Search results for '2014 interview Cleveland cocktail bar founder favourite restaurant "left downtown"'

travel writer swoons over cleveland visit
In a Huffington Post travel feature titled "The American Grandeur of Cleveland," contributor Sally Fay was so smitten by our city that she writes, "There are many reasons to visit Cleveland, enough to swing the vote right into moving there!"
 
She writes that "Cleveland has a character that appreciates its past while embracing the renewal of the future. In 2013, the city has a different kind of American grandeur than it did in its industrial heyday of the early 20th century, but rather than get stuck in the past and not learn the lessons from it, Cleveland has aged well into a modern, global and down-to-earth city."
 
Stops on her exhaustive visit through town included Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland Cultural Gardens, Cleveland Art Museum, Severance Hall, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland Institute of Music, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, PlayhouseSquare, West Side Market and many other stops.
 
She closes out the piece with this resounding endorsement:
 
"If you are looking for opportunities, reasonably priced real estate, cultural diversity, high culture, top medicine, professional sports and mid-western charm, pack your bags and discover the American grandeur and quality of life of Cleveland has going for it!"
 
Read the rest right here.

insivia broadens its services, expands its staff
When Andy Halko founded Insivia right out of college in 2002, he was more of a freelancer, picking up projects piece by piece. Today, the company is a full-service marketing firm working out of the Agora in Midtown.
 
“We’ve really evolved into a strategic marketing firm for our clients,” says Rick Scheeser, Insivia's director of operations. “Nowadays we’re their entire marketing department. We have a more strategic partnership with our clients, and we have a lot more control over what we do.”
 
Over the past year Insivia has developed its client base, grown into a 16-person company, and is looking to add a back-end developer and an account executive.
 
“Before we had lots of one-off projects,” says Scheeser. “Now our clients are more our partners; we’re working with them on a long-term basis.”
 
Scheeser says Insivia has developed a niche market in the manufacturing industry. “It really helps us understand how we can use technology in their businesses and communicate with their clients,” he says regarding developing an expertise in the market. “I don’t think you could be in Cleveland without helping manufacturing companies.”
 
Another niche evolves around small tech startups. But Scheeser says no matter what the industry, Insivia gets to know the inner workings of the client. "It’s all about learning about our clients,” he says. “We focus on long-term objectives from a marketing perspective. It allows us to really own the results, instead of just one small piece.”
 
Source: Rick Scheeser
Writer: Karin Connelly

renovated shoreway building will offer 45 loft apartments with stunning lake, city views
There are very few properties in Cleveland where a resident can don a pair sandals and stroll straight to the beach from one's front door. But when it comes online next summer, the Shoreway Building will join that small and privileged group.

The building at 1260 W. 76th Street, once home to the Globe Machine and Stamping Company, has been used for years as a storage facility by the Catan family (of Pat Catan's Craft Centers).

With the reopening of the pedestrian tunnel at W. 76th Street -- a few feet from the building -- the Catans recognized that it was time to reenergize the building as a hub for city living.

Using a combination of state and federal historic tax credits and other financing sources, the Catans are renovating the empty building into 45 market-rate loft apartments with indoor and outdoor parking, huge windows and a common roof deck boasting matchless lake and downtown views.

The building also will feature an indoor fitness center and a small street-level retail space that could become home to a future cafe.

"These are true loft-style units," says Michael Augoustidis, an architect with Domokur Architects who helped design the project. "They have exposed brick walls, really big industrial-style windows, exposed concrete ceilings and concrete floors."

Augoustidis says the level of quality will set the building apart. All units will have gourmet kitchens featuring Corian countertops, hardwood cabinets, and boast an "urban feel."

There isn't a bad view in the building. The structure's orientation allows for stunning treetop views looking out over Edgewater Park and Lake Erie, or dramatic urban views looking out over the lake, Battery Park and downtown. You choose.

Units will be between 900 and 1,400 square feet and will lease for $1,000-1,900 per month.
 
Augoustidis says that units will be ready starting in May or June of next year, and that some of the old wood plank floors will be upcycled into common area design elements.


