Toledo/Northwest Ohio : Innovation + Job News

Two years ago, Michael Frankhauser was a burned out college student studying biology at the University of Toledo.

Today, he's having fun while standing the northwest Ohio tree industry on its head with sustainability practices he hopes will help his young company grow into a successful business.

Frankhauser says that when trees are trimmed or cut down, some of that wood is sold, but often it's given away just to get it off a tree-trimmers hands -- or, simply thrown away.

"The same thing with wood chips," Frankhauser says. "A lot of guys in Toledo dump them illegally. You go down a country road and there will be a big chip pile that goes completely wasted."

Now, some of those companies are giving Frankhauser their high-grade logs. He has friends cut the logs into lumber and then dries it in a solar kiln. At first, he was simply trying to re-sell the lumber, but notes that "there's already a lot of lumber out there."

More recently, he's been giving the wood away to craftsmen who turn it into fine furniture. They bring the furniture back to Frankhauser and he sells it, splitting the profits with the craftsmen 50-50.

But Frankhauser takes it one step further -- he requires those who make the furniture to bring him the scraps. Not only does that solve a disposal issue, but it's allowing Frankhauser to amass a volume of sawdust and scrap that he eventually hopes to sell to biomass plants as feedstock.

Frankauser says he's finally doing something he loves. He says he's helping the environment. And, with 35,000 board feet of kiln-dried lumber already in storage, he says he's poised for growth. He has one employee, but says he anticipates adding more next year.

"Every step I've taken, I've made money on. I absolutely see it growing."

Source: Michael Frankhauser, Woods to Woods
Writer: Gene Monteith

Surrounded by fields of corn, soybeans and alfalfa in Northwest Ohio sits a shining example of a global partnership that combines American steel-making tradition, Japanese technical and analytical style, and the strong work ethic and family values of a small town.

That partnership is PRO-TEC Coating Company, established in 1990 near Leipsic, Ohio, by U.S. Steel Corp. and KOBE Steel, Ltd., of Japan, two global giants in steel technology and production.

PRO-TEC began operation in 1993 with a state-of-the-art hot-dip galvanizing line to produce steel for the automotive industry. Its 90 employees quickly exceeded the line's original rated capacity of 600,000 tons per year and set world production records in 1995, 1996 and 1997. In response to increased demand, PRO-TEC built a second galvanizing line in late 1998.

Now PRO-TEC is on the grow again, with plans to produce advanced high-strength steel and ultra high-strength steel, also for the automotive industry. Both are new products for the company and call for the construction of a heavy-industry building to house a new state-of-the-art continuous annealing line. "The additional finishing process of annealing takes the steel to incredibly high temperatures to make it extremely strong," explains Courtney Boone, a U.S. Steel spokeswoman.

U.S. Steel and KOBE Steel are making a capital investment of approximately $400 million in this latest expansion that is expected to create 500 temporary construction jobs and add 80 new full-time jobs to the current 229 employee population. The Ohio Department of Development has awarded PRO-TEC a $500,000 Rapid Outreach Grant toward the purchase of new machinery and equipment.

"This new line will give us more operational flexibility in filling customer orders," Boone notes. Construction of the new facility is anticipated to begin in early 2011, with production start up in early 2013.

Impressive track record and future growth plans for a company surrounded by corn, soybeans and alfalfa.

Source: Courtney Boone, U.S. Steel
Writer: Lynne Meyer

InSitu Foods has done well for itself since coming to market last summer. The artisan bread maker is baking 400 loaves a night, 363 days a year, and selling it to northwest Ohio groceries and to one of Toledo's most upscale restaurants.

But President Rick Anderson sees a bigger future for the company. His goal: to enable groceries to make and bake real artisan bread from scratch -- in front of their shoppers -- using his proprietary system.

Anderson is refining just such a system, the prototype of which was developed at Radco Industries after Anderson and his wife Mary purchased the automation equipment company in 2008.

"Essentially, the challenge with bread is consistent high quality and cost," Anderson says. "The people we're talking to, the retailers, are very interested as long as those two things are in place."

The company's current conveyer system, used at an off-site baking facility, faced hurdles in meeting regulations for in-grocery use. InSitu is now developing a machine without belts that can be used as Anderson envisions. He says interest from potential customers is growing, and he believes consumers will pay groceries the extra $2 a loaf for good, home-made artisan breads.

