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growing efuneral branches out with new hospice partnership
Since its launch in February, eFuneral has steadily grown as a resource for families searching for the right funeral provider. Now founders Mike Belsito and Bryan Chaikin are taking the company, which came out of the Ohio State University Fisher College of Business' 10-Xelerator last summer, to another level.
 
eFuneral recently announced a partnership with Hospice of Dayton. "Ever since we launched, some of our biggest supporters have come from the hospice community," says Belsito. "When patients enter hospice and don't have a funeral home picked out, they rely on hospice professionals for advice, but hospice employees are not allowed to make recommendations."
 
While Belsito and Chaikin have primarily focused on tapping the Northeast Ohio market, eFuneral decided to approach Hospice of Dayton, which is the second largest hospice in Ohio and one of the largest in the country.
 
The company has thrived in the Cleveland area -- users can get seven to eight quotes from funeral homes within minutes -- and Belsito is confident they will have the same success down state. eFuneral has hired two additional employees this year, most recently a software engineer.

 
Source: Mike Belsito
Writer: Karin Connelly
Photo: Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer
moca cleveland hosts signing off ceremony, prepares for fall opening
The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA) celebrated the completion of the stainless steel cladding being installed on its new home with a signing-off ceremony this week. The date when the glittering, gem-like new building opens its doors to the public is only months away, and that's when the true celebration will begin.

On a recent media tour of the building, the beautifully plotted details of the new museum were evident in raw form. A few of the finer points include the first floor lounge with coffee and free wi-fi that will function as an "urban living room;" the 1,000-square-foot store that will become a destination for visitors and residents alike; and an architectural emphasis on transparency that makes the museum a place where visitors can view the process whereby installations are created. 

Other prominent details include the first floor lecture and performance space, windows offering great views of the Uptown District and a breathtaking fourth floor main gallery space with a vaulted ceiling and uninterrupted floor plan.

MOCA's mission is to present the art and ideas of our time. The museum will open to the public Oct. 8.


Source: MOCA
Writer: Lee Chilcote
former medusa cement building will be converted into 120-person call center
With the aid of a $500,000 economic development loan from the city, a former cement company's headquarters in Cleveland Heights will soon be converted into a 120-person call center.

The Medusa Cement Company occupied the building on Monticello until the late 1990s. Founded 120 years ago, the company was originally called the Portland Sandusky Cement Company. It was later renamed after Medusa, the fearsome Greek gorgon whose gaze turned men to stone. Medusa thrived in the post-war building boom. It moved its headquarters to Houston in 1999 after a merger.

Medusa Holdings, LLC applied for a loan through the city's commercial revolving loan fund program. In exchange for receiving favorable, below market terms, the developer committed to creating 120 full-time jobs. At least 51 percent of those jobs must be made available to or held by low- to moderate-income individuals.

Two-thirds of the $500,000 loan will carry a 3.5% annual interest rate and a 10-year repayment term following a one-year deferral. Up to $200,000 of the loan may be forgiven at a rate of $50,000 per year for every year during which 100 full-time equivalent jobs are maintained at the call center prior to 2018.

"This is an exciting opportunity for the Medusa building to be rejuvenated into a call center," says Suzanna Niermann O'Neill, Acting City Manager for the City of Cleveland Heights. "The whole area between the community center and the Rockefeller building has been refreshed with new restaurants and new businesses."

Nierman-O'Neill noted that this kind of economic development will bring revenue to the city's coffers and that the call center will serve nonprofit organizations.


Source: Suzanna Nierman-O'Neill
Writer: Lee Chilcote
minority entrepreneurs experience barriers, succeed on their own terms, and offer advice
Despite support through entrepreneurial assistance programs, area minority business owners say they still experience barriers -- some subtle, others not -- in their goal to contribute to the local business community. Finding success, many explain, is ultimately up to them.
last call for cleveland cookbook submissions
LAND studio, in partnership with Cleveland Public Library, is seeking submissions for a cookbook that will focus on community, sharing, and importance of food as it relates to culture and the history of Cleveland. The cookbook will serve as a resource for cooking, platform for storytelling, and as a way to connect Clevelanders across cultures and communities.
 
