Judy Wright knows that there is strength in numbers. That’s the idea behind the Cleveland Colectivo, which has been getting together and raising money for good causes around town for the past seven years.
 
“We are a giving circle, which means we are a group of people who pool our money and then give it out collectively,” explains Wright. The Colectivo was founded by Wright and a group of friends working in the non-profit sector who wanted to make a difference but didn’t have the funds independently to make an impact.
 
But collectively, the group of about 30 people have made quite a difference. The group has raise $80,000 since its start, and has given the money raised to a wide spectrum of causes and organizations. “We made a specific decision not to have any theme,” says Wright. “We have the freedom to give to individuals, non-profits or small businesses.”
 
The Colectivo’s grants range from $500 to $5,000 and have gone to support anything from parent support groups to arts organizations to community development projects. “Our goal is to find champions to support,” says Wright. “You don’t have to be a millionaire to be a philanthropist. Our goal is to make philanthropy accessible and active.”
 
Source: Judy Wright
Writer: Karin Connelly

The Burton D. Morgan Foundation in Hudson and the Blackstone Charitable Foundation have committed $3.2 million to train area young entrepreneurs through Blackstone LaunchPad, a venture coach program developed at the University of Miami, Florida in 2008.
 
Students, faculty and alumni at Baldwin-Wallace College, CWRU, Kent State and Lorain County Community College will have the chance to participate in the program, which takes applicants from idea to full-fledged business.
 
“A lot of schools around Northeast Ohio have strong entrepreneurship programs, but there’s an experiential gap for the students,” says Deborah D. Hoover, president and CEO of the Burton D. Morgan Foundation. “There are a lot of really good ideas simmering on campuses but the commercialization is lacking. This program will help with that.”
 
The Blackstone LaunchPad was first started in Detroit in 2010 at two colleges. The program provides participants with advice, mentors, resources, counsel and networks necessary to get their ideas started. Since 2008 Blackstone LaunchPad has generated 65 start-up ventures, 120 new jobs, and drawn nearly 2,000 student participants.
 
“One of the reasons they selected Cleveland was they are looking at regions being hit hard by economic downturns,” says Hoover of Blackstone’s decision. Participants will be selected in early 2012 and be in full swing by fall.
 

Source: Deborah D. Hoover
Writer: Karin Connelly
 
 

The Cleveland BVU: The Center for Nonprofit Excellence has partnered with Quicken Loans Arena in a program to encourage volunteerism. Participants who volunteer four or more hours through the BVU’s inaugural Community MVPs program can get buy-one-get-one tickets to an upcoming Cavs, Lake Erie Monsters, Canton Chargers or a Disney Princess show at the Q.
 
Additionally, those who log the most volunteer hours in any one of five specified time periods will win two floor seats to an upcoming Cavs game. “This is a great program that attracts all types of volunteers of all ages,” says Roseanne M. Deucher, director of the volunteer center at the BVU. “We’re really excited about participating in this program with the Q.
 
Such partnerships have been successful in recruiting volunteers in the past. The 2011 Cleveland Indians Challenge resulted in 40,000 volunteer hours, which translated into $850,000 worth of hours worked for good causes around Northeast Ohio.
 
The program runs until April 2012. Participants can find volunteer opportunities at any of the BVU’s registered nonprofit organizations at the Volunteer Center. “There are always new and fresh volunteer opportunities posted,” says Deucher. “It really allows people to find a volunteer opportunity quickly and easily.”

 
Source: Roseanne M. Deucher
Writer: Karin Connelly

A handful of U.S. cities have torn down or busted through the '60s-era highway walls that separate their neighborhoods from adjacent waterways. Despite critics' fears that such people-friendly projects will cause calamitous traffic delays, they often reap major economic, social and environmental benefits while adding only a few minutes to the average commute.

Cleveland's version of such a wall is the West Shoreway -- a homely, 2.5-mile stretch of concrete that is designed to move cars in and out of the city, but blocks residents' access to Lake Erie. Until recently, it appeared likely that Cleveland would find a way to bust through this wall. The long-planned West Shoreway project would "transform a 2.5 mile freeway into a scenic, tree-lined boulevard," according to a description on the Ohio Department of Transportation website.

Yet a series of cost overruns, the state's budget crunch and a philosophical shift at ODOT have thrown the very future of the project into question. State officials gave low scores to the city's recent request for additional funding, arguing that reducing the speed limit from 50 to 35 miles per hour would downgrade a functional roadway. Cleveland officials responded by accusing ODOT of trying to kill the project, which has been in the works for more than a decade.

As a December 15th meeting, where funding decisions will occur, looms ahead, cycling advocates, neighborhood residents and public officials are mounting a frontal assault on ODOT to shore up their commitment to the project.

