Regional Economy

asiatown neighborhood an example of immigration as job creator
In a Slate post titled “Cleveland Chinese immigration: New people create new jobs,” Matthew Yglesias writes of his experience eating some Chinese food in Cleveland’s “Asiantown” neighborhood -- an area occupied by a growing collection of Asian restaurants and markets.
 
“I had a meal there that probably exceeds any Chinese cooking you can find in DC proper and would count as quite good even by the standards of the more immigrant-heavy suburbs in Rockville or Northern Virginia," the writer boasts.
 
Yglesias goes on to detail how the newcomers create “new jobs” by offering an “authentic experience” that might not otherwise be available. And while opponents to immigration fear “outsiders” might appropriate available jobs, consider the possibility of additional job creation that comes with fixing up buildings and delivering supplies.
 
Check out the full piece here.

music lovers turn their skill, passion into boutique studio
Michael Seifert and Jake Fader have had a lifelong love of music. Seifert grew up in his father’s recording studio on E. 61st Street. “It was all I wanted to do growing up,” Seifert says of hanging out in the studio. “Jake is the opposite," Seifert says. "He had more formal training.” Fader has studied guitar since he was 14 and has performed around the world in various bands.
 
Both have experience in commercial production work on local and national levels. So, as friends and musicians working in Cleveland, Fader and Seifert decided to go into business together. They launched Bite Sized Creative, a full-service creative firm that operates out of Seifert’s 11-year-old recording studio, Ante Up Audio, on E. 38th Street in Tyler Village.
 
“Jake and I have a good dynamic and a lot of respect for each other’s work,” says Seifert.
 
Bite Sized Creative opened in April, and already the startup has landed some impressive gigs. Locally, they've worked on accounts for Wade Oval Wednesdays and St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. Other clients include Target, Samsung and Microsoft.
 
They’ve also worked on soundtracks for movies. They produced more than 40 music cues for the documentary Running America. They produced more than a dozen original music pieces for the re-release of the classic movie The Outsiders.
 
Seifert describes Bite Sized Creative as taking a boutique approach to production work, providing custom music for soundtracks and other audio. “We have a very high quality product, not only locally but regionally, nationally and internationally,” Seifert says.
 
While Seifert and Fader are the only full-time employees at Bite Sized Creative, they do hire freelancers for bigger projects. “We’ve really been able to hire a lot of talent,” says Seifert. “We try to hire locally as much as possible. We both really love Cleveland and there’s a huge talent pool here.”

 
Source: Michael Seifert
Writer: Karin Connelly
recipe for success: food-based startups face unique challenges
Starting a successful food-based business takes more than a great idea and the ability to cook. Like any entrepreneurial venture, food startups require planning, money and a willingness to be flexible. But those who do dive in have found there's plenty of guidance, support and collaboration in the local food startup community.
cle orchestra declared 'world's favorite orchestra' in poll
Bachtrack, the largest online classical review site and concert finder, declared The Cleveland Orchestra as the winner of the "World’s Favourite Orchestra 2013" contest. Following a month of voting, with 11,895 votes for 417 orchestras from 97 countries, Cleveland Orchestra roundly beat the competition.
 
The Cleveland Orchestra took 20.3 percent of the vote, with the next closest orchestra garnering just 12.4 percent of the vote. 46 percent of the votes came from North America and 48 percent came from Europe.

“We want to thank our fans for voting for The Cleveland Orchestra," says Ross Binnie, Chief Marketing Officer of The Cleveland Orchestra. "We have 60,000 social media followers whom we invited to vote, and they clearly were engaged. We are proud to be one of the world’s finest orchestras, thanks to the support of all the communities we serve.”
 
Read the rest of the results here.

cle extends a welcoming hand to immigrants
In a New York Times article titled "Ailing Midwestern Cities Extend a Welcoming Hand to Immigrants," writer Julia Preston highlights cities that have launched programs like Global Cleveland to attract immigrant newcomers and their work skills.
 
"Other struggling cities are trying to restart growth by luring enterprising immigrants, both highly skilled workers and low-wage laborers," she writes. "In the Midwest, similar initiatives have begun in Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Lansing, Mich., as well as Detroit, as it strives to rise out of bankruptcy."
 
"We want to get back to the entrepreneurial spirit that immigrants bring,” said Richard Herman, a Cleveland immigration lawyer who advises cities on ideas for development based on attracting and retaining newcomers.
 
Read the rest here.

latest NEOSA survey reveals tech industry is optimistic about future growth
NEOSA’s latest quarterly survey of 80 to 90 tech companies in Northeast Ohio reveals an industry that continues to be optimistic about future business growth and success in the region. Sixty-nine percent of the respondents reported business performance was good or very good for the second quarter of 2013.

