Experienced Cleveland developer Mike DeCesare recently started construction on the Waverly Station Townhomes in Detroit Shoreway -- a 22-unit project that is the only new, for-sale housing development to break ground in the City of Cleveland this year.

"Getting the project up and running was no small task, as it proved to be impossible to find conventional bank financing for the project," he says. "We ended up doing private financing. We had investors willing to put money into it."

The project is located on a one-block stretch of land along Bridge Avenue between West 57th and 58th streets. DeCesare acquired a parcel of vacant land from Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization and purchased several distressed multifamily properties that he tore down. These additional parcels expanded the project and will add to the sense of community, he says.

"There's a feeling of safety in numbers," he says of the $4.5 million project. "The scope of something like Waverly instills confidence in prospective buyers."

Waverly Station features high-end finishes and rooftop decks with city views. One- and two-car garage units are available, and all units include two bedrooms and two and a half baths. Energy-efficient features and 15-year, 100-percent tax abatement also are part of the community. Sales prices range from $179,900 to $209,900.

DeCesare already has several units sold and is hoping to break ground on the second building in the project later this year. Buyers have been drawn to the location within walking distance of the Gordon Square Arts District, he says.


Source: Mike DeCesare
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Drawn by a craft beer scene that he considers to be among the top five in the Midwest, Cleveland native Paul Benner has moved back to town to open the Cleveland Brew Shop. His aim is to help customers make craft beer and premium wine at home.

"When I brewed my first beer, I knew that one way or another I'd do something with this," says Benner, who graduated from Baldwin Wallace University with a degree in Entrepreneurship. "I tagged Cleveland as a market in need of a shop."

The Cleveland Brew Shop will be located at 2681 West 14th Street in Tremont. The 1,200-square-foot storefront has new hardwood floors and plenty of natural light. In addition to selling ingredients and equipment, Benner plans to offer classes in homebrewing.

Although the shop does not currently have a license that allows consumption or sale of alcohol, tastings will be offered through a partnership with Bac, a restaurant that is located next door. A three-hour homebrewing class will cost about $10.

Benner says that he plans to host a soft opening for the shop around November 1st. His goal is to have the shop fully functional before the end of the year.


Source: A. Paul Benner
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Bad Girl Ventures will host its third business education series that culminates with the chance for female participants to win a $25,000 loan. The nine-week session begins on September 19 at the Lakewood campus of University of Akron.
 
Classes cover everything from legal and accounting to business plans and marketing to improving credit scores to resources available for financing.

“We try to hit on everything on the mind of the small business owner,” explains Reka Barabas, director of BGV Cleveland. Emphasis is placed on access to capital, which is sometimes a challenge for female business owners. “Only a small segment of women-owned businesses -- about five percent -- are accessing the capital available to small business owners,” says Barabas.
 
Since its initial launch in Cincinnati, BGV has educated over 400 women, awarded over $190,000 in low-interest loans and helped secure over $1,000,000 in outside funding for female entrepreneurs throughout Ohio. 
 
Past finalists have gone on to find success in their businesses. For instance, Paula Hershman, founder of Storehouse Tea Company, just got into a new store with her product and Kelley Hynds of Hyndsight Productions just finished a video for a client, which was screened in the White House.

The application deadline for the classes is Aug. 31.

 
Source: Reka Barabas
Writer: Karin Connelly

The Hildebrandt Company, a sprawling, 115,000-square-foot complex on Walton Avenue on Cleveland's west side, was built as a meat processing facility. From 1885 until 1971, Hildebrandt made sausages and smoked meats that were sold throughout the city.

More recently, the building has been reinvented as a creative hub and artist enclave. Space in the building is occupied by artisan welders and metalsmiths, custom woodworkers and other craftsman entrepreneurs. Lake Erie Creamery, an artisan cheesemaker, is also planning to move into the Hildebrandt building.

"Our tenants believe in what they're doing and have a network of professional support," says Bill Hildebrandt, who adds that the building has always been in the family's name. "My joy is that the building is going back to its original roots."

