Cleveland is an entrepreneurial hotspot right now, and big business in Cleveland wants to make sure local women-owned outfits have equal footing. Springboard Enterprises has joined forces with Ohio-based powerhouses KeyBank, Thompson Hine, and Meaden & Moore to provide women with the keys to building big businesses.

Build it Big is a business development program for women-owned businesses on the fast track to growth. "It's about educating business owners on how to find equity investors and financing," says Maria Coyne, executive vice president of business banking for Key. "It's really about targeting for growth and the desire to grow rapidly."

Applications are being taken through May 23. The number of applicants accepted into the program depends on how many apply, but all applicants will get at least some input. To qualify, companies must have a woman in a key management position with a significant ownership stake; demonstrate a qualified and profitable market opportunity, a track record of milestone achievement and a credible core management team or an ability to attract one.

Companies selected to participate will meet one-on-one with the Build It Big partners to chart effective strategies for growing their businesses, including choosing the right capital, getting the fiscal house in order, and important legal issues such as product licensing, royalties and protecting the company's intellectual property.

The program can only mean good things for Cleveland's entrepreneurial spirit. "We think it's great for Cleveland because we like to grow our own," says Coyne. "We have an entrepreneurial history. Build it Big improves sustainability and growth for all our businesses. And we want to have a shared interest in their success."

Source: Maria Coyne
Writer: Karin Connelly

The Tremont neighborhood recently celebrated the opening of a new parking lot at Jefferson and Professor avenues that will not only help alleviate the neighborhood's parking crunch, but also help solve the region's storm water management problem.

The parking lot incorporates bioswales that will prevent rainwater from entering the sewer system. When rain falls onto the property, it runs off into carefully designed plant systems that gradually release it back into the ground.

The parking lot was developed by the Tremont West Development Corporation (TWDC), a nonprofit community development group that serves the Tremont neighborhood, in partnership with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD), URS, and the City of Cleveland Sustainability Office.

NEORSD is currently working on a plan for regional storm water management that it hopes will spur more small-scale efforts like this one in the future. Storm water management solutions can help address the problems of flooding, erosion and combined sewer overflows or pollution, NEORSD says.

To acquire the formerly blighted parcel, TWDC partnered with local property owners and applied for funding from the Model Blocks program of Neighborhood Progress, a nonprofit that provides grants and technical assistance to CDC's in Cleveland.

Under the new fee structure that NEORSD plans to roll out next year, property owners can also earn credits for innovative storm water management solutions that keep rainwater out of sewers. For more information, visit Project Clean Lake.


Source: Tremont West Development Corporation, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District
Writer: Lee Chilcote

John Zitzner became a successful entrepreneur in the 1980s, when his software company made Inc. magazine's list of the 500 fastest growing companies.

After selling his company to Xerox in the late '90s, however, he decided to apply his business skills to a good cause. He created E City, a nonprofit organization that teaches entrepreneurship and life skills to urban youth. Yet after seeing first-hand the educational challenges that his students faced, he decided to start a school. In 2006 he co-founded E Prep, a high-performing charter middle school.

Two years ago, the serial entrepreneur took the next step by launching Village Prep, a tuition-free public charter elementary school.

At last week's sold out TEDxCLE event at the Capitol Theatre, Zitzner told the capacity crowd that high-performing charter schools are needed across the city of Cleveland to provide an alternative to poor-performing public schools. "Our job is to make sure that every student graduates from high school and college," he said.

Zitzner also announced plans to expand the network of high-performing charter schools in Cleveland. Breakthrough Schools, a coalition of several high-performing charter schools, hopes to create 20 new schools by 2020. This would allow Breakthrough to serve about 7,000 students, or 20 percent of the K-8 school children in Cleveland.

It won't be easy, Zitzner said, because charter schools must raise millions of philanthropic dollars each year. "State charter school laws are discriminatory because they dictate that we receive no local property taxes, or one-third less funding than Cleveland Municipal School District schools that are failing," he said. "We need to change the law so that charter schools receive local property taxes."