"Most of the artisan bread in the United States is par-baked frozen," he explains. "So, you're shipping frozen, par baked bread all over the country in trucks. In theory, you lock in the quality and -- to some extent that's true -- but the reality is in the supply chain it goes through freeze/ thaw because it's not always handled properly, and frankly the taste is just not there."

Besides that, retailers are intrigued by the entertainment value of making bread in front of shoppers, he says.

The Regional Growth Partnership's Rocket Ventures has assisted InSitu with a $50,000 Ignite! grant that the company used for R&D and market research.

Source: Rick Anderson, InSitu Foods
Writer: Gene Monteith

Ohio's status as a leader in photovoltaics could shine brighter should a $46 million US Department of Energy grant come through.

The $46 million grant, expected to be announced by early 2011, would be shared between the University of Toledo and Dow Corning Corp. Earlier this year, two paired to form the Solar Valley Research Enterprise (SVRE), which submitted the grant application to the DOE with wide support from the two states' governors, Congressional rosters and private industry.

The grant would be part of $125 million in funds available though the DOE's Photovoltaics Manufacturing Initiative, which seeks to establish three national centers of expertise in the field by 2015.

Split evenly between the SVRE partners, half of the funds would be used to establish the Photovoltaics Manufacturing Initiative Center on the Toledo campus, separate from the Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization based there, but working in conjunction with it.

The Wright Center was created in 2007 and supports research and test locations located at the University of Toledo, Ohio State University and Bowling Green State University.

"I tell people the SVRE would be like the Wright Center on steroids," says Rick Stansley, co-director of the Wright Center and chairman of the UT Board of Trustees.

He estimates a direct impact of 800 jobs added to the area, and an indirect impact six or seven times as large.

The partnership has already received grants from both Ohio and Michigan, including a $3.5 million grant from Ohio Third Frontier. Along with the Ohio "node" of the SVRE, Stansley said the grant money would be used to set up a similar center in Midland, Mich., near the corporate headquarters of Dow.

Both sites would work with a cluster of private companies, government labs and universities to further solar cell development, making it more competitive with traditional energy sources. The centers would also help guide new solar panel start-ups in the northwest Ohio-southern Michigan area.

Source: Rick Stansley, Wright Center for Photovoltaics
Writer: Dave Malaska

Entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, service providers, educators and others will converge on the Hilton Garden Inn in Perrysburg next week for Venture Tech -- a series of events designed to support Ohio startups.

Sponsored by the Toledo-based Regional Growth Partnership (RGP), three events -- Venture Fair, Tech Connect, and Business Acceleration Tracks -- are all aimed at connecting entrepreneurs and those hoping to launch new business ideas with resources that can help them.

The Venture Fair on Wednesday will include a full day of exhibitor tables, networking opportunities, and panels, according to the RGP. Question-and-answer sessions with venture capitalists and successful CEO entrepreneurs, sessions focused on venture capital for biosciences and alternative energy and discussions on Ohio's capital ecosystem are included.

That evening, the RGP will host Tech Connect, which it describes as "a casual networking event which offers attendees the chance to meet the 'right people' to help launch their business idea. "

On Thursday, Venture Tech will offer what it calls Business Acceleration Tracks, designed to provide information about taking innovative high-tech business ideas to the next level. The half-day session is designed to "help attendees learn how to identify critical issues regarding their business plan and discover keys to planning, launching, and operating a high-growth business."

Tracks will focus on attracting capital through a strong business plan, business plan execution, bootstrapping strategies, government funding opportunities, venture capital and angel funding basics and how to develop relationships and present to such investors.

For more information and to register, go to www.rocketventures.org

Source: Regional Growth Partnership
Writer: Gene Monteith

It's uncertain how many Americans are playing console games for money. But with nearly 70 such games hooked to the Internet in North America, Beyond Gaming hopes to tap into at least 30,000 players within its first month.

The concept is simple: provide a site through which members can play console game tournaments for fun � no membership fee � or for stakes � $7.95.

Because the Toledo company takes no cut of the winnings, and because console games are considered games of skill, the service is legal, says President and CEO Tony Legeza.

Legeza and co-founder Justin Yamek, himself a competitive console gamer, came up with the idea after Yamek qualified for a west coast tournament last year but couldn't scrape together the funds to fly to LA.

Instead, they asked, why not build a Web-based service that allows gamers to connect with others, organize tournaments, and build relationships through a robust social media component?

The service was launched earlier this year as a closed beta site with 500 players, but quickly picked up an additional 500 after going public a little more than two weeks ago, Legeza says.