Source: Michael Augoustidis
Writer: Lee Chilcote
summer festival slideshow
As summer transitions into fall, we wanted to take a moment to look back on a season filled with family, friends and festive neighborhood gatherings. Throughout it all, Fresh Water photographer Bob Perkoski has been attending and shooting the best summer festivals. This slideshow features captured images from a dozen events.
clinic's cosgrove aims to improve health of residents and city
In a lengthy Forbes feature titled "City Surgeon: Can The Cleveland Clinic Save Its Hometown?" writer Matthew Herper reports on Delos “Toby” Cosgrove's tenure at the Cleveland Clinic and his efforts to leverage healthcare to improve the Clinic's neighborhood and the region's economy.
 
"The rough old neighborhood is a distant memory, replaced by a gleaming testament to modern medicine stretching out over 46 buildings and covering 167 acres. Protected by a dedicated 141-trooper force of state police, there is a conference center, a fancy hotel and a farmers’ market. Over Cosgrove’s tenure the clinic’s revenues have nearly doubled to $6.2 billion."
 
But Cosgrove's biggest brainstorm was to build a "giant mall for hospital buyers." 
 
"Think about the things that go into a hospital. Shades, televisions, chairs, tables, wall coverings, all the medical gear, the operating tables, you name it,” Cosgrove is quoted in the piece.
 
"What is emerging is an Epcot Center for med tech. GE Healthcare, Siemens, Philips Health Care and Cardinal Health are among the 22 confirmed tenants in the soon-to-be-completed center. Next door, Bennett has already booked conventions that will bring 89,395 attendees this year and 100,400 next. By the end of 2016, he says, bookings should be enough to pay back the $465 million it took to construct both buildings."
 
“It will begin to influence the city as it comes back and make it a destination medical city,” Cosgrove predicts.
 
Read the rest of the article here.

nine northeast ohio biomed companies named to inc. 5000
Nine local biomedical companies were named to this year’s Inc. 5000 list, a tally of the fastest growing companies in the country in terms of jobs and revenue. Inc. measured revenue growth from 2009 to 2012.
 
The list represents companies across every industry, but the number of area biomed companies named to the list is encouraging to the growing biomed industry in Cleveland.
 
“It’s a very exciting time right now in Northeast Ohio for the biomedical industry," says Aram Nerpouni, president and CEO of BioEnterprise. “It’s a little bit of validation here that you can really grow and thrive in the region.”
 
Nerpouni says the list reflects a combination of young startups and more established companies. Cleveland-based Bravo Wellness, founded in 2008, ranked 888 overall on the Inc. 5000 list. The company, which provides health insurance consulting, ranked 68 on the top 100 health companies. Bravo added 94 jobs in the past three years.
 
Twinsburg-based CoverMyMeds ranked at the top of the Ohio healthcare companies at 96 on the Inc. 5000 list. The company added 32 employees in the past three years.
 
“You’re beginning to see a lot of young companies looking at the area,” says Nerpouni of the Health Tech Corridor, located between University Circle and the Campus District. “We should start seeing more and more activity.” Already, 500,000 square feet have opened up in the area in the last six months, with 80 percent occupancy.
 
In 2012, 43 Cleveland biomedical companies raised $227 million in equity funding.

 
Source: Aram Nerpouni
Writer: Karin Connelly
cleveland among top metros for college grads
In a The Atlantic report titled “The Best U.S. Metros for Recent College Grads Looking For Work,” writer Richard Florida shares a lengthy report on which areas in the United States offer the best opportunities for the newly minted young and educated looking to start life in the “real world.”
 
While the standard San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, and Austin metros continue to receive high marks, others such as New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles leave much to be desired for they younger generation.
 
Cleveland may not have broken the Top 10 just yet, but it does place in the Top 20, and is on the move.
 
“The good news is that Rust Belt metros like Detroit, Pittsburgh and Cleveland appear to have turned the corner. These metros have a lot to offer highly educated recent grads: affordable housing, a low cost of living, authentic neighborhoods, and revitalizing cores, as well as a relatively high level of job openings for in fast-growing highly-educated fields.”
 