Source: John Zitzner
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Cleveland State University's Nance College of Business Administration and Shaker LaunchHouse have teamed up to encourage the regions entrepreneurs to follow their dreams.

The agreement was adopted at a special meeting of the Shaker City Council on March 14, after recommendation by the Shaker Heights Economic Development Department.

One of the first endeavors the two have launched is the 2011 Idea Competition. The contest is open to students at any Ohio college or university with an innovative business idea. Ideas should focus on software and Internet technology, low-tech medical devices, and clean energy.

"We really want to get the juices flowing of entrepreneurs in the region," says Shaker LaunchHouse managing partner Todd Goldstein. "We believe it's extremely important to provide an outlet for good ideas."

The winner gets a $2,500 scholarship to the Nance's global AMBA program and $1,000 from LaunchHouse, including incubation space, legal support, accounting support, and business planning assistance. The winner will have the chance to compete for $5,000 in seed funding.

Entry forms are due by noon on Monday, April 25. Finalists will then give a two-minute pitch to a panel of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists at Shaker LaunchHouse on Thursday, May 5. SLH will be offering educational seminars for the contestants to help them with their presentations.


Source: Todd Goldstein
Writer: Karin Connelly

Shaker LaunchHouse, a pre-seed investment fund and business accelerator, has raised $250,000 in capital funds. A portion of the money will be used to invest an average of $10,000 in 15 software and disruptive technology companies. "Disruptive technology refers to thinking of things that shake up or dramatically change the market," explains Todd Goldstein, managing partner of SLH.

The investments will be made over the next 12 months. Additionally, SLH will provide office space and back office support to each of the 15 companies. Goldstein and his partner formed Shaker LaunchHouse in 2008 after seeing larger numbers of young entrepreneurs leaving Cleveland for cities that offered greater start-up opportunities.

"We saw a lot of young people moving away because there was a lot of seed money [elsewhere] ," explains Goldstein. "We felt that Cleveland was ripe for an organization that could provide seed money."

SLH's goal is to invest in 15 companies a year, while also providing networking with 100 mentors, cooperative office space and educational programming. SLH provides twice weekly workshops for entrepreneurs led by area business leaders with expertise in everything from how to manage the finances of a startup company to how to write an effective executive summary and make presentations as well as crash courses in website development.

SLH is in the process of moving into a renovated car dealership on Lee Road, which will provide 23,000 square feet of space for entrepreneurs and mentors.


Source: Todd Goldstein
Writer: Karin Connelly

While it's common for individual companies to develop a business plan to help prepare for success, Northeast Ohio is one of only three regions in the country to pilot a regional business development plan. The Partnership for Regional Innovation Services to Manufacturers (PRISM) will be headed by MAGNET to help small and medium sized manufacturers thrive in the region.

"It's basically a way to ramp up the level of innovation in the manufacturing sector," says John Schober, MAGNET's director of innovation. "Lots of businesses out there have the potential to grow, but they don't have the resources available to grow."

For instance, these companies may not have access to resources such as marketing or R&D departments. "The PRISM program will help manufacturers identify and access these resourcces," says Schober. "People have been talking about what's going wrong for a while, but no one's talking about what to do about it."

This initiative will take the sub-networks -- government, education, the manufacturing sector, economic development organizations, and service -- and connect them. "The realization came that we're in these networks and we see the gap," says Schober. "We can connect those industries. So we get those collaboratons to solve a problem we've never solved before."

Several organizations have already shown support for the PRISM initiative, including Fund for Our Economic Future, The Cleveland Foundation, and the Greater Cleveland Partnership.


Source: John Schober
Writer: Karin Connelly

On April 25th, Cleveland Public Library (CPL) will celebrate the opening of the Sports Research Center, where visitors can explore favorite moments in local sports history, learn more about the history of black baseball, and meet sports icons from past and present.