"When you go on the site you create a profile, you've got your friends and your wall that you can communicate with," Legeza says. "We've got different chat rooms and video chat rooms where you can share video and let other people watch you play in a competition. People have a space to come to where they can start communicating about something they're passionate about, share their experiences, provide content, upload photos, share video content."

The company had early help from Rocket Ventures, which invested an initial $100,000, and angel funding of more than $100,000. The company is in the midst of a $500,000 venture capital round as well.

Beyond Gaming currently has four employees.

Source: Tony Legeza, Beyond Gaming
Writer: Gene Monteith

A $5-million federal grant is aimed at revving up the skills of Ohio's displaced auto and other workers, training them for jobs in the growing bioscience world.

The grant was awarded to BioOhio, a nonprofit, Columbus-based bioscience accelerator, for its Ohio Bioscience Industry Workforce Preparedness Project. BioOhio doled grants to Cincinnati State Technical and Community College,  Columbus State Community College,  Cuyahoga Community College, Lakeland Community College,  Owens Community College and Sinclair Community College.

The initiative will take place over three years, and more than $2.8 million of grant has been set aside for tuition reimbursement and trainee scholarships

The dollars will be used to create new programs or build on new ones at the colleges, which are partnering with employers and labor, workforce development and non-profit organizations to develop programs to retrain and identify workers in Ohio's auto and other declining industries.

The program is focused not just on education and training but moving people into jobs through the public and private partnerships says Dr. Bill Tacon, Senior Director, Workforce & Education at BioOhio.

"We will help them find a job. We're not simply training and just letting them go. Each has an industry advisory board, and when we got the grant the industry advisory board signed a letter of commitment saying they are looking at new potential hires," Tacon says.

The program has a goal of retraining 660 displaced or underemployed workers in declining industries

Northeast Ohio is leading the charge, because the region's colleges have several programs in place that likely will spread to other campuses, Tacon says. For example, Cuyahoga Community College and partners have a medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturing program that could be implemented across the state.

Source: Bill Tacon, BioOhio
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

Founded in 1995, Dovetail Solar and Wind began modestly, installing solar systems for rural-Ohio residents seeking to go off-the-grid. Solar panels were incredibly expensive � but still a substantial savings for many who could not afford to have a utility company run power to their homes.

A little federal and state legislation changed everything. For the better.

"Prior to 2006, it was almost all residential," says Dovetail vice president Alan Frasz. "The (Energy Policy Act of 2005) offered a 30 percent tax credit. Businesses took notice."

Then, a second tremendous boost for the company, Frasz says, came from the renewable portfolio standard bill that Ohio approved in 2008, requiring 25 percent of the state's energy to be generated from alternative and renewable sources.

"We doubled our business," he adds. "We've been growing quite a bit in the last in few years."

A member of the University of Toledo Clean and Alternative Energy Incubator, Dovetail now provides energy systems for solar electric, solar thermal and wind � and has installed 175 systems such across Ohio and its neighboring states.

"We expect to finish the year between six and seven millions dollars in sales," Frasz says. "In a worldwide economy, the beauty of renewable energy is that the wind and sun are free. They don't put out any pollution � and renewable energy creates clean, green jobs in Ohio, as opposed to other places."

There are now offices in all corners of Ohio: Athens, Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati. In 2006, there were just a handful of people employed with the company. There are now 32 full time employees, but Frasz says that number could hit 50 by the end of 2011.

"Rather than having this money going out of the state and burning in a smoke-stack, let's take some of that and put it into renewable energy," Frasz says.

Source: Alan Frasz, Dovetail Solar
Writer: Colin McEwen

Chris Melkonian, the CEO and founder of Midwest MicroDevices, says if you don't know too much about micro-electro mechanical systems, that's OK. He thinks you will soon enough.

The downtown-Toledo-based company has continued to grow at a steady pace since its founding in 2004. Melkonian says Midwest's niche is a new and emerging MEMs market, focusing on unusual materials and incredibly tiny wafers � but the company can just about do it all.

There are a dozen employees at Midwest MicroDevices. Most of them suit up head-to-toe in a "bunny suit" in what's known as a clean room. These employees work on devices often smaller than a human hair (think miniscule sensor of a car's airbag).

"You won't find too many companies doing the kind of hi-tech work we're doing here in Northwest Ohio," Melkonian says. "I am very proud of that."