The book stems from a Cleveland Public Library Lockwood Thompson Dialogue featuring Michael Ruhlman, Penny De Los Santos, and Dan Barber. It is an opportunity to extend the conversation by inviting Clevelanders to share their own food stories.
 
Recipes must have a connection to Cleveland.
 
Deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. Friday, July 20.
 
Send materials to: LAND studio, ATTN: COOKBOOK, 1939 W. 25th Street, Suite 200, Cleveland, OH 44113. Or email them to food@land-studio.org.
 
For more info, contact Sarah Siebert at food@land-studio.org or 216-621-5413 x 117.

outside the box: cle's newest green homes arriving in alternative packages
While many still believe that bigger is better, some innovative Clevelanders are taking green living far and away from the standard colonials, ranches and split-levels. Be they mini homes or those built from upcycled shipping containers, today's sustainable living options challenge core residential concepts and structures.
submissions wanted for cleveland design competition: transforming the bridge
The Cleveland Design Competition invites professionals, students, firms and designers to re-imagine the abandoned lower streetcar level of Cleveland’s Detroit-Superior Bridge -- aka the Veterans Memorial Bridge -- as a dynamic public space, performance venue and pedestrian experience.
 
Suggested design proposals include:
 
Define a comprehensive vision for the lower level of the Detroit Superior Bridge as a public bicycle and pedestrian connection between Downtown Cleveland’s Warehouse District and Ohio City.
 
Transform the vacant lower level of The Bridge into a dynamic public space and performance venue.
 
Consider connectivity to Downtown Cleveland and Public Square, the Flats East Bank, Flats West Bank, Ohio City, the Cuyahoga River, the future Towpath Trail, and future Canal Basin Park.
 
Consider complementary programming ideas. These might include (but are not limited to) landscaping, temporary experiences, art-related uses and recreational amenities.
 
Illustrate how a new vision for the lower level will interact with the upper level of The Bridge.
 
Provide improved access at each end of The Bridge to provide maximum accessibility and project impact. This could include addition of and/or reconfigured entrances at each end of The Bridge.
 
Registration deadline is September 10th, with submissions due October 5th. An awards reception will take place October 26th.
 
Mail or deliver entries to:
 
ATTN: Cleveland Design Competition
c/o Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative
1309 Euclid Avenue, 2nd floor
Cleveland, Ohio 44115

For more info, click here.

business booming for animation and visual effects design firm
Joddy Eric Matthews originally moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles to pursue his animation and filmmaking work. But after nearly eight years working for the likes of Sony, Pixar and DreamWorks, Matthews returned to Cleveland and created MadWerkz Studios in 2000, an animation and visual effects design firm.
 
Matthews and minority partners Rique D. Winston and Peter Li Cheung were glad to once again call Cleveland home.

“All of us had spent a good portion of time in L.A. and New York, but after a while the extreme workloads associated with working in Hollywood takes its toll," Matthews says. “We were all feeling a bit burnt out. It was time to come home to the people who love you.”  
 
And Matthews has found the area is rich with design talent. “Now I get a chance to work on some pretty good films,” he says. “And there’s a wealth of talent here a lot of people don’t see. There are small teams of people here working on really big films.”
 
Matthews and his team of six full time creators have built a solid reputation through their work on commercials for Chrysler, General Motors and other companies as well as two films. They are currently working with a visual effects company in London. “We’re becoming more global and we didn’t have to be in L.A.,” he says.
 
While business is good at MadWerkz Studios -- from post production work to feature films -- Matthews hopes to continue to build on their services and keep promoting Cleveland as the go-to place for the film industry.

“It’s a lot of long hours and lots of hard work, but it’s pretty fun,” he says.