"It's not true that we can't slow cars down -- the George Washington Parkway in D.C. is a major commuter road with bike lanes and crosswalks, and it works well," says Kevin Cronin, a board member of Cleveland Bikes, a nonprofit group rallying to preserve the bike-friendly project. "We need to make sure that this project moves forward, and that it includes bike and pedestrian lanes."

In an effort to get the project back on track, city officials and neighborhood advocates will host a public meeting with ODOT officials on Thursday, December 1st at 6 p.m. at Franklin Circle Church, 1688 Fulton Avenue in Ohio City.


Source: Kevin Cronin
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Global Cleveland, a regional economic development organization, has launched a pilot program: English and Pathways for Healthcare Professionals. The six-month program, launched in October, is designed to help immigrants with their English and find jobs that match the skills they developed in their native countries.
 
“The objective is to find immigrants jobs in healthcare who were healthcare professionals in their home countries but haven’t been able to find work here,” explains Global Cleveland president Larry Miller. “By the time they get out of the program we will help them find jobs, although maybe not at the level they were initially."
 
The pilot program has 21 participants from around the globe. Among them are four doctors, one RN, one dentist, one dietician and one physical therapist. None of them have jobs in their respective fields. During the six months the participants will study English medical terminology, learn about the U.S. healthcare system, get coaching on finding a job, and have networking opportunities.
 
“The stories I hear from the program so far is that it’s a frustrating situation for some of them and they’re excited about this program,” says Miller. Participants will also get help in transferring their credentials from their home countries to the U.S.
 
The program is run in partnership with The Ohio Board of Regents, Cleveland State University, Polaris Career Center, the World Education Services and NE ABLE.

“It’s a really nice partnership,” says Miller. “Everything’s coming together really nicely.”

 
Source: Larry Miller
Writer: Karin Connelly

Kendall Embrescia’s greeting cards get to the point of the sentiment -- but usually not in the traditional way. As chief creative officer and “head skootcher” at Squirt & Skootch, Embrescia produces cards that are edgy, funny, off-the-wall and well received.
 
The idea for Squirt & Skootch was originally conceived in 2009 by Embrescia and a friend who wanted to start a business that united their love of writing, creativity and travel. The peculiar name is based on their childhood nicknames.

“One of the universal things I found when I traveled was mail,” recalls Embrescia. “No matter where I was I would send a postcard.”
 
So, in fall 2009, "Squirt" and "Skootch" gave their cards a trial run at the Tremont Arts Festival. Boasting sayings like “I have a heart on for you” and other spicy sentiments, the cards were very well received.
 
Then Squirt moved on and Embrescia’s friend Sandy Hridel joined the team. The two hit some stationary shows and developed a full line of cards, covering categories that ranged from Love and Sex to Holiday and Encouragement. Embrescia and Hridel formally formed an LLC in fall of 2010, hired Embrescia’s niece Kendra Kwasniewski to illustrate the cards, and got a crash course in running a business.
 
“We started identifying places that would sell our cards, cold calling people and walking into stores to sell our cards,” says Embrescia. “I’m a really creative person and learning the business stuff was really intense.” But the hard work paid off. Today, Squirt & Skootch can be found in stores around Northeast Ohio, as well as in Pittsburgh, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Colorado.
 
The company plans on hiring a web developer and some salespeople to go after mid-sized retailers. “Growth is certainly key,” says Embrescia. “We’ve been able to be creative and build an infrastructure, but now the emphasis is on growth.”

 
Source: Kendall Embrescia
Writer: Karin Connelly

Local real estate pros like David Sharkey of Progressive Urban have been struggling to stay afloat lately, a drastic shift from the urban housing boom of the late-'90s. But slowly, they say, wary buyers are emerging from the sidelines. Their target: value-rich homes with energy-efficient features in neighborhoods with proven market appeal.

Supporters of the late, great comic book writer Harvey Pekar are trying to raise $30,000 to create a fittingly iconoclastic memorial to his life and work at the Cleveland Heights-University Heights main library. The bronze sculpture will serve as a living monument to the power of comics to transform everyday life into art.

In the planned sculpture, the cantankerous, working-class hero steps out of one of his own comic book pages. Beneath is a desk where individuals can thumb through one of Pekar's favorite books or, perhaps, pen their own masterpiece. On the back there's a blank slate where budding auteurs can sketch comics or tributes to Pekar.

"This is a statue about making comics," says Joyce Brabner, Pekar's wife and kindred spirit, in a video that was created for the project's Kickstarter fundaising campaign. "What we're talking about is celebrating the comics rather than his celebrity. No other statues have Greek or Roman gods holding an autobiographical comic book about working class life in Cleveland -- or a comic book at all."

