Regional Economy

bizdom searches the country for its next class of talented tech startups
Startup accelerator Bizdom is looking for its ninth group of tech companies to join its three-month summer/fall session. Bizdom’s accelerator program mentors and provides companies with up to $125,000 to launch and grow their tech-based businesses in Cleveland.

"We're looking for amazing founders -- founders with passion, uncommon ideas and the technical, design and leadership skills to build a business," says Bizdom Cleveland leader Paul Allen. "We're looking for everything from an idea on a napkin to a business that's already developed a product and has one or two customers."
 
Bizdom primarily is looking for web and mobile software, and technology-enabled services companies. "We're especially interested in seeing sports, wellness, healthcare, financial tech, marketing, real estate and hospitality related business ideas," explains Allen. "Those are ones where we can really leverage the over 100 business in the Quicken Loans Family of Companies to help the startups grow bigger faster."
 
Startups are a critical part of Cleveland’s economic success, says Allen, and he describes Bizdom as the first rung on the ladder to success. "To have a thriving economy you need to have lots of smaller, more agile companies that push the boundaries with new technologies and business models," he says. "Not all of these businesses will succeed, but many will. Over time, these businesses will contribute greatly to the regional GDP. But just as importantly, they attract a highly desirable type of creative worker to the region."
 
Twelve tech companies will be accepted into the next session. The deadline to apply is Monday, June 2. The session begins on July 7. The summer session is funded $240,000 grant from the Ohio New Entrepreneurs (ONE) Fund.
 
lab chat: why the heck does drug development take so long?
Welcome to the latest round of Lab Chat, in which we try to demystify the often complex field of biomedical research. Today, our well informed post-doc takes on commercial drug development, specifically, why the heck does it take so long for prescription drugs to move from lab to local pharmacy?
 
healthcare startup outgrows launchhouse, expands to heights rockefeller building
Eugene Malinskiy already is on his third startup and he's not even 30 yet. He created his first company when he was 16, later selling both for a profit. Now he's launched Dragon ID, a healthcare innovation and design firm that has grown from zero to 20 employees in the span of just two years.

Dragon ID is a biomedical startup that helps doctors and hospitals solve healthcare problems. The firm focuses on the medical device, health IT and surgery markets, and has a cross-functional team of whizzes to help healthcare professionals create solutions. The Dragon ID team is working on a number of products, but one that's getting buzz is EuCliD, which will be used in transcatheter aortic valve replacements to help prevent emboli from breaking away and causing blood clots or strokes.

Recently, Dragon ID moved from Shaker Launchhouse to the Heights Rockefeller building, where it is currently customizing its own space, including a lab, to accommodate growth. Malinskiy says the firm will benefit from having more professional offices and a location that's closer to where employees live.

"The City of Cleveland Heights was very welcoming," he says, referencing financial incentives that helped seal the deal. "They really want us here."

Malinskiy attributes Dragon ID's growth to the booming healthcare sector in Cleveland, where he can do business with the Clinic and other big players. "Being here, companies can come to us and say, 'We have this idea, what can you do?'"

Typically, Malinskiy and his cohorts receive an inquiry, then spend time vetting it, including attending surgeries, to understand the scope of the problem and potential solution. Once a solution is identified, the team builds a digital or physical prototype. Then, if the client decides to move forward, the company invests in bringing the product market through animal and human trials.

Dragon ID is internally funded through contracts with hospitals and doctors. The company has also won grant awards from MAGNET and the Innovation Fund.
introducing cleveland, the 'entertainment capital you never knew about'
In a Travelers Today feature titled "Five Reasons Cleveland is the Entertainment Capital You Never Knew About,' writer Will Walker calls our fair city "one of largest and most underrated cultural hot-spots in the country."
 
According to Walker, here are five reasons Cleveland is the entertainment capital that's "ripe for exploration by any traveler adventurous enough to take a chance on it."
 
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
 
"Opened in 1995 by Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, the Rock Hall marks a must-see destination for anyone interested in Rock & Roll, music, or pop culture in general.
 
Cinematheque
 
The Cleveland Institute of Art's Cinematheque offers what the New York Times called one of the country's "best repertory movie theaters."
 
Cleveland Museum of Art
 
Cleveland has one of the "best and most important art museums in the country, boasting works from artists as diverse as Caravaggio, David, and Monet."
 
Playhouse Square
 
"The second largest theatrical complex in the country (outside of New York) Playhouse Square's nine theaters sprawl over two city blocks, casting an impressive shadow of cultural sophistication that the rest of the city can't help but take note of."
 
Cleveland Orchestra
 
According to the British music periodical Gramophone, the Cleveland Orchestra ranks as the seventh best in the world, topping every single United States orchestra outside of Chicago.
 