Hiring expectations continued to be strong, with two thirds of the companies reporting that they planned to increase staff in the next year. “We’ve seen really high level of demand for more than two years,” says NEOSA director Brad Nellis. “There is no other two-year period where we’ve seen such high continued demand for talent.” NEOSA has conducted its quarterly survey since 2007.
 
However, the same companies that plan to increase staff also report having challenges in finding the talent they are looking for. Seventy percent reported having some difficulty or a hard time hiring, while only eight percent said they had no problems. The demand for IT talent in Northeast Ohio also is nothing new, says Nellis.
 
“We’re not seeing any let up in that demand,” says Nellis. “The unemployment rate across the country is below four percent.” He said plans are underway for a nationwide push to attract new and returning IT talent to the area. Global Cleveland, for instance, is planning a road show on the coasts to lure potential employees to Cleveland. “They are going to reach out to ex-pats and tell them about the great things going on here,” says Nellis.
 
However, despite the demand for talented employees, Nellis says the problem is not hindering the roughly 2,500 Northeast Ohio tech companies from succeeding in the marketplace. “It’s not a crippling problem,” he says. “They are still able to compete, they are still able to grow and get their products out the door.”

 
Source: Brad Nellis
Writer: Karin Connelly
ny post explores the local scene, lauds city's 'revival'
In a New York Post feature titled “Cleveland is Seeing a Revival,” writer Jennifer Ceasar explores some of Cleveland’s attractions, which increasingly are garnering attention outside of Northeast Ohio.
 
“If you were an Ohioan back in the early ’80s, you might remember 'New York’s the Big Apple, but Cleveland’s a Plum,' an ad campaign to rebrand the failing Rust Belt town. Though it never stuck, today’s Cleveland is earning laurels for its homegrown talent, like Iron Chef Michael Symon, along with farm-to-table eateries, award-winning craft breweries and cool art spaces.”
 
Some of the writer's many stops included Ohio City, home of Flying Fig, Great Lakes Brewing Company and the Transformer Station, Tremont, which houses some of the city’s best eateries, and University Circle, where many of Cleveland’s top cultural attractions reside.
 
Check out the full piece here.

huffpo praises efforts by cle orchestra to attract young audience
In a Huffington Post article titled "In Tune With the Next Generation," Jesse Rosen, president of the League of American Orchestras, praises the Cleveland Orchestra's efforts to be the band with the youngest audience.
 
"The Cleveland Orchestra, best known as one of the world's finest orchestras, with an equally outstanding hall and decades of extraordinary musical leadership, now has a new goal: to be the orchestra with the youngest audience. An audacious goal, but by the looks of the audience in Severance Hall last Friday night at the concert I heard, they are well on their way," he writes.
 
"The performance I heard in Cleveland was one of a three-concert set on their opening weekend. The uncompromising programs included works by Mahler, Beethoven and Schumann. Twenty seven percent of the audience at those three concerts were young people. You read that right, 27 percent. I am one year shy of enjoying senior discounts and I can tell you that concerts, like many things, are more fun with young people around. The vibe in the hall was fantastic."
 
Read the rest of the feature here.
novelmed's macular degeneration therapy ready for clinical trials
NovelMed Therapeutics, a biotech company founded in 2003 that develops treatments for macular degeneration, announced that it has developed an antibody compound that is effective in treating wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and possibly the dry form of the disease as well. AMD affects more than two million people in the United States and is a leading cause of blindness among adults.

Two independent pre-clinical investigations showed that NovelMed's lead compound, an alternative pathway inhibitor, prevents wet-AMD. “We believe our technology inhibits the progression of AMD,” says Rekha Bansal, CEO and founder of NovelMed. “The animal data supports treatment for wet AMD. The compound could possibly treat the dry form as well, which accounts for 90 percent of the AMD market.”
 
Bansal says the therapy currently is in the manufacturing phase, with safety studies scheduled to begin next year and human clinical trials to start in late 2014.
 
“I think we are at the forefront in time with the potential to treat both wet and dry AMD,” says Bansal. “It’s the first treatment of its kind.”
 
Bansal is proud that this breakthrough is happening in Northeast Ohio. “This is a drug coming out of Cleveland for vision loss,” she says. “It’s going to be a great thing for Cleveland.”
 
NovelMed currently has four R&D positions open due to its recent growth.

 
Source: Rekha Bansal
Writer: Karin Connelly
beaumont breaks ground on $9.5m STEM building to prepare girls for cutting-edge careers
Beaumont School recently broke ground on a $9.5 million addition that will include a STEM education building, student commons, administrative offices and new school entrance that fronts North Park Boulevard.

