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michigan model inspires cintrifuse in cincinnati

Cincinnati Enquirer Thursday, January 03, 2013

Chris Rizik isn’t just an investor; he’s a connector.

Rizik runs Michigan’s Renaissance Venture Capital Fund, which served as the model for Cintrifuse’s fund of funds, which is seeking to raise $50 million to $100 million.

Cintrifuse is the regional innovation effort created by the Cincinnati Business Committee to successfully launch high-growth startups.

So far, Renaissance Venture Capital Fund has raised $110 million through investments by Michigan’s major corporations.

Instead of investing directly in startups, Rizik invests that money into other venture capital funds. The idea is to maximize the amount of venture capital for Michigan startups.

Choosing funds is only part of Rizik’s job as CEO and fund manager. He’s also helping connect venture capital firms, startups, entrepreneurs and big Michigan companies looking for new technologies and solutions.

It’s a job description that Tim Schigel, Cintrifuse’s fund manager, says he plans to emulate.

Rizik recently spoke to The Enquirer about how the Renaissance Venture Capital Fund works, why it’s been successful, and why he’s so excited about Cintrifuse.

Read the full story here.

moms are making their own way as entrepreneurs

Crain's Cleveland Business Thursday, January 03, 2013

A 2011 scare with melanoma convinced Cindy Perry to finally turn a hobby into a career.

Ms. Perry, an Avon Lake mother of two, last January launched a business from her home selling “pellos” — baby floor pillows she initially designed for her own children. The pellos essentially are 33-inch round pillows with depressed centers that can be used for newborns lying down or for babies learning to sit or crawl.

Now, nearly a year after its debut, Ms. Perry contracts with a local manufacturer — Western Reserve Sewing Co. in Cleveland — to make the pellos, and she said her product is sold at 37 boutiques in 17 states. She already has an intern and is about to take on her first employee.

Ms. Perry is among a growing number of mom entrepreneurs, or “mompreneurs,” who are starting their own business while running a family. These are women who cradle a phone in one hand, a baby in another and make sales calls while packing lunches.

Read the full story here.

youngstown business incubator shows off its role in city's resurgence

The Business Journal Thursday, January 03, 2013

Those who relocated from the Mahoning Valley years ago and returned for the holidays might not recognize the city they left.

Today Youngstown is in the midst of an economic renaissance, officials boast, and the Youngstown Business Incubator, Youngstown State University and the Oh Wow! Roger and Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science and Technology demonstrate why.

“We want to introduce people who have left Youngstown to the New Youngstown, the new high-tech Youngstown," said Mike Hripko, director of technology-based economic development at the YSU College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM, as he welcomed visitors to the YBI.

Read the full story here.

Ohio advances on Forbes list of 'Best States for Business'

The Toledo Blade Thursday, December 20, 2012

Ohio rose to 33rd from 38th and Michigan remained at No. 47 in Forbes’ new list of “Best States for Business.” The rankings, at forbes.com/best-states-for-business, compare the states in six categories.

Read the full story here.

What it really takes to foster an entrepreneurial ecosystem

The Atlantic Cities Thursday, December 20, 2012

Innovation and entrepreneurship are the engines of economic growth. For decades now, cities and communities across the United States have tried to infuse themselves with those two properties by emulating Silicon Valley, a never-ending quest to become the next Silicon Somewhere.

Brad Feld’s terrific new book, Startup Communities, takes us inside the real ecologies of innovation and entrepreneurship. Feld, co-founder of venture capital firm Foundry Group, serves on the boards of numerous high-tech companies. He recently chatted with Cities about his new book.

Read the full story here.

Ohio among top states for tech growth

The Business Journal Thursday, December 13, 2012

A national study on high-tech jobs released Thursday shows that Ohio is quickly establishing itself as a hub of high-tech job activity. The Buckeye State is home to three of the top 25 cities for tech job growth -- more than any other state.

Read the full story here.