Hildebrandt is referring not only to the entrepreneurs in the building, but also to the fact that he wants to transform the first floor into a commercial kitchen and incubator for food-based businesses. Although the idea is in its nascent stages, the building is well-suited for it. Hildebrandt hopes the project will come to fruition and help urban farmers and other food-based businesses grow and succeed.

One of the building's tenants is Rust Belt Welding, which has become well-known for its artistic bike racks. Currently, Rust Belt is working to transform a big blue shipping container into The Bike Box, a custom-made bike corral that will reside in Ohio City.

The complex's many historic features include a towering smokestack, massive coolers, glazed yellow brick interior walls and an ancient, bricked-over stable facing Clark Avenue (the hitching post where the beef was hung is still intact). Hildebrandt plans to restore the stable and create a store for artisan goods.


Source: Bill Hildebrandt
Writer: Lee Chilcote

COSE is looking for a few good startups. The organization’s second annual business pitch competition will be held on Thursday, October 18 at Pickwick and Frolic. Competition finalists will outline their ideas to a panel of experts, including Jeff Hoffman, founder of Priceline.com.
 
“So many small business owners just starting out with a new idea need more than money and someone to talk to,” says Megan Kim, COSE director of education and programs. “We’re challenging the business owner to think about their business in a new way, think about why their business is so unique.”
 
To get in front of the panelists, entrants must put together an executive summary and a two-minute video pitch. Applicants must be in business less than two years and have less than $250,000 in gross annual revenue.
 
Twenty semi-finalists will be chosen to give a 15-minute presentation and answer questions from the panel. From there, four finalists will be chosen to present at Pickwick and Frolic. The winner will receive $20,000, while second place gets $10,000 and third and fourth places receive $5,000 each.
 
The competition is designed to both encourage and educate small business owners in the area.

“It’s so great to see so many people with the entrepreneurial bug,” says Kim. “People who start their own businesses don’t always know where to go or what questions to ask. This competition gives them someone to talk it through with, it gives them connection and the chance to find their roots.”
 
The deadline to submit the executive summary and video pitch is Tuesday, Sept. 4 by 5 p.m.

 
Source: Megan Kim
Writer: Karin Connelly

Justin Coulter, a sculptor, bartender and rock band frontman, was elated when Beachland Ballroom owner Cindy Barber suggested that he craft an original piece in tribute to Harvey Pekar.

When the offer was made, he was outside smoking a cigarette during a 2010 memorial for Pekar at the Beachland. Barber, who had only just learned that her employee is a talented sculptor whose work can be found all over Cleveland, was suddenly inspired by the idea of hiring Coulter.

"I said, are you kidding? That's the biggest honor in the world so far," says Coulter. "Let's do it! Two years later, we raised $38,000, and the biggest donation was about $500. It was all from people who just wanted to see this happen."

The bronze sculpture features a rendition of Pekar walking out of one of his own comic books -- from "2D" to "3D," as Coulter describes it. It also includes a desk where participants will be encouraged to pen their own masterpieces. The piece will be installed at the main branch of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights library, and a public unveiling is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 14th.

Coulter is creating the sculpture in his studio on East 36th Street. First, he made a model out of hard clay, incorporating suggestions from Harvey's widow, Joyce Brabner, along the way. Next, he will create a hollow mold, heat the bronze to more than 1000 degrees, pour it into the mold and then pack it in sand to keep the heat in. Finally, he will chip off the mold to reveal the long-awaited sculpture.

"The library is the perfect spot for him," says Coulter of the location. "So much better than being next to a politician like Elliott Ness at Lakeview cemetery."

Coulter, who is also working with other artists to create a website of Cleveland craftspeople that will help to highlight and connect customers to their work, never met Pekar. "I had to create that experience out of my imagination," he says.

With bronze lasting an average of 10,000 years, the sculpture creates near immortality for the famously cantankerous working-class writer, who has become a symbol of Rust Belt authenticity.

"When the library collapses and everything is covered in dirt, there will still be an awesome sculpture of Harvey."


Source: Justin Coulter
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The 2.3-acre site of a former school in Old Brooklyn that has been fallow since it was torn down in 2008 will once again be used for educational purposes. This time, however, it will be used to teach adults with disabilities and city residents how to farm.