Ironically, contrasting Pekar's portrait with the stately busts one might find in a museum, Brabner has dubbed it "Cleveland's ancient Jewish god of file clerks."

Justin Coulter, a sculptor and bartender who designed the memorial, says he can easily identify with the perennially struggling artist. "He was an everyday man who had to work to support his art, and I am definitely doing the same thing."


Source: Joyce Brabner, Justin Coulter
Writer: Lee Chilcote

At a recent community meeting for Launch Lorain, a grassroots planning process to plot the future of that street, Ohio City advocates eager to push W. 25th Street's development onto gritty Lorain gave a cry akin to Westward Ho!

Yet they were met with beleaguered skepticism by residents and business owners who believe more attention should be paid to basic safety and city services. Other attendees expressed the viewpoint that attracting residents and businesses to the area would create an engaged constituency that demands more from the city.

“When my building got broken into, the police came and told me this is what I get for living in this neighborhood,” said David Ellison, an architect who is rehabilitating a building at W. 41st and Lorain. “Before we look at adding fancy crosswalks, the city needs to fix the basic things such as potholes and crime."

"The best thing that we can do to create a safer Lorain is to get people there for the right reasons," countered Eric Wobser, Director of Ohio City Inc.

Planners believe they can breathe new life into Lorain by improving its streetscape, targeting empty buildings for redevelopment, and creating new housing. The street has the right retail fabric to become the community's main street and spur redevelopment south of Lorain, they argue.

"If you want to live on W. 25th Street, get in line," said Ward 3 Councilman Joe Cimperman. "We need to pull the energy of W. 25th Street up Lorain."

The three-day planning process included meetings with stakeholders and businesses, a group walk through the neighborhood at night and a chili cook-off at Palookaville Chili, one of a handful of new businesses that recently moved into the area. Now that the initial process is complete, planners will continue to gather input as they prepare a new strategic plan for the area.


Sources: David Ellison, Eric Wobser, Joe Cimperman
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Since the Capitol Theatre at W. 65th and Detroit reopened in 2008 as a state-of-the-art, three-screen movie house, it has incrementally grown its audience by hosting special events and screening must-see indie films. Yet this week, the hottest attraction at this restored vaudeville theatre will be its striking new blade sign.

This Thursday, a holiday-themed lighting ceremony will celebrate this iconic piece of street art. The "Bright Night" event begins at 6:15 p.m. with the lighting of the sign. A street party will follow. The area's unique indie retailers and restaurants also will be open for the occasion.

"The new sign is a near exact replica of the original blade sign that was installed at the theatre in 1921," says Marilyn Mosinski, Director of Economic Development with the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization (DSCDO), the group which has spearheaded the $50,000 project over the past three years.

Needless to say, after such a long wait Mosinsky and her cohorts are ready to celebrate. Adding to the festivities is a trio of pop-up shops that are opening for the season this week in the Gordon Square Arts District. In recent years, the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood has become known for its one-of-a-kind holiday shopping options.

Valerie Mayen of Yellowcake is setting up a temporary apparel shop at the corner of W. 65th and Detroit. The Gordon Square Holiday Market is also set to open in the Near West Lofts Building at W. 67th and Detroit.
 
Finally, a new gallery called Double Feature is also popping up in the district. Located in a two-room space on W. 65th next to the Capitol, it will host artwork, a unique shop and an array of events throughout the season.

Bright Night is a part of Yuletide on the Near West Side, a series of holiday events in the Detroit Shoreway, Ohio City and Tremont neighborhoods.


Sources: Genna Petrolla, Marilyn Mosinski
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Impact Armor Technologies, a manufacturer of ceramic components used in military and law enforcement armor, listened to their customers and developed a bullet-proof clipboard. The clipboard provides protection from multiple gunshots and point-blank range.
 
“Basically, our company was in the business of producing custom armor,” says Matt Raplenovich, Impact Armor’s director of operations. “We try to be very involved with our end-users. Instead of designing a product for them, it was designed by them and it’s worked out well for us.”
 
The clipboard has generated interest from law enforcement agencies around the world. “The response has been very good,” says Rob Slattery, a former police officer and Impact Armor’s law enforcement sales manager. “There are other clipboards on the market, but ours is lighter and provides more protection.”
 
With police fatalities from firearms up 22 percent this year, Impact Armor has secured the endorsement from the Greater Cleveland Peace Officers Memorial Society. Slattery says paramedics have also expressed an interest in the clipboard.
 
Impact Armor has doubled in size since its founding in 2006 -- going from six employees to 12 -- and has a commitment to keeping production local. “Our mission is to provide protection to officers,” says Raplenovich. “But in doing so, we want to create jobs locally. Growth is of course our plan, but we try to keep it local.”