The Center lets sports junkies travel back in time to the Indians' glory days. And given the Tribe's current first-place perch in the AL Central, perhaps this isn't just idle daydreaming.

The opening reception for the new facility and its inaugural exhibit, "Pride and Passion: The African American Baseball Experience," will be held on April 25th at 3:30 p.m. on the main library's 5th floor.

"Pride and Passion" tells the story of the African-American baseball players who formed the Negro Leagues after being barred from Major League Baseball in the 1890s. Some of baseball's greatest players, including Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron, played for the Negro Leagues in the early 20th century.

Negro League player Ernest Nimmons, who played alongside Hank Aaron for the Indianapolis Clowns in 1952, will be on hand to talk about his experiences at the event. Nimmons now lives in Elyria.

"Pride and Passion" is organized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and the American Library Association Public Programs Office. It was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

Additional highlights of the center's research materials include correspondence from Jackie Robinson, oral history interviews with 100+ baseball players, baseball fiction, boxing history and the Plain Dealer Historical Archive, an online sports news database.

The April 25th event is a partnership between CPL and the Cleveland Indians. The team's Vice President of Public Relations, Bob DiBiasio, and retired Indians player and 1980 American League Rookie of the Year, Joe Charboneau, will answer questions and sign autographs.

If you happen to miss the opening reception you won't have to "wait 'til next year." The Sports Research Center will be free and open to the public year round.


Source: Cleveland Public Library
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Food trucks are all the rage -- both here and across the U.S. Despite one of the worst recessions in recent history, these plucky start-ups are thriving, adding jobs, injecting cash into the local economy, and putting smiles on the faces of hungry diners. But rather than encourage the proliferation of these economic development engines, food truck operators say the City of Cleveland is making it nearly impossible for them to succeed.

While Northeast Ohio's retail vacancy rate remains stubbornly high at 12 percent, a Cleveland Heights nonprofit is defying this trend by expanding its art gallery into an empty storefront, adding performance space, classrooms and offices to serve the community.

Heights Arts, which operates a 900-square-foot gallery next to the Cedar Lee Theatre, decided last year to make the leap into an adjacent storefront that formerly housed a Japanese eatery. The group has so far raised more than $60,000 towards its $100,000 fundraising goal. Renovations are expected to be completed this year.

The new 2,400-square-foot storefront will serve as a multipurpose arts space. Heights Arts, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, plans to host more poetry readings, concerts and art openings. The group anticipates that some events will spill out into the adjacent mini-park, a gathering place for visitors in the bustling Cedar-Lee district, aiding the group's mission of bringing art into the community.

Cleveland-based Studio Techne Architects designed the expansion. The George Gund Foundation and the Cyrus Eaton Foundation have provided lead grants for the project.

Since being founded a decade ago, Heights Arts has completed a bevy of art projects, including the Coventry Peace Arch on Coventry, three large-scale murals, and Knitscape, a project to brighten Lee Road and Larchmere Boulevard with crocheted 'sweaters' on parking meters and trees. The group also manages the selection process for the Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate.


Source: Heights Arts
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Times have changed since the Stanford House, an historic farm in the Cuyahoga Valley, was built in 1830 by George Stanford, one of the first settlers of the Western Reserve. Back then, the nearby Ohio and Erie Canal was the main link to the outside world. Today, the property is situated near highways and two urban centers, yet remains protected by the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, a natural retreat in an urbanized area.

Now the Stanford House has gained renewed life following a $270,000 renovation. The National Park Service has converted it into meeting space, an educational classroom for the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center and affordable overnight accommodations for hikers and bikers.

The Stanford House was purchased by the park service in 1978, and for thirty years, it served as a hostel that accommodated school groups, boy scout troups and international travelers of all ages. Yet when Stanford Hostel closed in 2008, its future was up in the air.

Soon the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNPA), a nonprofit advocacy group that works closely with the park service, stepped in to raise funds and complete a renovation. Federal stimulus funding covered $98,000 of these upgrades, with additional funding coming from area foundations and donors.