In partnership with the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga Land Bank, Koinonia Homes will transform the former Memphis School into a small farm featuring two greenhouses, a poultry building for fresh eggs, eight crop fields and a community garden. The farm will provide work opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as food for Koinonia's programs.

“This project is a win-win for everyone,” said Cleveland Councilman Kevin Kelley in a release. “Koinonia will have the ability to provide its clients with job skills training, the city sees this land going back into productive use, and Old Brooklyn residents have the opportunity to experience community gardening as well.”

Rising Harvest Farms will be located at West 41st and Memphis Avenue. The site will be prepared this fall and the first harvest is expected next season.


Source: Koinonia, Inc.
Writer: Lee Chilcote

To build off of the growing economic and residential development taking place downtown, Old Stone Church and the YMCA of Greater Cleveland are launching a new preschool on Public Square.

The preschool will be located in Old Stone Center, next to the church, and will accommodate up to 55 children. Early-bird registration opportunities will be available to downtown residents, church members and YMCA members. Drop-off and pick-up parking during the peak periods when downtown traffic is at its busiest have been arranged with the aid of Downtown Cleveland Alliance.

Mark Giuliano, Pastor of Old Stone Church, believes that the new preschool will address the lack of educational offerings downtown. This is an oft-cited reason why young families leave downtown, says Giuliano, who also is a downtown resident and President of the Downtown Cleveland Residents Association. Having a preschool will encourage more young families to remain downtown, he says.

"The partnership between the Old Stone Church and the YMCA gives parents and their children opportunity to access a creative, program-based preschool right on Public Square,” Giuliano said in a news release.


Source: Mark Giuliano
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The St. Ignatius Reaching MAGIS program is designed to help students get on the track for college in Catholic schools.

“We try to identify young boys in sixth through eighth grade who are promising, rising students, and get them involved early,” explains school principal Dan Bradesca.  “These are students from schools throughout the Cleveland area who spend 15 Saturdays in English, test prep and study skills, and computer and graphic arts.”
 
A specific part of the program includes an entrepreneurship demo. For the second year this summer, Nick Pavlak of BABL Media has led eight MAGIS teams in entrepreneurship and technology education. The teams worked with Pavlak in developing companies and ultimately presenting their ideas to a panel of experts at LaunchHouse.
 
“The future of technology lives in mobile technology, and this generation is growing up in the digital world,” says Bradesca. “This program gives kids the basic knowledge of mobile application design and development from an entrepreneurial approach.”
 
The students went from concept to sketching the idea out, to marketing and construction of the business. “They were really doing some intense stuff,” says Bradesca. The culmination was a presentation on July 9 to LaunchHouse entrepreneurs.
 
The top three companies were The Shoe Finder app, which helps users find shoes at a low price; the Emergency App, which lets people know you’re in trouble; and the Achieving app, which helps people attain their personal goals.
 
BABL will work with the students later this year on actually developing the top app ideas.

 
Source: Dan Bradesca
Writer: Karin Connelly

St. John's Episcopal Church in Ohio City has a rich and illustrious history. Industrialist and U.S. Senator Marcus Hanna married there in the late 19th century, and at one time the church was one of the very last stops on the Underground Railroad. 

More recently, Cleveland-born rappers Bone Thugs-n-Harmony recorded their first album in a part of the parish hall rented out to a recording studio in the '90s.

Unfortunately, the parish dissolved and the church closed several years ago. Yet the Episcopal Diocese of Northeast Ohio recently hired developer Rick Foran to restore the vintage, board-and-batten exterior. Prior to the rehabilitation, the exterior paint was badly peeling and boards were rotting and coming loose.

"It was painted dark brown and the siding was splitting," says Foran of the 8,000-square-foot hall, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places because it is considered to be the oldest consecrated building in Cuyahoga County. "We took the siding off, turned it over, primed and painted it and reinstalled it."

The Foran Group also added much-needed insulation (because there wasn't any) as well as sheathing and an energy-efficient vapor barrier. Finally, the developer replaced the rotten batten strips with custom-made cedar wood pieces.