 
Source: Joddy Eric Matthews
Writer: Karin Connelly
uci, inc and chris ronayne in next american city
In this Next American City feature titled "Welcome to Your New Government," Detroit-based journalist Anna Clark examines the unique and increasingly powerful work being done by community development corporations.
 
This lengthy piece looks at the work of Detroit's Midtown, Inc. and Cleveland's University Circle, Inc. and asks what it means for cities when "local government relies on private organizations to turn around a neighborhood’s fate."
 
"With a remarkable ability to get things done in a city that has been on the brink of state emergency management, Midtown, Inc. has a reputation for being better at performing the role of government than government itself," writes Clark. "But what are the stakes of ceding public sector work to non-profits?"
 
"[University Circle, Inc.'s Chris] Ronayne emphasized that [his] interest in building vibrant neighborhoods is directly linked to [his] interest in cultivating vibrant cities. In Cleveland, University Circle bills itself as 'the neighborhood without borders,' as it works to provide security, transportation and marketing."
 
"As Ronayne sees it, the old world way of thinking is: Local-state-federal. That has slipped away. Now, he says, the thinking is neighborhood-regional-global."
 
Read the rest of the article here.
lakewood studies feasibility of adding hotel to serve downtown destination
Is Lakewood enough of a draw to support adding a new hotel? City leaders aren't sure, but they're spending $7,000 to complete a feasibility study of the market here that will guide future decisions.

The hotel study, which will be paid for using money from the city's economic development fund, will examine whether Lakewood can capitalize on some of the development that is occurring in downtown Cleveland and its own revitalized city center to support a hotel. Currently, there are no hotel rooms in downtown Lakewood.

In the past, studies suggested that Lakewood could not support a hotel. However, millions of dollars have been pumped into downtown Lakewood in recent years, spurring dozens of new businesses and making the area a destination. One study area will be whether or not the hotel should be in downtown or closer to I-90.

"This is not something that was born out of a council meeting -- it came out of the Chamber of Commerce and LakewoodAlive," says Lakewood Councilman Shawn Juris. "What's always struck me is that Lakewood's main demographic is 20 to 40 year olds, yet we have no wedding industry here. We're studying the feasibility of adding a boutique hotel or bed and breakfast as well as a banquet facility."

"Have the major chains overlooked us because we don't fit their cookie cutter development model? That's one of the things we'll be looking at," he says.

City leaders also want to examine the possibility of converting vacant office space into hotel rooms. Lakewood Center North could benefit from such a conversion.


Source: City of Lakewood
Writer: Lee Chilcote
fresh water is looking for a publisher
We are on the hunt for a well-connected, motivated, sales/development-skilled professional to be the new Publisher of Fresh Water. Interested? Know someone who might be? Click here to find out more about the position and who to contact for more information on this great opportunity.
virginia marti college of art and design opens new couture fashion design studio
The Virginia Marti College of Art and Design recently opened its new Couture Fashion Design Studio, a modern, light-filled space that it hopes will inspire Cleveland's next generation of fashion designers.

With large windows, light bamboo flooring and an open floor plan, the new space is a vast improvement over the old one, which was housed in the building's lower level without any windows or natural light. The Couture Fashion Design Studio houses the computer-aided drafting classroom for fashion design students.

Virginia Marti is a two-year college located on Detroit Avenue just west of West 117th Street in the City of Lakewood. The school offers five art-as-business programs geared towards helping arts entrepreneurs in their fields: digital media, fashion design, fashion merchandising, graphic design and interior design.

An exhibit of couturier garments from well-known fashion designers such as Giorgio Armani and Coco Chanel will be on display for several weeks in the new space. The garments are part of Virginia Marti-Veith's private collection.


Source: Virginia Marti College of Art and Design
Writer: Lee Chilcote
cuyahoga valley national park proposes $6m in improvements
The National Park Service is proposing over $6 million of improvements to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, including up to 10 miles of mountain bike trails, the addition of boat launch sites, and several new bike-in and paddle-in campsites.