The Midwest is becoming a hotspot for entrepreneurs

Huffington Post Thursday, December 13, 2012

This fall, entrepreneurs and investors from all over the country gathered in downtown Cleveland for the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF) annual conference. During a "fireside chat," AOL founder and Startup America Chair Steve Case touched on his belief that a "broader entrepreneurial ecosystem" with many hubs of innovation is possible. "Many years ago, you couldn't launch a startup in some areas, and now you can," he said. "Costs are down, and the ability to get talent is up."

The Midwest is working hard to make Case's vision a reality sooner rather than later.

Read the full story here.

queen city angels survive recessions to invest $33 million in startups

Cincinnati Enquirer Thursday, November 29, 2012

Twelve years ago, the Queen City Angels were five guys who would meet at restaurants to talk about investing in local startups and who, group chairman Tony Shipley jokes, hadn’t gotten the memo that the dot-com bubble was about to burst.

Now three funds and 54 diverse companies later, the validation-stage and seed-stage investing group – the first of its kind in Ohio – has survived the dot-com bust and two recessions. Its 49 members have invested $33 million of their own money into regional startups, which has been leveraged into additional capital in excess of $200 million from other investors, and created 254 jobs.

Read the full story here.

dayton-area information technology firms quietly expanding

Dayton Business Journal Thursday, November 29, 2012

Information technology is perhaps one of the most under appreciated fields in the Dayton region, at least by the public.

IT companies in the Dayton region seem to be booming, as seen by increases in salaries, hiring and new investments.

Read the full story here.

ohio should stay the course on energy efficiency, says expert

Crain's Cleveland Business Thursday, November 29, 2012

Recently, FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron recommended to the Ohio Legislature changes to Ohio's energy efficiency portfolio that would essentially freeze the energy efficiency mandate found in Senate Bill 221 at current levels. As currently written, Senate Bill 221 calls for Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs) to undertake energy efficiency improvements by 2025 equal to 22% of 2008's energy consumption. FirstEnergy's proposed changes would end the mandate at the less than 3% cumulative reduction required to date.

Ohio's Legislature should consider carefully any request to alter Ohio's course on energy efficiency. For many reasons, a reduction in the energy efficiency goal does not appear to be a good idea at this time.

Read the full story here.

U.S. must work to prevent chronic diseases, says cleveland clinic ceo

Bloomberg Businessweek Thursday, November 29, 2012

President Barack Obama's re-election means the Affordable Care Act is here to stay, and Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove has a clear view of the next steps for health systems, employers and citizens.

Read the full story here.

cincinnati economy bouncing back from recession faster than others

Cincinnati.com Thursday, November 15, 2012

The Cincinnati region likely has another year of slow growth ahead in 2013, but the local economy appears to be recovering from the Great Recession more quickly than other parts of the U.S., according to a report out today.

Read the full story here.

jobsohio tops 5,700 job commitments in third quarter

Dayton Business Journal Thursday, November 15, 2012

A new report from JobsOhio shows the state’s economic development efforts continue to help spur job creation and capital investments by businesses.

Read the full story here.

ohio is the envy of the nation -- at least when it comes to jobs

Bloomberg Businessweek Thursday, November 01, 2012

Chrysler Group LLC is hiring more than 1,100 new workers at its sprawling Toledo, Ohio, manufacturing complex. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) is looking for hundreds of bankers in Columbus. And the Cleveland Clinic has been adding registered nurses at such a clip that it rented out the Cleveland Browns football stadium for a job fair.

Long an emblem of rust belt decay and despair, Ohio is now outpacing the national economy.

Read the full story here.

cubicles are being made from the detritus of cle's demolished buildings

Fast Company Thursday, November 01, 2012

It’s a shame. Amidst the financiapocalypse, Cleveland, Ohio, has 13,000 homes and other structures in such disrepair that they need to be torn down. It’s a $4 billion job. And at least one designer is trying to find the bright side.

Daniel Cuffaro, department chair at the Cleveland Institute of Art and founder of Abeo Design, has created a modular workspace called the Hive Workstation. It’s similar to the premium corporate furnishings offered by companies like Steelcase, but there’s a key difference: Hive is built from the failed housing projects of Cleveland itself. Every piece has a secondary purpose, to “literally create value from the rubble of economic collapse.”

Read the full story here.