The homes are acquired from lenders and rehabbed using a model that includes all major items but does not include reconfiguring floor plans, adding bedrooms or other expensive options.

Kittredge says that the rehab costs will likely range from $40,000 to $50,000, allowing the partners to earn a small profit they can reinvest in the initiative.

"The key innovation is that there's no public subsidy," she says. "It's not possible to get the subsidy you'd need for a 25 to 50 home model. If you did just one [house], people would say that's scary. If you say, 'Hey, we're doing 20 to 25 and we have Forest City involved and major grants from Wells Fargo,' then that's different."

Kittredge expects additional homes to hit the market this fall. Last week, a group of volunteers from Forest City cleaned up 60 properties in the area. Some homes are being secured using SecureView, a new product that looks like glass but is far more durable, allowing houses to be secured without using ugly plywood boards.


Source: Marie Kittredge
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Three prominent community development groups in Cleveland have merged, and staffers say the resulting alliance will help strengthen community revitalization efforts across the city, foster more unified advocacy, and allow for greater efficiency in citywide efforts.

Neighborhood Progress Inc. (NPI), a community development intermediary that provides grants and technical assistance to community development corporations (CDCs), has merged with Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition (CNDC) and LiveCleveland. CNDC is a trade association of CDCs; LiveCleveland helps to market city neighborhoods.

That might sound like a mouthful of acronyms to the average city resident, but Joel Ratner, President of NPI, says the collaboration really is about improving Cleveland's neighborhoods.

"We'll have a greater ability to coordinate the marketing of neighborhoods along with advocacy, capacity building and all the other things we've traditionally done," he says. "This is really about uniting the strands of community development across the city in a way that's integrated and strategic rather than separate."

For example, says Ratner, CDCs will be able to have a stronger voice in education reform and other efforts that affect the entire city, residents will see an increased marketing presence, and CDC employees will benefit from shared services like healthcare. It adds up to more effective efforts to improve all of Cleveland.

"Our mission is to foster communities of choice and opportunity throughout Cleveland," says Ratner, who acknowledges that NPI will still only have resources to provide core operating support to a subset of city neighborhoods. "There are lots of ways we can play a role in lifting up all CDCs and neighborhoods."

CNDC Director Colleen Gilson says that while the merger idea was far from popular among CDCs at first -- they feared losing their independence -- individual leaders saw the value in fostering a citywide community development network that provides more effective services to all neighborhoods, not just a select few.

The merger will be publicly rolled out in September, with NPI moving into its new offices in the Saint Luke's project at Shaker Boulevard and E. 116th by January.


Source: Joel Ratner
Writer: Lee Chilcote