Because the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail is accessible from the Stanford House, CVNPA anticipates that the accommodations will be in demand from hikers and bikers completing longer, multi-day trips through the park. For the first time, backcountry campsites are also now available in a meadow adjacent to the property.

With a successful project under its belt, CVNPA is now eyeing the prospect of raising funds to renovate the Stanford House barn -- which would make an excellent location, they say, for interpretive programs, 'locavore' farm dinners, and rustic meeting space.


Source: Cuyahoga Valley National Park Association
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) board recently approved a small grants pilot program for the 2012 funding cycle. The program simplifies the application process for organizations seeking funds up to $5,000.

The CAC's standard Project Support (PS) grant has an upper limit of $50,000 and requires a rigorous application process, including detailed financial and participant data, and a one-to-one cash match for each dollar of CAC funding. This program simplifies the amount of financial data required and allows for 25 percent of the match to be made up in "in kind" professional donations.

"The reason behind creating this program is small community-based non-profits don't have the resources to meet the financial requirements of the larger program," says CAC external affairs director Jonah Weinberg. "This should mean we're able to expand access to these projects throughout Cuyahoga County."

The guidelines for the grants will be available this month. Organizations can begin submitting intent to apply letters June 1. Applications will be reviewed by a public panel, and grants will be awarded at the CAC's November board meeting.

CAC grants are funded by a cigarette tax in Cuyahoga County earmarked for local arts and cultural funding. The CAC has awarded nearly $65 million since the ballot initiative was approved in 2006.


Source: Jonah Weinberg
Writer: Karin Connelly

Shannon Okey enjoys sharing what she knows about knitting. But she didn't like being told what to do by traditional publishers. So, after publishing 12 books the traditional way, Okey launched Cooperative Press in 2006 with The Knitgrrl Guide to Professional Knitwear Design, the first-ever business book targeted to the handknit industry.

"I decided to start my own company and take advantage of some of the things that larger publishers were ignoring or underusing, such as digital publications," says Okey. "We now publish in a variety of formats, including print, PDF and e-book reader formats."

Today, Okey runs her business out of the Lake Erie building at Templar Park in Lakewood. She is the only full-time employee, but she hires freelancers for everything from editing to photography to graphic design. Cooperative Press splits profits equally with its authors, and pays a higher percentage on digital publications.

The biggest hurdle Okey has overcome is financing. "Banks are terrified the second they hear the word 'knitting,'" she says. "Never mind that crafts are a billion-dollar-plus industry. Never mind we're totally in the black and doing great numbers. Our bank wouldn't give us a standard loan. Their underwriters offered up a credit card in its place -- not the same thing."

This month she launched a month-long campaign on Kickstarter to raise additional funds. The effort raised $6,500 in the first week of campaigning. It is now nearing $10,000.

"People believe in what we're doing and they want to see us succeed, so they're willing to give us money where traditional sources won't," says Okey. "I'm hoping we'll raise over $20,000 this month, which will allow us a lot more flexibility in terms of where we print and other factors."


Source: Shannon Okey
Writer: Karin Connelly

JumpStart CEO Ray Leach has been named to the board of the National Venture Capital Association. The NVCA serves as the voice of the United States venture capital community and advocates for policies that encourage innovation and reward long-term investment.

While most of the organization's 400 members represent venture capital firms on the East and West coasts, Leach is the only member representing the Midwest. "In order to be successful as a non-profit, we need healthy venture capital nationally," says Leach. "It's a great way to be there, convincing them they have to invest in the Midwest."

Northeast Ohio leads the Midwest in venture capital deal activity, second only to Chicago in the amount of capital raised by companies with $234 million.

Leach is one of six new NVCA members elected to a four-year term. He was nominated by former NVCA board chair David Morgenthaler of Morganthaler Ventures and member Ray Lane with Kleiner Perkins, who thought Leach would be a good advocate for JumpStart's missives.