The redevelopment preserves a piece of Ohio City's architectural heritage. Well-to-do families living in mansions on Franklin Boulevard built St. John's, whose foundation is built from pieces of stone from the Cuyahoga River, says Foran. He hopes the area's redevelopment will give the property a second life.

The repair will allow the Episcopal Diocese to begin marketing the church and parish hall to a new occupant. "With the growth of the whole Ohio City area, they believe that they can find another church that would occupy it," says Foran.


Source: Rick Foran
Writer: Lee Chilcote

In 2011, Trevor Shaw was working in sales and marketing for an industrial parts distributor, searching through Google AdWords accounts when his wandering mind struck upon an idea. “I was bored and thinking about the previous weekend and all the fun I had,” Shaw recalls. “So I started thinking.”
 
Shaw’s thinking led to Barkudo, an iPhone app that allows bar managers to input daily drink specials so customers within a five-mile radius can redeem them on their phones.
 
“The bar manager goes to the Barkudo website, logs in to their merchant account and creates deals throughout the week,” explains Shaw. “Users open the app within five miles of that bar and will see the specials.”
 
Barkudo differs from deal sites like Groupon in that users do not prepay for the special, and bar owners do not have to wait for their money. “The bar owners receive their money at the point of sale, up front from the customer,” says Shaw.  “There’s no printout. You just have to be at the location to get the deal.”
 
In just a few weeks -- Barkudo launched at the end of July -- Shaw has commitments from Panini’s on Coventry, The Cedar Lee Pub and Grill, The Fairmount Martini and Wine Bar, and the Blind Pig. More bars are on the way in Ohio City, Tremont and Akron.

“In the next month we expect to be moving quickly as everything starts trickling in and moving week by week," adds Shaw.
 
Right now, Shaw works with a programmer to help him launch. He expects to hire a technical person and sales reps as the business grows.

 
Source: Trevor Shaw
Writer: Karin Connelly

TOA Technologies, the provider of mobile workforce management solutions, has hired Brian Cook as the company’s CFO. Since its founding in 2003, TOA has steadily grown from a small startup company to the global company with 350 employees around the world and more than 40 in Cleveland.
 
Cook, whose background is in global technology, telecommunications and media companies, will help guide TOA through its projected future growth.

“Brian is a good match for TOA because he’s lived through our future and he’s also not far removed from our past,” says John Opdycke, vice president of worldwide marketing. “We need someone in a financial role who is familiar with a company that is small and nimble and growing quickly.”
 
Aside from Cook’s international business and telecommunications expertise, Opdycke says Cook is a good personality fit with TOA. “The cultural fit was there,” he says. “Personality fit is important because we are still a small company.”
 
TOA recently entered markets in Latin American, Australia and New Zealand and is expanding locally as well. “We have seven of the top U.S. pay-tv providers as customers,” says Opdycke. “As things are happening, you really need more people. We’re bringing on people almost every other week.”

 
Source: John Opdycke
Writer: Karin Connelly

The emergency room at Fairview Hospital was built to serve 35,000 patients, but it likely will see 76,000 before the end of 2012, says President Jan Murphy.

That's a testament not only to the fact that a growing number of uninsured or underinsured families are too often waiting until they're forced to seek care, Murphy says, but also to the rising number of baby boomers who are growing older and in need of care.

To address the space crunch, Fairview broke ground on a 135,000-square-foot, $83-million expansion project last year that will be completed in early 2013. The expansion will add a state of the art emergency room to the hospital, which is a Level II Trauma Center and also serves both high-risk mothers and infants.

"At a time when the economics were a little bit against us, we're replacing a dated facility with a state-of-the-art intensive care unit," says Murphy. "We're committed to the Kamm's Corners neighborhood, and this project is bringing the Cleveland Clinic standard of world-class care into the neighborhood."

Fairview Hospital's addition is being built on the former site of the physicians' parking lot, which is being moved into a newly expanded parking deck. The project also includes the renovation of 25,000 square feet of existing hospital space.


Source: Jan Murphy
Writer: Lee Chilcote