Enjoy the complete report here.

the atlantic praises new online rust-centric magazine
In The Atlantic, a story titled “A New Magazine Takes on Old Rust Belt Stereotypes” and written by Bonnie Tsui shares information on a new Cleveland-focused “Rust Belt Chic” online magazine titled Belt.
 
"Rust Belt Chic is a movement," the piece begins. "That’s according to a new online magazine out of Cleveland, Belt, that aims to address the highly specific and often superficial attention paid to a wide swath of deindustrialized America."
 
In a meaty interview, editor Anne Trubek says the publication will focus on what they can do consistently well: intensely and well-edited long-form journalism, commentary, and first-person essays.
 
“Our first issue is queued up and ready to go, and it’s fantastic," she explains. "We have a deep dive on the Anisfield-Wolf Awards, a 78-year-old Cleveland-based book award for works that address issues of racism, which has an incredibly high caliber of past and present awardees and famous jurors but an oddly low profile in town and the nation. And we have a hilarious essay, 'S&M in the CLE' by novelist Alissa Nutting, whose book Tampa has been the talk of the literary world this summer.”
 
Check out the full piece here.


career by design: cia grad fills his days with art, design, music and magic
Jason Tilk, a Cleveland Institute of Art graduate, designs award-winning medical innovations for Nottingham Spirk, the Cleveland-based business innovation firm. By night, the wildly creative trailblazer performs Vaudeville-style shows with his wife that incorporate songs, jokes and "bad magic."
top-selling good greens goes national with wellness bars
When Good Greens launched in 2011, the founders were confident their wellness bars would be popular. They’re packed with protein, completely natural and provide 100 percent of daily fruit and vegetable requirements. 

Within four months, the Good Greens bars were the top nutrition bar sold at Heinen’s stores, and they also landed shelf space at Dave’s Markets and Marc’s stores.
 
Two years later, the LaunchHouse portfolio company continues to be a best seller at Heinen’s. The company sold close to 480,000 bars with Heinen’s last year. They’re good for kids with allergies and people have supposedly lost 25 pounds eating Good Greens bars.
 
Good Greens are so popular, in fact, that Good Greens struggled to keep up with demand. Heinen’s wanted more and more bars, and the company lost accounts because it couldn't keep up with demand.
 
 The company hired a national distributor and is now in 200 Chicago stores, 150 Iowa stores and 100 Wisconsin stores. Good Greens also is the top selling bar on Ohio college campuses, including Ohio State.
 
Good Greens has grown from three employees in 2011 to 10 full-time and 22 part-time employees. John Huff recently joined as COO/CFO. The company is growing so fast that Shaker Heights invested $100,000 in renovations to the second floor of LaunchHouse's building and offered Good Greens a two-year lease in the four-office space.
 
Today, Good Greens sells 10 varieties, six of which are vegan and dairy free. Good Green’s new soy Greek yogurt line includes four flavors, and the company plans to introduce two more flavors by the end of the year. Coming soon is a superfood brownie.
 
 
Source: John Huff
Writer: Karin Connelly
a mighty wind: thousands pledge to buy wind-fueled power
As the nation's first freshwater offshore wind project cranks up off the coast of Cleveland, thousands of people are pledging to pay a little more for a power source that supporters say will improve the environment, create local jobs and advance the nation's energy security.
5th street arcades adds several new retailers, nears 100 percent occupancy
The historic Colonial and Euclid Arcades in downtown Cleveland suffered from 40 percent vacancy last year, yet this year they added a slew of new shops and have gone from half-empty to nearly completely full.

Renamed the 5th Street Arcades, the once-moribund properties have been turned around by Dick Pace of Cumberland Development, who has breathed new life into the spaces by luring entrepreneurial tenants with fresh concepts and excitement about downtown.

"Step by step, we're getting there," says Pace, who has focused on locally themed retail that serves downtown residents and office workers. "Each month, there's something new going on. Our tenants cross-market and help each other."

Last year, a retail grant competition netted Soulcraft Furniture Gallery, which opened earlier this year, and Pour Cleveland, which will open by November 1st.

Several of the businesses in the 5th Street Arcades will soon add outdoor seating, including Pour, Sushi 86 and a yet unnamed food tenant that Pace is working with.