Read the rest of the good news here.

 
who's hiring in cle: lazorpoint, jumpstart, luscious verde...
Welcome to the latest edition of Who’s Hiring in Cleveland?
 
There are plenty of good jobs to be found here in Cleveland. This is the latest installment in a regular series of posts in which we feature companies that are hiring, what those employers are looking for, and how to apply.
 
Here’s the latest Cleveland hiring news:
 
Lazorpoint, a customer-service driven information systems consulting company, has positions available within their IT help desk. The company also needs support/system engineers, .NET application developer and a CRM architect. Visit the Lazorpoint careers page for more information on each position and how to apply.
 
JumpStart, an organization that partners with community leaders to spark the growth of new entrepreneurial companies and builds resources and support for those companies, has three positions open: a marketing principal; a director of the mentoring program development; and a product development manager. Register with JumpStart’s career center to apply for these jobs.
 
Beachwood-based Luscious Verde, creators of handmade cards, invitations and announcements, needs a rock star full time salesperson. The position pays a base salary plus commission. The candidate with a great track record will be compensated accordingly. Send resume and cover letter to the hiring manager.
 
Have hiring news you’d like to share? Email Karin at Fresh Water Cleveland and send us this information or career links!
product development company seeks to invent next big thing from the heart of lakewood
When Tim Hayes told his family as a kid that he wanted to make a cardboard box fly, they laughed at him. Yet decades later, he drew on those childhood experiences to help name his two-year-old product development company after the kind of imaginative, "blue sky" thinking that he exhibited on that day. 

Cardboard Helicopter Product Development, as it is now called, might just be inventing the next big consumer product right from the heart of Lakewood.

"I've wanted to be an inventor forever," says Hayes, an industrial designer who started the company with two childhood friends that he's known for years, Sean Barry and Carlo Russo, and fellow Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) grad Mustafa Kalic. "That's kind of why I went to school, to do my own thing one day."

Although Cleveland isn't as well known for product development as coastal cities like San Francisco, and Hayes has watched dozens of talented coworkers leave the area over the years, the landscape is shifting. Companies are more open to ideas from outside than in the past, thanks in part to the trend of open innovation. Essentially, Cardboard Helicopter's founders spend their days pitching ideas to companies, in hopes that they'll get a chance to create the next big thing.

Hayes explains that the business is broken into three parts: contract industrial design for hire, where Cardboard Helicopter helps design a product that's already sketched out; product licensing, where the firm designs a product from scratch and then attempts to license it with a company; and manufacturing, where the company attempts to create its own products.

The company's 6,000-square-foot headquarters on Detroit in Lakewood's west end provide a veritable playground for dreaming up and creating new ideas. The upstairs is an open-space studio with a ping pong table and pool table "to help get the blood flowing once in a while," says Hayes. The downstairs has a shipping area, large kitchen and shop where products can be built and tested.

Hayes and most of his coworkers live in Lakewood and enjoy walking or biking to work. The company recently has done work for Enerco and Jokari, among others.

"In the next five years, we'll hopefully have hundreds of licensed products," says Hayes. "We're able to do everything at a very low cost, because we have industrial design resources here. [We're] about keeping creative talent here. I went to school and just watched everybody leave, but there are so many manufacturing companies here. I think people can stay here and have longevity."
fresh water managing editor pens cleveland guidebook for visitors, residents
It's been four and a half years since the first edition of "Moon Handbooks: Cleveland" was published. Considering all that has taken place in Cleveland during that time, author and Fresh Water managing editor Douglas Trattner says that for the second edition, which was released this week, he went back to the starting gate.
flashstarts launches only software mentorship program of its kind
Flashstarts, which recently won an award for best small company internship at the annual Expys, is launching a new mentorship program for aspiring software developers. The interns will be a part of a Flashstarts 12-week accelerator program – assisting the startup companies with their software needs while receiving advice and coaching from mentors who are senior software developers.

“Our mentors serve different roles, depending on their areas of expertise,” explains Flashstarts CEO and founder Charles Stack. “A lot of software developer interns haven’t had experience working in groups. We thought we’d expand that experience.”
 
Flashstarts hired 20 interns from multiple disciplines for the summer of 2013. The interns worked for 10 startup teams that participated in Flashstarts’ first accelerator class and provided each team with software development, marketing, graphic design and business management services.
 
The organization is one of only a few startup accelerators in the country to hire interns as support staff for their startups. There are still two software developer internships open for this summer’s group of startups.
 
Additionally, Flashstarts raised its follow-on funding from $1.25 million last year to $2.5 million this year. “This will give us much more follow-on funding,” explains Stack. “Teams can get up to a half-million in funding upon graduation.”
 