The ambitious plan "aims to develop a blueprint that will guide the expansion, restoration, management, operations and use of the trail system and its associated amenities over the next 15 years, while keeping with the purpose, mission and significance of Cuyahoga Valley National Park," according to the NPS website.

The proposal would also add up to 46 miles of new trails, remove 12 miles of existing trails and add 30-plus miles of bike lanes on public roads within the park.

Park officials are holding public meetings to garner feedback this month, and the public comment period lasts until mid-August. The plan requires buy-in from several neighboring communities and park authorities, since only 19,000 of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park's 33,000 acres are actually federally owned.

NPS officials hope to adopt a new plan by the end of the year.


Source: National Park Service
Writer: Lee Chilcote
harness fitness envisions spinning classes that power the grid
Anne Hartnett has a love for cycling. She’s been involved in group cycling and has taught spinning classes for many years. But she thinks there should be something more to it. While she burns energy on the bicycle, she wants to harness that energy to create electric power.
 
Hartnett came up with idea for Harness Fitness, a fitness studio where the cyclists pedal their way to green energy. “I had this idea to harness all this energy created from spinning,” she says. “It’s a concept that’s spreading across the country. The bikes in a group cycling studio should be able to harness energy and convert in to electricity.”
 
The idea started as a fitness studio that sells sustainable fitness apparel. But when Hartnett brought her business to Bad Girl Ventures’ business class, the studio became a vision of a sustainable energy power plant.
 
“I did market research to see if the concept would resonate in Cleveland,” says Hartnett. “I felt it was important to have the green component with a local business perspective.”
 
Hartnett wants to open a studio to teach spinning classes with bikes that are equipped to harness the energy and create electricity. She’s currently researching electric companies that would be willing to match their efforts. Any savings at the end of the month would go to local charities.
 
“It all goes back into the community grid,” says Hartnett. “It’s triple bottom line impact philosophy. It’s socially responsible -- you will be part of a larger community being part of these classes.”
 
The studio isn’t open yet, but Hartnett has found a lot of interest in the Tremont and Ohio City neighborhoods. She won a $5,000 loan in the BGV business plan contest and is continuing fundraising efforts to raise the $20,000 she needs to open. She hopes to open her first studio this fall.

 
Source: Anne Hartnett
Writer: Karin Connelly
fresh water video: a walking tour of collinwood
In this Fresh Water video, John Copic, a Collinwood native and publisher of the Collinwood Observer, takes viewers on a walking tour of his neighborhood. Stops along the way include Raddell's butcher shop, Chili Peppers Mexican Grill, Star Pop, Beachland Ballroom, Blue Arrow Records and Boutique, and the Slovenian Workmen's Home.
bar symon lands at pittsburgh international airport
Clevelanders certainly can remember the wonderful but short-lived Bar Symon, the eatery that shut its doors in Avon Lake nearly two years ago. The concept has been reborn, as Michael Symon has recently opened the “new” Bar Symon in the Pittsburgh International Airport, reports Clare Sheehan of The Daily Meal.
 
"I am so pleased to bring my passion for serving great food in a fun environment to airport travelers in Pittsburgh," said Symon. "Dining is all about the experience, and we've captured that with Bar Symon. I have no doubt it will quickly become a passenger favorite."

“The menu features many of chef Symon's signature dishes, such as the Lola burger with a fried egg and pickled red onions, Lola fries with sea salt and rosemary, and two varieties of baked macaroni and cheese, either with cheddar, pulled pork, hot sauce, and scallions, or blue cheese, bacon, and parsley.”
 
While Symon remains an avid supporter of our local sports teams, travelers and locals alike can now experience the tasty treats we have been enjoying in Cleveland for years.
 