The company has received a healthy dose of support from area and state institutions. Melkonian and Co. are graduates of the Regional Growth Partnership, which offered support, marketing and financing. The Ohio Department of Development provided an Ohio Innovation Loan to the company. The University of Toledo's Science, Technology and Innovation Enterprises have also partnered with the startup. "We've gotten a lot of support from University of Toledo," he says. "We collaborate with professors, we select students for internships and we hire graduates."

Melkonian says he hopes to considerably ramp up business in the next couple of years, adding two more shifts and as many as 10 skilled positions.

"I started a startup company at possibly one of the worst times you can," he says. "If the economy can start to turn around, and as we add more business, we'll definitely have a real jump in employees."

Source: Chris Melkonian, Midwest MicroDevices 
Writer: Colin McEwen

A solar array gathers sunlight for electricity. But something has to convert that energy from direct current to alternating current before it can be fed into an electric power grid. Toledo-based Nextronex Power Systems says it has come up with a simpler and more efficient way of doing that..

Nextronex's target customers are utility-size solar installations. While competition is stiff, Peter Gerhardinger, the company's chief technology officer, says Nextronex has an advantage over suppliers that provide only inverters -- the box that converts DC to AC.
 
"They rely on the integrator to determine how he's going to wire it, how he's going to lay it out. And so there's spawned a whole lot of intermediate type products," he says. "We took a fresh approach and, based on customer feedback, decided there's a need for a wiring kit that is not only the inverter, but that combines all the switch gear, all the fusing, all the monitoring into an easy-to-assemble system."

The resulting cabinet is smaller than most in the industry, he says, and can be easily installed. Not just that, but rather than relying on only one big inverter, the Nextronex system uses multiple inverters that switch on and off as energy from the sun ebbs and flows during the day, resulting in less loss of power than typical one-box systems.

Nextronex's system is in use currently at the 180th Air National Guard base in Toledo and at a site in Roswell New Mexico, with another three projects nearing implementation. The company has received $1.4 million local investments, including those from the Science, Technology and Innovation Enterprises and Rocket Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Regional Growth Partnership.

The company was formed in 2008 and currently employs 10, says company founder James Olzak. But Olczak says Netronex expects to have "greater than several dozen people next year at this time."

Sources: James Olzak, Peter Gerhardinger and Scott Thompson, Nextronex
Writer: Gene Monteith

The earth pulls in more energy from the sun in one hour than is consumed in one year. That's an estimated 970 trillion kilowatt hours of energy every day. But solar power contributes less than one-half of 1 percent of the world's daily power generation.

Solargystics, a Sylvania-based startup solar company with lofty goals, would like to change that by making solar energy more affordable for everyone.

Solargystics has developed patent-pending technology aimed at lowering the cost of thin film photovoltaic production. The company would like to see nothing more than people ditching the shingles on top of their homes in favor of cost-efficient solar panels.

The idea � while not yet on the market � certainly has generated some interest. The company is working on its process with the Wright Center for Photovoltaic Innovation and Commercialization at the University of Toledo � where the company has access to testing equipment it couldn't obtain on its own. The researchers, originally from Michigan, moved the company to Ohio in 2007, hoping to obtain funding from the state's Third Frontier program.

Even though that grant proposal was denied, David Hiatt, the company's chief financial officer, says Solargystics is still seeking funding. And company officials are still optimistic.

"We're like everybody else," he says. "It's tough to be a startup with limited funding."

The company currently employs four people, but contracts a number of people in the Toledo area, Hiatt says, adding that more employees will be added when the product reaches commercialization.

"It's coming along � just slowly," he adds.

Source: David Hiatt, Solargystics
Writer: Colin McEwen

Muscles and money have joined forces in Toledo to create a success story with a company named Turning Point.

Turning Point's CEO, F. Alan Schultheis invented an exercise conditioning machine � the Core Trainer � and received important input from University of Toledo Engineering Professor Vijay K. Goel, Ph.D., in designing the final, working model.

That local help prompted Schulteheis to establish Turning Point in Toledo rather than in his home base of Connecticut.

Schultheis named his machine the Core Trainer because it conditions 28 muscles, as well as numerous tendons and ligaments. Turning Point recently received a $50,000 initial grant to design and refine the prototype, as well as an additional $450,000 to market and develop the equipment. The grants are from Rocket Ventures, the venture capital program of Toledo's Regional Growth Partnership.