 
Source: Matt Raplenovich and Rob Slattery
Writer: Karin Connelly

Just a note to inform you that Fresh Water will be taking its annual Thanksgiving break next week. We will return on December 1 with a brand new issue. Here's hoping that you all have a happy, safe and fulfilling holiday. Cheers!

"My primary objective is to bring 100,000 newcomers to Northeast Ohio," says Larry Miller, newly appointed president of Global Cleveland. Miller brings more than 25 years of talent attraction and international human resources experience to the organization tasked with promoting the quality of life in and around Cleveland.

LaRick Calhoun has been an entrepreneur since he was 11 years old, when he started cutting hair for people in his neighborhood. His mother was a hair stylist and for $5, Calhoun would create his own styles.

“That’s where it all began,” he says. Then, years later as a real estate loan officer, Calhoun realized he could teach others the skills they need to be successful in business and created 2Excel Group.
 
“I noticed that at 100 percent commission, we really didn’t have any resources in training and development,” Calhoun recalls. “So I built 2Excel Group to provide resources to independent real estate professionals. Then I expanded it to all kinds of entrepreneurs. They really liked our meetings, and they didn’t want to miss any of our events.”
 
Officially launched in 2005, 2Excel Group is a marketing and consulting company that offers regular seminars on starting and growing a business. The company picked up speed in 2009 and now has four core people on staff, a business center in Garfield Heights, and plans to open satellite centers in East Cleveland and Warrensville Heights, as well as hire event and meeting planners. The business center is part incubator, part workspace, part inspirational and motivational center.
 
Calhoun plans to focus on young entrepreneur in 2012 with the Young Entrepreneur Professional Network. “We will have out-of-the-box activities for small businesses and entrepreneurs who want to be part of something fresh,” he says. “We will be an aggressive, different network. We have to prepare tomorrow’s leaders; we have to talk to them at a young age to motivate them.”

 
Source: LaRick Calhoun
Writer: Karin Connelly

Dwellworks, a company that provides a suite of services for the relocation, real estate and mortgage lending industries, has announced plans to relocate its own corporate headquarters to the historic F. W. Woolworth building in PlayhouseSquare.

"We fell in love with PlayhouseSquare and wanted to be a part of the revitalization of downtown," says Gene Novak, CFO and Executive VP of Dwellworks. "It's hard to say enough about the reception and welcome we received from PlayhouseSquare, the City of Cleveland and Downtown Cleveland Alliance."

That reception included a financial incentives package from the City of Cleveland and a presentation from Downtown Cleveland Alliance to the entire Dwellworks staff about the benefits and logistics of moving downtown. Dwellworks secured a forgivable loan through the Vacant Property Initiative Program and a grant based on new job creation through the Citywide Business Grant Program.

PlayhouseSquare Real Estate Services also obtained federal and state historic tax credits that lowered the cost of renovating the office space by one-third.

Dwellworks plans to move its staff of 30 to 40 employees downtown initially. Its appraisal services department will stay in Warrensville Heights for the remaining two years on its lease. Yet Novak says that the firm is already studying plans for a Phase II that would centralize its operations in the heart of downtown Cleveland.


Source: Gene Novak
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The City of East Cleveland, a community that has lost thousands of residents in recent years due to the foreclosure crisis and decades of disinvestment, has celebrated two groundbreakings in as many months, suggesting that the city's new pro-development approach may be working.

Officials from the city, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), the Cuyahoga Land Bank and Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing this week celebrated the groundbreaking of a new 39-unit senior apartment building. It is being built on a patch of vacant land at Euclid Avenue and Belmore Road.

Last month, East Cleveland leaders were on hand to give speeches at the groundbreaking for the Circle East Townhomes, a cluster of market-rate apartments on Euclid being developed by the Finch Group.  

"We really encourage building in the City of East Cleveland," Mayor Gary Norton said at the groundbreaking ceremony for the senior building. "This project will give the senior citizens in our community a high-quality place to live." The small, enthusiastic crowd, who appeared as hungry for new development as the mayor, all but said "Amen!" each time Norton paused during his speech.

Mayor Norton has been called an effective new leader for this once-prosperous suburb. The Circle East Townhomes project has also been hailed as a rare instance of University Circle's development fervor spreading into East Cleveland. Yet while these two groundbreakings are no doubt worth celebrating, the rows of blighted properties along Euclid suggest the mammoth task that still lies ahead.

CMHA is building the Euclid-Belmore Senior Building with the aid of Neighborhood Stabilization Program funding. It will be built using Enterprise Green Standards to ensure that it is comfortable, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.


Source: CMHA, Gary Norton
Writer: Lee Chilcote