When the Moreland Theatre was built in 1927, the Buckeye neighborhood was home to the largest concentration of Hungarians outside Hungary. There were also six Hungarian newspapers in the area, and nearly every shop owner on Buckeye Road spoke Hungarian (and often English, too).

In the past 40 years, Buckeye has struggled as businesses and residents fled to the suburbs. The recent foreclosure crisis also hit the area hard, leaving boarded-up homes and vacant lots in its wake.

Yet today, this multicultural community just south of Shaker Square is showing signs of renewal in the new Harvey-Rice Elementary School, the popular Soul of Buckeye jazz festival, and the long-planned redevelopment of the former Saint Luke's Hospital building into low-income senior housing.

Still, the Moreland Theatre, a 1,300-seat Vaudeville theater that features an orchestra pit and flyloft, remains empty. It's not the only one -- the North Collinwood and Cudell neighborhoods also feature historic theaters. Most of them haven't been as lucky as the recently restored Capitol Theatre in Cleveland's Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood, which is now home to a three-screen indie movie house.

You don't have to wait for the Moreland Theatre to reopen, however, to check out this architectural gem. The Buckeye Area Development Corporation (BADC) is hosting the Buckeye Antique Furnishings Sale on Saturday, April 30th from 1-5 p.m. Bargain hunters, antique hounds and the merely curious can sift through theater seats, church pews and organs, a film projector, catering and kitchen equipment and art deco architectural details. A smorgasbord of items will be on sale, with prices starting at $1.

"This is the first time that we've opened the theater to the public -- it's part of our efforts to engage the community in creating a vision for the Buckeye Cultural Center," says Deepa Vedavyas, BADC's Associate Director for Development. "People can stop by and pick up a piece of history, and all of the funds raised will go towards the restoration of the building."

BADC purchased the Moreland Theatre in 2007 with plans to convert it into a mixed-use arts complex, including a multi-purpose theater for concerts, plays, special events, affordable apartments for artists, and four new storefronts. Total renovation costs are estimated at $6.1 million. BADC was recently awarded a $100,000 grant from the Ohio Facilities Commission, and has also applied for a historic designation for the building. The nonprofit is launching a fundraising campaign for the redevelopment effort.


Source: Deepa Vedavyas
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Lights, camera, action!

Paramount Pictures announced plans to shoot an untitled film this summer in Cleveland and surrounding areas. The movie, starring Nickelodeon's Victoria Justice, will be directed by Josh Schwartz and produced by Michael Beugg. It is one of three major motion pictures slated for production in Greater Cleveland this summer.

"I think it's going to be a very exciting summer," says Greater Cleveland Film Commission executive director Ivan Schwarz. "It's creating the infrastructure, jobs and economic development in the area." The film is expected to employ 545 people, including cast, crew and extras.

The Paramount movie is just one part of Schwarz's plan to create 2,500 film-related jobs in everything from driving trucks to catering. "I want to create an industry; I don't want a boutique," he says. "Young people in our state and our community have a choice to work in an industry that's cool and pays well."

The production has been approved to receive funding through the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit, administered by the Ohio Department of Development's Ohio Film Office.

Cleveland is becoming more and more attractive to filmmakers because of its diverse scenery. "There is nothing you can't film here except for mountains and desert," says Schwarz. Katie Sabatino, spokesperson for the Ohio Film Office, adds, "Cleveland has a fantastic cast and crew base. With the bigger city and the small towns, it will look like any city or town you need. That's been a really attractive selling point for the film industry."

Source: Ivan Schwarz
Writer: Karin Connelly

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

MC2 STEM High School was named a regional runner-up in an energy conservation competition sponsored by Alcoa Foundation and the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in Arlington, VA. The competition, called Make an Impact: Change our 2morrow (CO2), awarded STEM High School a $1,000 grant for completing the most calculations on how to reduce the carbon footprint with a carbon calculator.

"It was an opportunity for students, teachers, parents and administrators to have hands-on experience in learning about energy conservation in the home," says Vivian Davis, communications and community relations manager for Alcoa in Cleveland.

Three schools in Cleveland participated in the challenge that involved 15 schools nationwide and more than 8,000 students. The Make an Impact: Change Our 2morrow challenge is part of a new $7 million Alcoa Foundation investment to address regional environmental challenges, improve energy efficiency and enhance global reforestation projects.