The accelerator teams trade eight percent equity for a $25,000 investment, office space and access to coaching and services. The summer 2014 program begins May 27.
 
who went where? a look at recently filled positions
as cleveland goes: how the local craft beer scene is shaping up
This is the first of a three-part series written by Columbus-based Kyle Kastranec that chronicles the state of craft beer in Ohio, and how it could lend insight into national trends and future growth for the entire industry. He begins with Cleveland.
 
"Over the last few years, a new wave of breweries has been reshaping the craft beer landscape along the shores of Lake Erie," he writes. "It's not the most mature market in the country; it's not even the most mature market in the region. But Cleveland, with its fleet of fledgling and developing breweries, is becoming a bellwether for national trends and craft beer's narrative arc across the country."
 
Kastranec writes how beer and breweries directly affect the local economy and the revitalization of neighborhoods.
 
"[Andy] Tveekrem returned to Cleveland in 2010 and partnered with a local entrepreneur, Sam McNulty, to launch Market Garden Brewery, a venture that kick-started the transformation and revitalization of West 25th Street and the entire Ohio City neighborhood. "When we opened, there was about 75% vacancy on West 25th between these three blocks," Tveekrem says. "Now it's zero."
 
Of course, Great Lakes Brewing played a major role in launching the craft beer scene in Cleveland and Ohio. "But more than that, the GLBC history has shaped the very fabric of the local brewing community. Everyone is connected, and all roads lead back to Great Lakes, whose culture and attention to detail has prepared the current generation of brewers to innovate, to adapt, to grow, to anticipate market demands, and most importantly, to ensure quality through it all."
 
Read the rest of this great beer feature here.
 

 
jointly issued report shows positive economic growth for region
A report issued jointly by 10 different economic development organizations shows positive economic growth for Northeast Ohio as a region. The Northeast Ohio 2013 Regional Economic Development Report shows business investment projects created or retained 26,092 jobs, $1.2 billion in payroll and $2 billion in capital investment last year.

The report, which was produced by Team NEO, was initiated by 10 regional groups, each with its own economic development concentration: BioEnterprise, Greater Akron Chamber, Greater Cleveland Partnership, JumpStart, MAGNET, NorTech, Stark Development Board, Team Lorain County, Team NEO and the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.
 
“This certainly means there are signs of economic vitality, and it shows a whole lot of good things going on,” says Team NEO CEO Tom Waltermire. “There are a lot of positive things happening, a lot of businesses growing and adding employment.”
 
This is the second year the group has compiled the report. “We thought it would be interesting to look at the impact that all of these businesses together have in Northeast Ohio,” says Waltermire of the regional report, as opposed to just a Cleveland-focused report. “When we act as a region and collaborate, it makes us much stronger and more competitive.”
 
The individual cities in the region only benefit from collaboration. “The competition is mainly outside the region,” explains Waltermire. “It would not even make sense for our metropolitan areas to compete.”
 
Rebecca Bagley, president and CEO of NorTech, stresses the importance of each of the 10 specialized organizations working together. “Through each organization we fill a specialized role, but working in concert leads to a healthy, thriving economy,” she says.
 
The report also highlights success stories related to business attraction; business growth and development; entrepreneurship; and technology, innovation and commercialization.
 
entrepreneur mag says 'think like cleveland' to boost biz growth
In an Entrepreneur feature titled "Think Like Cleveland: 6 Ingredients to Boosting Business Growth," Jane Porter writes how Cleveland went from being on the bottom of the list in terms of startup-friendly cities to being near the top.
 
"In an Entrepreneur ranking of startup-friendly cities in 2002, Cleveland came in 61 out of 61. At the time, entrepreneurs had little by way of funding options and the startup economy was suffering," writes Porter.
 
But thanks in large part to the formation of Jumpstart, a nonprofit organization focused on helping idea-stage tech companies gain access to funds and resources, things began to turn around -- quickly.
 
The feature goes on to enumerate the six key ingredients that helped propel Cleveland forward, including innovators, advocates and storytellers.
 
Read the entire feature here.

 
relocation station: how one bus tour exposes potential new residents to the joys of urban living
If you're considering a move to Cleveland, there might be no better means to examine the broad range of residential options than by hopping aboard a City Life tour hosted by Cleveland Neighborhood Progress. In a few short hours, participants enjoy an immersive dive into a number of Cleveland's most in-demand neighborhoods.
 
who's hiring in cle: midtown cleveland, bluebridge networks, instore...
Welcome to the latest edition of Who’s Hiring in Cleveland?
 