Even though Schulteis will be returning to Connecticut, Turning Point now has an advisory board as well as a board of directors and will remain and grow in Toledo. According to Greg Knudson, vice president with Toledo's Regional Growth Partnership, the city's Lockery Manufacturing will manufacture the machine, and local Pinnacle Technologies is making its electronics parts.

Turning Point is gearing up to produce two models of the Core Trainer this fall � a professional model for approximately $1,000 and a consumer model for $600.

Goiel, PhD., is now the company's vice president of Research and Development.

Source: Turning Point and Greg Knudson, Regional Growth Partnership
Writer: Lynne Meyer

What began as an Internet service provider in 2001 has blossomed into one of the fastest growing tech companies in the country.

CentraComm, based in Findlay, is an IT security and service provider with clients throughout the U.S. Despite a tough economy, CentraComm has managed to land on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies three years running; it's been on the CRN list of fastest growing technology companies four years in a row.

CEO Daniel Bemis attributes that success to smart employees with a passion for customer service -- and to staying focused.

"We know what we do very well and we try to stay focused on that," Bemis says. "We don't try to be all things to all people. Another key is that we're very customer-focused. It can be a clich�, but in several cases we're literally a four-digit extension on a company's phone."

Bemis, a Monroeville native, returned to Ohio last year when he took the helm of CentraComm after serving stints at Vonage, Adelphia and CRN. At Vonage, Bemis oversaw all customer operations and inside sales as the company became the fastest growing startup in the country.

While he says the company won't add significantly this year to its 25-employee headcount, a few jobs likely will be added. At the same time, the company is taking advantage of the Ohio Third Frontier Internship Program, which helps pay the freight for students participating in the program.

"We see that as a great way to attract young talent in school and get them on-boarded at a cost that you can sustain," he says. "The other thing we believe is that as the Third Frontier helps fund existing manufacturers moving to more high tech manufacturing, that will create opportunity for us because we support those kinds of companies."

Source: Daniel Bemis, CentraComm
Writer: Gene Monteith

"The traditional means of testing water for pollutants is to go out in boat, scoop up a few samples, and send them off to the lab for evaluation," explains Milt Baker, president of Blue Water Satellite.

The problem with that method, he says, is that a handful of random samples is a poor representation of the body of water at large. And then there is the expense of sending live people out to perform the work.

Blue Water has a better (and far cheaper) way.

Using patented image-processing software developed by the company's chief technology officer, Blue Water can determine the location and concentration of pollutants in lakes, rivers and streams without ever getting wet. Starting with high-resolution satellite imagery, the proprietary technology translates various light intensity patterns into components such as cyanobacteria, phosphorus, and chlorophyll a.

Whereas a typical water test consists of a handful of grab samples for an entire body of water, Blue Water is able to provide the equivalent of five samples for every acre. In the case of a 1,000-acre lake, that's the difference between six to 10 samples versus 5,000 � at roughly the same price.

Blue Water's customers range from federal, state and local governments to large environmental engineering firms tasked with remediating large environmental problems. The technology makes it easy to perform work for clients scattered across the globe.

Founded in 2008 in Bowling Green, the company currently employs 20 people. Baker envisions a high-growth curve that will increase sales from $1 million next year to $30 million in five short years.

Source: Milt Baker, Blue Water Satellite
Writer: Douglas Trattner

When up and running, the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Center will represent a first-of-its-kind effort to make Ohio a leader in creating clean energy jobs.

A groundbreaking is planned for October for the new 20,000-square-foot Center in Lima. The center, a non-profit incubator, will initially house a flexible fabrication and robotic assembly demonstration project. It will focus on several technology clusters including design and development, sustainable energy, advanced materials, agile tooling, additive manufacturing technologies, simulation software and others.

The center is designed to create new, high tech manufacturing jobs in Ohio. The state has a history of manufacturing and innovation, but has lost some manufacturing jobs like much of the Midwest as global economic conditions have shifted. State economic development leaders and government officials in Lima see the center as way to recapture the state's manufacturing tradition by creating new manufacturing solutions and processes.

The center is backed by state and federal dollars, including $1 million the federal government awarded the project in 2009.
 
It's just been awarded a $457,375 state Roadwork Development Grant, and the center has applied for a $1.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration.

A site for the center was chosen and secured within Lima's Ohio Job Ready Site program site located on South Main Street, says Judith Cowan, the center's president. 

Sources: Ohio Department of Development and Judith Cowan, president Ohio Advanced Energy Manufacturing Center
Writer: Feoshia Henderson