In addition to the carbon calculators, schools were given a range of educational materials to get students excited about the challenge. MC2 STEM High school, located in the Great Lakes Science Center and GE Lighting's Nela Park in East Cleveland, focuses on hands-on education in science, technology, engineering and math. "It was such a delight," Davis says of the challenge, "We were able to see the school's mission come to life -- to prepare students in stem sciences. I was so impressed."


Source: Vivian Davis
Writer: Karen 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

State Farm Insurance is looking for bi-lingual agents with an entrepreneurial spirit. So the agency is holding a job fair at Asian Town Center, located in Cleveland's Asiatown neighborhood, on May 17 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m..

"State Farm has really got a push on the multi-cultural market," says Kevin Perry, senior State Farm field executive in the company's Beachwood office. "As a growing company we noticed we didn't have a lot of agents across diverse backgrounds."

Perry says Cleveland offers just the diversity State Farm is looking for. "We thought we'd go out and see what we can find and just go from there," he says. The company sponsored an event at Asia Town Center in January and "it went really well," so it seemed like the right location for a second one.

Ideally, State Farm would like to have an agent in Cleveland's Asiatown neighborhood. "With its location, we'd like to have an agent in there just to have a presence," Perry says. But the company is looking for agents who speak any language in addition to English.

"The right potential agent, with good credit, will be funded by State Farm for startup costs. Agents will receive an $18,000 signing bonus, an additional $12,000 after the first year, a $25,000 line of credit, and a credit card with a $5,000 limit.

"If you enjoy working with people, helping people, educating people, and you're interested in being an entrepreneur you should come in," says Perry. "We're looking for folks who want to be anchored in the community and looking to grow the market."


Source: Kevin Perry
Writer: Karen Connelly

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

Rhonda Sincavage has vivid memories of the day that a dilapidated shoe factory in her hometown was torn down. The incident sparked her lifelong passion for historic preservation.

"My grandfather worked there, along with many people that lived in our town," said Sincavage, Program Associate for State and Local Policy at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, at last week's sold out TEDxCLE event. "It was our town's namesake and a symbol of our community."

During her presentation, Sincavage challenged stereotypes that she encounters during her career. Preserving buildings and neighborhoods is not simply a luxury, she argued, but an economic necessity that creates jobs, boosts the local economy and creates a more sustainable future.

"When I tell people what I do, some ask if I wear period dress or if I've saved any buildings lately," she said. "Yet our generation's version of historic preservation has nothing to do with our grandmother's version. This isn't about little old ladies saving buildings; this is about learning from the past to preserve the future."

She also stated that preserved neighborhoods tend to be more diverse than others, and that preserved buildings leverage additional investment, citing Cleveland's Warehouse District as one example.

Sincavage challenged the stereotype that older buildings are expensive and inefficient. "There's no reason why historic buildings can't be as efficient as new buildings," she said. "Historic buildings are the original green -- they have windows that let in natural light and overhangs that provide for shade." Preserving older buildings also reuses existing resources rather than throwing them away.

Finally, Sincavage said that preserving neighborhoods is not only a way to spur redevelopment, it also attracts residents. The "Soul of the Community" project, an effort launched by Gallup and the James L. Knight Foundation, showed that aesthetics, openness and social offerings are the most important factors for people when choosing a place to live.

"There's really a strong correlation between someone's emotional attachment of a place and their likelihood to stay," said Sincavage.


Source: Rhonda Sincavage
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Roe Green believes in the arts. She can't imagine a world without them, and she wants to make sure people in Northeast Ohio continue to be exposed to the latest in theater, music and dance at the Cleveland Play House. So she made a three-year, $500,000 commitment to FusionFest.

"To me it was a very exciting idea," Green says of the donation. "I like exposing people to new things. It's stuff like this at FusionFest that people would not otherwise see."

Green is honorary producer of the festival that has been celebrating new works since its inception in 2005. She also sits on Cleveland Play House board. "Arts are what make us human; without the arts we're nothing but machines," she says. "I said, 'this is something I can sink my teeth into.' This has become my baby because it perpetuates people doing new work."

Additionally, next year will mark the beginning of the annual Roe Green FusionFest Award. The $7,500 award will be given to a promising mid-career American playwright. "Having arts in the community is very important to the community," Green says, noting that for every dollar spent on theater tickets also means dollars spent for parking, food and other expenses associated with going to the theater.

The winner of the Roe Green Award will also receive script development support. The selected playwright will spend a week in residency at CPH during FusionFest, overseeing rehearsals and reading of the work and engage in workshops and master classes with young theatre artists from the region.


Source: Roe Green
Writer: Karin Connelly

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