The 25,000-square-foot building will house eight science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) classrooms that replace a dated science wing. The expanded labs will allow for more hands-on learning that can be integrated into the entire curriculum.

“An education at Beaumont provides our young women with excellent opportunities for academic achievement, but also inspires them to give back to the community to make a difference in society," says Sister Gretchen Rodenfels, OSU, president of Beaumont School, in a release. “With an improved campus and dynamic STEM presence, Beaumont students will be given a strong foundation to solve the problems affecting society now and in the future.”

With the U.S. falling behind other countries in math and science education, many schools have been renewing their focus on STEM education. Beaumont's new STEM building will help young women advance in cutting-edge careers.


Source: Sister Gretchen Rodenfels
Writer: Lee Chilcote
the cutting edge: three cleveland medical innovations bound for great things
Modern medicine is constantly innovating ways to improve the length and quality of human life. Cleveland researchers are leading the way with cutting-edge treatments and technologies that can blast a brain tumor with a laser, detect a concussion using an iPad, and test for prostate cancer by way of genetics.
one person's trash = another person's treasure: creative reuse centers are on the rise
Creative reuse centers are popping up all across the nation, including Cleveland. These craft-astic places are filled with useful materials that otherwise would end up in a landfill. Adored by artists, teachers and other crafty folks, they also create green jobs, reduce waste and offer affordable supplies for projects.
bad girl ventures readies launch of fall business plan competition
Micro-lending organization Bad Girl Ventures (BGV) wants Cleveland to connect with the next generation of entrepreneurs and small business owners. That hopefully beautiful friendship will begin on Thursday, October 3, when BGV Cleveland hosts its kickoff event introducing the 10 finalists of its fall business plan competition.

The 10 women will present themselves at Battery Park Wine Bar, pitching their ideas to an audience before embarking on BGV's nine-week course to help tweak their fledgling enterprises. The final class will be in mid-November, with the winner of BGV's $25,000 low-interest loan announced during a "graduation ceremony" the following month.

Financing and mentorship are just two of the benefits for program participants, says Reka Barabas, director of BGV Cleveland.

"Networking is a huge motivating factor for them," she says. "These women are not just sitting in a stuffy classroom, but extending their professional network."

This autumn's class represents a wide range of industries and specialty areas. There's a children's party bus, granola bar company, match-making business, and more.

BGV Cleveland offers business education courses and financing twice per year to help women-owned startups launch, manage and market their businesses. In May, custom cake baker Sugar Plum Cake Company earned the business group's $25,000 loan. Two other ventures -- Journey Art Gallery  and The Agrarian Collective  -- each received $5,000 loans from a private giving circle. 

"We're exposing these businesses to as many resources as possible," says Barabas. "There's a huge value in that."

 
SOURCE: Reka Barabas
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
noaca director touts bikes, multi-modal transportation in annual address
Speaking last week at the annual meeting of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), the regional transportation planning agency for Northeast Ohio, Executive Director Grace Gallucci promised a more strategic distribution of money for projects and greater emphasis on multi-modal transportation options.

"We want more choices; that's what freedom -- being an American -- is about," she said. "NOACA is not trying to vilify the automobile; we're trying to attract the best and the brightest. Bicycling is increasingly popular, and more communities are integrating bike plans. Americans are driving less for the first time in a generation, and that trend is clearly led by the Millenial generation."

NOACA also has launched a far-reaching plan to assemble information on the condition of every highway, road and street in five counties, and use this information to make objective decisions about transportation spending. "Making decisions in an objective, data-driven way is more important now than ever. If there ever was a time to make decisions make economic sense, the time is now."

Gallucci touted NOACA's new Regional Bicycle Transportation Plan, a $15 million investment in the City of Cleveland's W. 73rd Street Extension Project and the Clifton Boulevard streetscape project among NOACA's recent, big ticket investments.

Peter Rogoff, Federal Transit Administrator, gave the keynote address. He argued that transit-oriented development projects can spark urban revitalization if done right, citing Cleveland's bus-rapid transit along the Euclid Corridor as one example of success.

Cleveland is a "national model for doing" with the Euclid Corridor project, Rogoff stated, because the project cost a lot less than light rail but resulted in big ridership gains and major economic development along the corridor. Other cities are studying how Cleveland did it and replicating our success, he added.


Source: Grace Gallucci, Peter Rogoff
Writer: Lee Chilcote
launchhouse driving force behind upcoming cleveland entrepreneur week
Cleveland's economic leaders have worked hard to parade the city as a hub for innovation. A chance to further show off Northeast Ohio's entrepreneurial acumen is a driving force behind Shaker Heights accelerator LaunchHouse's sponsorship of Cleveland Entrepreneurship Week (Cleveland EW), an upcoming four­-day celebration of business success.