"I'm excited to play a role in advancing venture capital nationally and to offer my viewpoint from a region that's reinvented itself with the assistance of innovative initiatives like Ohio's state-led Third Frontier," says Leach. "For example, entrepreneurs in Northeast Ohio have raised more than $1.1 billion in venture capital in the last five years. By serving on the NVCA's board, I hope to bring greater visibility to our region's activity to increase investments and ultimately job growth."


Source: Ray Leach
Writer: Karin Connelly

West Creek Reservation, a 278-acre Metropark in Parma that originally opened in 2006, will undergo a $12 million makeover to be complete by fall 2012, including sustainable landscaping designed to reduce pollution and test a new national rating system.

Cleveland Metroparks held a groundbreaking March 7th for park improvements, including a new visitor center, picnic shelter and all-purpose trails. The visitor center landscaping will feature a natural storm water treatment system that will help keep rainwater in West Creek, preventing flooding downstream.

The Sustainable Sites Initiative, a new national organization that is creating voluntary design standards for sustainable landscaping, will monitor and test the project. West Creek was selected to participate in the program among 175 sites nationwide.

As part of this effort, the Cleveland Metroparks will measure how much storm water is captured by the visitor center and report that information to the public. The visitor center will feature hands-on educational exhibits about water conservation.

West Creek's new sustainable landscaping system will control how much water enters the stream by acting as a filter. As storm water reaches the center, it will descend into wetlands and enter bio-swales, or plants, landscaping and rocks that function as detention basins. As storm water is gradually released, it will run through stepped pools and wetlands before flowing into the creek.

The new visitor center will be built with environmentally friendly materials, including sustainably harvested lumber and carpeting made from recycled materials. The parking lot will also feature porous pavement, allowing rainwater to flow into the landscaping instead of the sewer.

The landscape improvements at West Creek were designed by Floyd Brown Group and Domokur Architects in Akron and Doty & Miller Architects in Bedford.

The Sustainable Sites Initiative will incorporate feedback from its 175 test projects into a final rating system that it hopes to have in place by 2013. The purpose of the rating system is to develop universal criteria for sustainable landscaping in the U.S.


Source: Cleveland Metroparks
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Last summer, the Skylab 3 Apollo Command Module was moved into its new home at the NASA Glenn Visitor Center at the Great Lakes Science Center. How do you transport and install something like that? Here's how it was done.

A soon-to-launch program from Cleveland's Office of Sustainability will provide energy audits and retrofits that will make older homes more energy-efficient. The program, which is funded in part by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), is intended to spur the market for green retrofits.

"There's not enough scale or demand yet to support an industry here, but we think there's an opportunity for a public or nonprofit entity to stimulate the marketplace," said Paul Ettorre, regional manager for Key Bank Community Lending and co-chair of the effort, at a forum on energy-efficiency at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University.

Here's how the Energy $aver Pilot Program would work: Applicants must be residents of Cleveland and owner-occupants of their homes. They would pay $100 for an in-depth energy efficiency audit (the market-rate audit price is in the $250 to $300 range), resulting in a thorough list of measures that would improve the home's energy efficiency.

If a customer agrees to retrofit their homes, they could secure incentives such as reimbursement of the audit fee, a 20-percent credit towards measures that pay for themselves within 10 years, and low-interest financing of the cost of repairs.

Once a customer moves ahead, program staff would help him or her to select an experienced contractor. An average retrofit is estimated to cost about $6,000. The retrofits would focus primarily on items such as insulation, air sealing, HVAC repair and replacement, lighting and hot water tanks. Homeowners who wish to complete a comprehensive rehab will be able to do so using the program.

After the retrofit is done, auditors would return to the home to review the measures and ensure that the job had been completed properly. Organizers expect the Energy $aver Pilot Program to launch this year.


Source: Paul Ettorre
Writer: Lee Chilcote