Read the complete story here.
cwru prof urges vietnamese entrepreneurs to dream
Michael Goldberg, a professor at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and a managing partner of a venture capital fund that invests in early stage medical device companies, certainly has a bevy of knowledge and experience to share with others. He is currently taking some time off teaching in Cleveland to focus his attention on a different part of the world. 

In this article, published in Vietnam, he urges Vietnamese entrepreneurs to dream and take risks.
 
“I was honored to be awarded a Fulbright fellowship to teach entrepreneurship at the National Economics University (NEU) in Hanoi," states Goldberg in a lengthy feature in VietNamNet Bridge.
 
“I had the opportunity to co-teach a course on entrepreneurship and new venture creation with Mr. Ha Tung, a talented Vietnamese lecturer.”
 
“It was a great experience designing a course alongside a Vietnamese professor as we were able to incorporate points of view and practical experience from the US and Vietnam into the syllabus.”
 
“Although Vietnam is incredibly entrepreneurial, many business people in Vietnam are afraid to fail. Thus, often times Vietnamese entrepreneurs do not take as many risks with their business as their counterparts in other countries.  We also tried and push our Vietnamese students to “dream big” when they think about starting companies.”
 
The feature goes on to discuss in detail the strategies and challenges he faces in his efforts working with these Vietnamese students.   
 
Read the full article here.
survey shows that cle is one of the best places to start, grow new business
An annual JumpStart survey indicates that tech startup companies that receive assistance from mentors, advisors and investors make a significant contribution to the region’s economy, even in the early stages. The Center for Economic Development at Cleveland State University’s Levin College of Urban Affairs surveyed 121 JumpStart and North Coast Angel Fund companies to measure their economic impact on the region.
 
The report showed these companies had a $220.5 million economic impact in 2011 in Northeast Ohio, creating 776 direct jobs within the companies and 864 indirect jobs, for a total of 1,640 regional jobs.

“This is great for an economic region -- showing small growing startups are contributing,” says Cathy Belk, chief relationship officer for JumpStart. Belk emphasizes that the surveyed companies are not even a comprehensive list of all small tech companies in the region. However, many of the companies receive support from multiple organizations in addition to JumpStart and the North Coast Angel Fund.
 
Sixty-three companies included in this 2011 impact analysis also were surveyed in 2010. In one year, those companies increased their aggregated Northeast Ohio employment by 111, payroll by $8.7 million and expenditures by $20.6 million.
 
“All of this shows that Cleveland is one of the best places in the country to start and grow your business,” says Belk.

 
Source: Cathy Belk
Writer: Karin Connelly
 
going native: local scribe takes rust belt migration expert on a tour through cleveland
Jim Russell, a geographer studying modern migration patterns, writes frequently on the topic of "Rust Belt Chic." The phrase, which refers to the increasing appeal of Rust Belt cities, has been popping up like mad in the national media. Recently, Russell put boots on the ground in C-Town.
tremont electric debuts new version of popular kinetic charger
Tremont Electric has released its nPower PEG Energy Charger after releasing a prototype in 2010 and making improvements to the current model. The nPower charger is the first passive kinetic energy charger that can be used to power handheld devices. The device can be placed in a backpack or bag and harvests the user’s energy during walking, running and biking. That energy can then be used to charge smart phones, MP3 players, GPS systems or any other handheld device.
 
“There’s a loop at the top to hang it from a backpacks, it has a much larger battery pack with more available capacity,” says Tremont Electric founder and CEO Aaron LeMieux. “It can power a 3G device 100 percent, and a 4G device 80 percent.”
 
The nPower is manufactured almost completely in Ohio and distributed through a company in Streetsboro. “Anything we can get locally, we use,” says LeMieux.
 
Tremont Electric now has seven employees. LeMieux most recently hired two engineering technicians. He expects the company to continue to gain momentum. “We’re awfully busy these days,” he says. “We expect the next year to be pretty robust.”

 
Source: Aaron LeMieux
Writer: Karin Connelly