Additional businesses that will open this fall include Herron Starr Apparel (a shoe store), The Tea Lab (a tea shop run by Bob Holcepl of City Roast), The Olive and the Grape, and a take-out vendor called C'mon Let's Eat (CLE).

Finally, Sushi 86 is expanding to create space for banquets and cooking classes, and Alphonso's, a men's and women's accessories shop, will open later this year.

"Tenants are drawn here because this is becoming known as a retail area, an area for shopping," Pace says. "That says a lot about downtown and what's happening."


Source: Dick Pace
Writer: Lee Chilcote
bgv earns outstanding non-profit honor, is kiva zip trustee
Bad Girl Ventures recently was honored by the SCORE Foundation as Outstanding Non-Profit Organization for its work with entrepreneurs in starting their businesses. BGV works with SCORE mentors in its business education classes.
 
“BGV has been using SCORE mentors and services since 2010,” says Reka Barabas, director of BGV Cleveland. “We tap into their expertise and we match up our finalists with SCORE mentors.”
 
Additionally, BGV is now a Kiva Zip trustee, meaning it can recommend businesses for zero-interest loans for up to $10,000 through that organization. “Bad Girl Ventures is the first Kiva Zip trustee in Ohio,” says Barabas. “We have a two-pronged approach to helping female-owned businesses. We provide education, and if they have a strong business plan and are ready to go, they have access to capital. Having these partnerships really helps our mission.”
 
Two BGV Cleveland graduates already have been identified as candidates for the Kiva Zip loan. Anne Hartnett received a 2012 $5,000 BGV loan for Harness Cycle, which is opening this fall in Ohio City. Paula Hershman, owner of Storehouse Tea Company, is one of the first Cleveland graduates of the BGV program and will use the Kiva Zip loan to expand her business. One more graduate will be endorsed this year.
 
BGV business education courses also offer the opportunity to receive a $25,000 low-interest loan. The application deadline for the fall session is September 1.
 


Source: Reka Barabas
Writer: Karin Connelly
indie foundry set to open creative clubhouse in slovenian mansion in st. clair superior
The founder of the successful Cleveland Flea will soon move her growing business, The Indie Foundry, into a historic mansion on St. Clair Avenue. The location will function as a co-working and classroom space aimed at helping small creative businesses to grow and flourish. It joins a growing list of new startups on that street.

"This is the business development side of a business incubator, a place where you meet other creatives," says Stephanie Sheldon. "You’re making things in the kitchen, crafting things or making stuff in the woodshop -- but when it’s time to work on your business, where do you do that? 'Hey, have you found great insurance agent? Who do you use for bookkeeping? How do you deal with a growing company?' These are the kinds of questions that the Indie Foundry is dedicated to."

The stone mansion, located behind the Slovenian National Home, is a bit of a "time capsule" that has beautiful hardwood floors, natural woodwork and two ballrooms.

Sheldon says the Indie Foundry will offer desk space and wi-fi for freelancers and creative entrepreneurs as well as classes, workshops and a slew of pop-up events.

Examples include a lecture series from Bad Girl Ventures and workshops hosted by Soulcraft, the Cleveland Culinary Launch and Kitchen, and Craft Connection.

Sheldon will also work closely with the Slovenian National Home to help improve their operations over the next year, including making the home's courtyard a signature outdoor space for events, pop-up dinners and other activities.


Source: Stephanie Sheldon
Writer: Lee Chilcote
lutheran metropolitan ministry celebrates grand opening of new hq, central kitchen, metal shop
Next week, Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry (LMM) celebrates the grand opening of its new headquarters in a former textile manufacturing shop at E. 45th Street and Superior Avenue. The redeveloped office not only makes LMM more efficient, sustainable and accessible, it also contains a 2,400-square-foot central kitchen and 6,000-square-foot metal shop that allows the group to advance its social enterprise branch.

Michael Sering, Vice President at LMM, says that the organization is able to churn out hundreds of bike racks a year using the new metal shop. Recently, LMM inked a contract with the Cleveland Clinic to build and install an additional 136 racks. LMM employs individuals from 2100 Lakeside, a men's shelter, to make the racks.