The event, scheduled for November 4-­8, was created to give entrepreneurs and investors the knowledge and resources to grow the Northeast Ohio business community, says LaunchHouse co-founder Todd Goldstein.

LaunchHouse will kick off Cleveland EW at its Shaker Heights headquarters by presenting the 11 technology startups participating in its Accelerator Program. The rest of the week will feature speakers and other events that give entrepreneurs from all over the country an opportunity to connect with potential financial backers as well as fellow businesspeople.

"We're giving them exposure to people they normally wouldn't meet," says Goldstein. "Meeting the right person can help turn a small business into a large business."

LaunchHouse pushing for the entrepreneurship event aligns with its mission of local job creation through seed capital, education and innovation, notes Goldstein. With Cleveland striving to be on the forefront of the new economy, an event like Cleveland EW can put the area in a positive national spotlight.

"We've worked to change how Northeast Ohio is viewed in terms of entrepreneurship," Goldstein says. "This [event] is about showcasing the region as a place of innovation and capital formation."

 
SOURCE: Todd Goldstein
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
 
ny post promotes pair of cleveland art museums
In a New York Post feature titled “Hit up Ohio’s many art museums,” writer Jennifer Caesar highlights the wealth of masterpieces one can enjoy in the great state of Ohio, including those exhibited by The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) and MOCA Cleveland.
 
"Ohio and the arts are not such strange bedfellows: Flush with cash in the early 20th century -- from industries like steel, rubber and soap -- Cleveland, Toledo, Akron and Cincinnati built grand museums, and acquired masterpieces to fill them."
Highlighted at CMA is the "stellar Islamic art, fine European paintings (JMW Turner, Van Gogh, Monet and Picasso among them) and excellent contemporary pieces by the likes of Christo, Gerhard Richter and Chuck Close."
 
Over at MOCA is, "a rotating series of cutting-edge contemporary art exhibitions (the museum does not have a permanent collection), which lean heavily toward video and performance art."
 
Check out the full story here.

techpint event touches on lessons learned from business failures
"Failure" is a tough word, particularly for entrepreneurial types throwing so much of their lives into a venture that might go belly up within a few months. However, Paul McAvinchey, creator of TechPint, believes valuable lessons can be learned from disappointment.

Such is the theme of this fall's TechPint conference, a casual gathering for entrepreneurs and investors in Internet technology. Coordinator McAvinchey expects more than 250 of the region's most innovative tech pacesetters to attend the quarterly-held event taking place tonight (September 26) at Sterle’s Slovenian Country House. Speakers John Gadd of Hotcards.com, Kendall Wouters of Reach Ventures and Phil Brennan of Echogen Power Systems will touch on how businesses can bounce back from seemingly crushing setbacks.

"It's a fact that you must fail many times before you see success," says McAvinchey, who moved to Cleveland from County Tipperary, Ireland, in April 2012 to lead product innovation for MedCity Media. "If you're failing, that means you're trying. That's a good thing."

Even stories of tremendous achievement, like the billion-dollar acquisition of Instagram, began on a rocky road of risk and false starts, McAvinchey points out.

"Failure will work for you if you learn from it," he says.

The informal get-together is designed to connect the region's tech thinkers over a couple pints of beers, says McAvinchey. TechPint's moniker this month is "Techtoberfest," in appreciation of this suds-filled season of the year.

Autumn also is a time for scary stories, and attendees will hear a few frightening business-related tales at TechPint. "It's important to celebrate failure," McAvinchey says. "This is a way to bring positive attention to it."

 
SOURCE: Paul McAvinchey 
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth
thriving startup community means jobs aplenty... for the right candidates
The large number of open jobs in the startup community indicates these companies are doing well and growing. But working for a young startup has unique challenges. Recruiters and employers discuss some of the critical qualities required for those looking for a good fit with a startup.
men's journal drops into cleveland for a visit
In a Men's Journal travel feature titled "Visiting Cleveland, on Purpose," writer Robert Reid manages to enjoy himself during an action-packed visit to town -- and also manages to trot out a few hackneyed affronts as well.
 
"Spread out on the south shore of Lake Erie, 'The Forest City' -- called the 'mistake by the lake' by the sort of people who talk like that -- is a pleasant surprise for visitors who actually make the trip," Reid writes. "Just the names of the neighborhoods, including Slavic Village, Little Italy, and Asiatown, are a tribute to the city’s melting-pot roots, which manifest in great fusion cuisine."

In the piece, Reid mentions Happy Dog, Beachland Ballroom, the Orchestra, Big Fun, MOCA, Melt and others.
 
Read the rest of the (back-handed) compliment here.