There are plenty of good jobs to be found here in Cleveland. This is the latest installment in a regular series of posts in which we feature companies that are hiring, what those employers are looking for, and how to apply.
 
Here’s the latest Cleveland hiring news:
 
MidTown Cleveland, Inc. is looking for a director of the Cleveland Health-Tech Corridor. This newly created position will be responsible for the development, coordination and implementation of the business and marketing strategy of the Cleveland Health-Tech Corridor. For a complete description, click here. Interested applicants should email their resumes and cover letters to Jim Haviland, MidTown Cleveland executive director.
 
BlueBridge Networks, the region's leading total technology solutions provider, is looking to hire a systems engineer to ensure the stability, integrity and efficient operation of the in-house information systems that support core organizational functions as well as any external customers. The company also is looking for a network engineer. Apply here.
 
InStore Finance, a seller-finance company that is taking off, has a number of open positions, including a merchant optimization manager. This position drives incremental consumer contracts through the merchant by creating training materials, facilitating webinar training classes, motivating merchant employees, creating awareness and establishing accountability. Most important, the person in this position will increase the number of new consumer contracts per merchant location. Email resumes here.
 
Have hiring news that you’d like to share? Email Karin at Fresh Water Cleveland and send us this information or career links!
fast times: tri-c workforce division putting students on the job
Changing careers can be a difficult journey, regardless of a fulfillment-seeking wanderer's age or economic standing. However, the older a person gets, the less time they have to start that long voyage toward a new vocation.
 
Fortunately, there are more expeditious alternatives for those retracing their steps on the job trail, says Susan Muha, executive vice president of Cuyahoga Community College’s Workforce and Economic Development Division. The division's focus is job retraining, meaning adult employment seekers don't need to go back to school for a bachelor's degree.
 
"One way or another, it's all about connecting people with the job market," says Muha, a decade-long veteran of Tri-C's workforce division.
 
Throughout its layers of jobs-centric programming, the school works with about 15,000 to 20,000 participants annually. Many of these students have already attended a university and have little desire to go back. Tri-C offers training and certification programs measured in weeks or months rather than years, allowing prospective job seekers to be launched back into rotation quickly.

Read the rest of the story here.
 
tri-c training center serves as high-tech haven for local job seekers
Cuyahoga Community College's $18.7 million Advanced Technology Training Center educates the workforce of tomorrow by finding, training and placing the right people into the right jobs, serving as a feeder system of work-ready candidates for in-demand positions in high-tech industries.
 
inside out: global cle's talent attraction campaign aimed at filling jobs, repopulating city core
On Thursday, May 1, Global Cleveland will officially launch its talent attraction campaign at a major event at the Cleveland Convention Center. The event -- like the organization hosting it -- is focused on increasing the population while strengthening the local economy.
who went where? a look at recently filled positions
Several Cleveland area companies have some new faces on their staffs. Here’s a rundown of who is in new positions.
 
Bryan Stubbs is the Cleveland Water Alliance’s new executive director. The Cleveland Water Alliance is a collaborative group of companies, academic institutions and public agencies working to create a thriving economy around the global needs of water quality and access. Stubbs’ background is in sustainability and non-profit management, most recently as a consultant with The Oberlin Project.
 
“The Cleveland Water Alliance is about elevating the conversation of water in a way that encompasses the opportunity that our water asset affords both our community and our economy,” explains Stubbs. "It’s about our future as the Water Belt.”
 
Stubbs plans to bring his successes with the Oberlin Project to the Cleveland Water Alliance. "At the Oberlin Project I was tasked with implementing a plan to radically lower greenhouse gas emissions while growing the local economy and jobs, the parts of which are not mutually exclusive,” he says. “I plan on bringing that core concept to the Alliance by working collaboratively with our leading corporations, academic institutions and public agencies.

Project and Construction Services (PCS) named Kevin Lawlor president of the employee-owned professional construction services and general contracting company. Lawlor succeeds 13-year PCS president Robert S. Strickland, who recently retired. Lawlor has more than 38 years of design and construction phase experience and has been with PCS for 22 years, the last 11 years as executive vice president.
 
Cleveland Neighborhood Progress Inc., a private nonprofit community development funding intermediary focused on investing in the revitalization of city neighborhoods, is growing. The organization has added four key staff members since January. Alesha Washington joined CNP as senior director of advocacy, policy and research, and Mordecai Cargill was hired as manager of fund development in January. In mid-march Zoë Taft Mueller joined CNP as placemaking fellow and Daniel Brown was hired as economic opportunity fellow. Later this month, Donald A. Pattison will come to CNP as community lending specialist, Village Capital Corporation.
 
Have a new hire you'd like to share? Email Karin with the details and we’ll help spread the good news!