The new, spacious central kitchen will allow LMM to continue its work to employ individuals reentering society after time in prison. LMM already prepares about 1,500 meals per day for area homeless shelters and other social service facilities.

LMM is preparing to break ground on a new community garden adjacent to 2100 Lakeside. Sering hopes to build a custom fence for the garden in the metal shop.

LMM's new administrative headquarters are named after Richard Sering, Michael Sering's father and LMM's former director. Richard Sering died of cancer 10 years ago.


Source: Michael Sering
Writer: Lee Chilcote
i live here (now): len gray, legal entrepreneur
Len Gray, a young attorney and Memphis native, has relocated to Cleveland to launch his legal startup Inlaw.me, an online recruiting aid that connects legal employers with candidates. What attracted him was the local business community's spirit of collaboration and enthusiasm.
hello, cleveland: couple's dream music club taking shape in the flats
If all goes as planned, an ambitious new supper club with two stages for live music and outdoor dining will open on the west bank of the Flats next spring. Pursuing that dream are Mike and Colleen Miller, marketing and concert industry vets who lived in Chicago before moving back to Cleveland.
detroit transit draws more inspiration from rta health line
In a Detroit Free Press story titled “Metromode: From freeway to busway? The call for bus rapid transit,” writer Kim North Shine details Detroit’s M1 light-rail line, which is set to begin construction shortly.
 
Shine writes of the inspiration Detroit’s BRT drew from cities such as Denver, Las Vegas, Portland, and Cleveland.
 
“We were very impressed. We came away thinking if Cleveland can do it, so can we.” [Southeast Michigan Council of Governments transportation planner] Carmine Palombo says. “When you were on it, it felt like a bus, but it looks more like a rail vehicle. Most importantly, it ran quickly. Getting on or getting off was much different than a bus. There are much larger doors, no steps, curb boarding. You could see the economic development. It was clean. You sort of got the best of both worlds there. … You could see how it would work for us.”
 
Check out the complete article here.

katie holmes in cleveland garnering media buzz
In a RadioTimes item called "Katie Holmes shoots new movie in Cleveland," the media outlet writes that the actress has had a busy summer shooting multiple films.
 
"Katie Holmes has snuck into Cleveland to film low budget Hollywood indie movie Tootaloo. The Dawson’s Creek star has had a busy summer, filming Paul Dalio's Mania Days in New York, with co-star Luke Kirby, about two depressed lovers, who meet in a psychiatric hospital."
 
The Tootaloo crew has been spotted in and around University Circle, including at Judson Manor and at United Methodist Church.
 
Read all about it here.

aerial silks classes offer cirque du soleil style training in the heart of cleveland
Leslie Friend will be the first person to tell you that what she does is dangerous, but it's also a real thrill and great workout. She teaches aerial silks classes, best known as the acrobatic art form of Cirque du Soleil, at two different locations in Cleveland, the Studio Cleveland and Sokol Greater Cleveland.

"It utilizes every aspect of the body: core strength, balance and flexibility," says Friend. "Most importantly for most people, it builds confidence. A lot of people have a fear of doing stuff off the ground, and this builds up their confidence."

Aerial silks athletes climb and perform acrobatic maneuvers on nylon fabrics that are rigged to the ceiling. Friend starts class participants low to the ground, and as they advance in ability, she allows them to climb higher into the air to perform tricks. She's never had an accident, although participants sometimes do get tangled.

"We've had to build a tower of mats to reach them," she says. "We always tell people, 'If you're ever in doubt, back yourself out, lower yourself to the floor.'"

In Friend's classes, silks climbers can reach heights of up to 20 feet in the air. They entwine themselves in the silks to perform spins and hang upside down.

Although aerial silks classes are growing in popularity, there still are very few places in Ohio where you can even try it. Friend's classes have become so popular this year that she's introduced software on her websites allowing people to sign up in advance.

Classes typically cost between $15 and $20, with discounts available for five-class packages. All of the classes are open to beginners as well as more advanced aerial silks athletes.


Source: Leslie Friend
Writer: Lee Chilcote